User:Basma95/sandbox

The Malala Fund is an independent organization led by Malala Yousafzai aiