Malala Fund (@malalafund)

Malala Fund works to secure stronger education budgets and make sure girls have a say in how that money is spent. In Bauchi state, Nigeria, 17-year-old Sharon got to have her say. At a workshop organised by Young Leaders Network, Sharon shared what girls actually need from education budgets with government leaders. And she's proud to know those leaders took her ideas seriously. Every day, girls like Sharon are helping shape decisions about their education. 💚

What does it look like to meaningfully engage men and boys in advancing girls’ education? For our co-founder Ziauddin Yousafzai, allyship goes beyond supporting girls’ education. It takes the courage to challenge harmful norms and speak up when girls’ rights and choices are being denied. Our research explores how intentional, accountable engagement with men and boys can help break down barriers and create lasting change for girls in Nigeria. Read the full report here ➡️ https://mala.la/4ymZEqm

When Samuel saw how early marriage had cut short the education of girls in his family, he wanted a different future for his daughter, Deborah. Today, Deborah is an advocate for girls’ education, using her voice to push for change. Samuel is proof that men and boys have a role to play in challenging the norms that hold girls back, so every girl can learn and choose her own future. Read our report on male engagement and allyship in Nigeria ⬇️ https://mala.la/4ymZEqm

Her future, her choice. This International Day of the Girl, girls in Nigeria get real about child marriage, staying in school and their futures. They know what they want. Let’s help make it possible. Give today to support our partners working to end child marriage and help married girls and young mothers keep learning. ➡️ Donate now: mala.la/idg

From Nigeria to Pakistan and Brazil, girls are telling us what it takes to stay in school. Some face pressure to marry young, some walk hours to get to school and others deal with discrimination in their communities. Our partners are helping them overcome these barriers, so they can choose what comes next. This International Day of the Girl, invest in her so she can keep moving forward. 🌱 Donate today: mala.la/idg

Every girl in this video knows who she wants to become. This week, as we countdown to International Day of the Girl, we're sharing what it takes to keep her moving toward that future. Your gift today helps keep her in school and on her way. ➡️ Donate today: mala.la/idg

We asked four of our partners in New York for #unga81 week: do these forums actually change anything for girls? They answered honestly about the distance between world leaders' pledges and what gets implemented, Afghan girls still waiting for promises to become action, and the responsibility of representing the girls who don't get the chance to be in these rooms themselves. Our partners showed up, asked the hard questions and made sure the pledges in those rooms make a difference for girls.

We are keeping it real — beyond the statistics and beyond the numbers. Karimot and Thalia, two of our Education Champions, travelled to New York for UNGA this week — from Nigeria and from Brazil — to be present in the rooms where decisions get made, where their communities' needs either end up in the conversation or don't. Girls want a say in the policies that shape their futures, and Karimot and Thalia are at UNGA to make that impossible to ignore.

This is what UNGA81 is all about. Our Education Champions know their communities best. Especially when it comes to girls’ education. That’s why, on the global stage, their voices should be the loudest. What message would you send to world leaders about the importance of girls’ education?✏️

The girls who were in class when the Taliban banned their education five years ago are in their 20s now — still locked out of schools and universities, still waiting for accountability. Teachers like these have refused to abandon them, teaching in secret schools and digital classes to keep learning and hope alive. Visit our partner learnafghan.org to support girls and women in Afghanistan today. #Afghanistan #GirlsEducation #EndGenderApartheid

Investing in girls’ rights makes whole communities safer. 💫 In Tanzania, 40 adolescent girls in Dodoma know how to recognise violence, report it safely and protect themselves and their peers. Our partner Children's Dignity Forum brought them together for a two-day programme on personal safety, emotional intelligence and rights. For these girls, understanding their rights has become a first step in feeling more confident to seek help when they need it and advocate for positive change in and outside their schools.

What a joy watching our girl champions in Pakistan light up as @malala met with them! 😊 As part of our Malala Day activities, they got to ask her questions, share laughs and spend one-on-one time with her — a moment they won't forget.

Before a girl can walk back through the school gates, she sometimes needs to find her footing first. 🌱 In Kano state, Nigeria, our partner Isa Wali Empowerment Initiative runs safe spaces — where married and unmarried girls become comfortable with learning before formally re-enrolling in school. Alongside our partners, we’re working to protect married and pregnant girls' right to return to school.

"Change is possible." Dr. Shakardokht Jafari, five years into Taliban rule, on what she learned from South African women who fought for decades and won. "Just trying alone doesn't work." Afghan women are acting. Countries must stand against the Taliban and help them codify gender apartheid as a crime against humanity. Say it, share it, and make recognition of gender apartheid as a crime inevitable. #GenderApartheid #Afghanistan #AfghanWomen

Apartheid in South Africa told women where they could go, where they could work, and with whom. Afghanistan’s laws do the same thing right now. Mariam Safi, founder of DROPS Afghanistan, asks: Why are are still shocked by a rule we have seen before? #GenderApartheid #Afghanistan #AfghanWomen

Every year on 15 August, Horia relives the day Kabul fell. Five years of Taliban rule, and Afghan women like Horia have not stopped seeking justice. #GenderApartheid #Afghanistan #AfghanWomen

Today is a painful day. But it is also a hopeful one. @malala and Gaisu Yari, our Afghanistan Initiative lead, were in South Africa earlier this month, where jurists, lawyers, civil society activists and President Ramaphosa stood with Afghan women and girls. South Africa knows what it means to dismantle a system of legalized oppression, and to rebuild after it. That history makes their solidarity especially meaningful and when a head of state calls out Taliban policy for what it is - a crime - it opens the door for its codification in international law. That is how change is made possible. "Let's stay hopeful and fight to dismantle gender apartheid." #GenderApartheid #Afghanistan #AfghanWomen

Happy Independence Day of Pakistan! 🇵🇰 Today, we celebrate the hope and potential of Pakistan’s next generation. Here’s to a future where every child can learn, live joyfully and chase their dreams.

We are grateful to President Ramaphosa for answering the call of the Afghan women leading the fight to codify gender apartheid as a crime against humanity. This support is a critical step toward justice for Afghan women and girls, and to ensure it doesn't happen anywhere else.

"We have come to honor your heroes, to learn from your movement. And to ask for your solidarity in our own fight against oppression." Seventy years after the Women's March, Malala asked South Africa to lead again — by supporting the codification of gender apartheid as a crime against humanity, for women and girls in Afghanistan.

@malala and a delegation of women leading the fight against gender apartheid met with the Equalizers — a new generation of South African youth activists — to talk about what it takes to build solidarity across borders and fight for equal justice everywhere. Different realities, different struggles, the same belief: together, we are stronger. Thank you to Equal Education for hosting us and for the incredible work you do every day to build power in the community.

What can a prison become? This week, @malala stood at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg, where women were once imprisoned under the same pass laws those 20,000 marched against in 1956. Today it's home to South Africa's Constitutional Court. She was there with South African anti-apartheid stalwarts and Afghan women fighting gender apartheid right now. "What stood out for me was the visit to the women's prison. Being there was profoundly emotional — political prisoners who, for violating the pass laws, were subjected to immense torture. The same thing is happening to women in Afghanistan now. And yet this place is now a beacon of hope." — Mariam Safi

We’re still smiling from this past week ✨ From spending time with students from Shangla Girls School and our Education Champion Network partners, to meeting with policymakers, and even playing a little bit of football, Malala’s trip home was a reminder of how joyful the world can be when we uplift girls together. Take a look back at the hope, ambition, creativity and progress we celebrated during this year’s #MalalaDay2026 ♥️ 🎥 Bilal Abbas

Meet the young women building brighter futures for girls in the mountains of Pakistan 🏔️. IEI is a Malala Fund grantee that runs Saheli Circles — safe spaces where girls find their confidence, their voice and each other. 🌄 malala.org/donate/malaladay #MalalaDay2026 🎥 Insiya Syed for Pura

What a birthday! 🎊 Malala celebrated her 29th birthday with students from Shangla Girls School, which Malala and her father, Ziauddin, helped to build in the mountains of Northeast Pakistan. Today, it serves 1,050 girls – and last year, it celebrated its first graduating class of 29, every one of them passing with top marks. There's no better way to spend your birthday than with the leaders of the next generation. Shangla shows us just how powerful girls are when they're given the education they deserve. And that is always worth celebrating🌟 #MalalaDay2026

"The world took one leg from me. I will return a thousand legs to the world." Meet Amra. @malala shared her story with world leaders — now hear it for yourself. ⭐ malala.org/donate/malaladay #MalalaDay2026

Happy Malala Day! What are your wishes for all girls today? 🎉🥳 #malaladay2026 @Malala Yousafzai

She’s giving us the full tour 🏫✨ @malala used her Nobel Prize money to build this school in the mountains of Pakistan. Today there are more than 1,000 students. Happy Malala Day 🎂 malala.org/donate/malaladay #MalalaDay2026

With support from our partner Bridge Connect Africa Initiative, Kano state recently adopted the gender-responsive education budgeting (GREB) framework to help education planning and budgets work better for girls. But now it's time for implementation — and that starts by listening to girls. At a recent town hall, girls shared what they want to see in their schools: less crowded classrooms, better WASH facilities, more female teachers and greater support for girls in STEM. The best policies are shaped by the girls they're meant to serve. Learn more about our work in Nigeria: mala.la/4gGxAt5

Come along with girls' education advocate Amina as she heads to a town hall in Kano state, where girls are speaking directly to leaders about what they want to see in their schools. Amina's own journey to advocacy began in secondary school, when she helped a classmate get a scholarship so she could stay in school. It inspired her to keep speaking up for girls. She's now standing with the next generation of advocates as they call for safer schools, more female teachers and better learning opportunities.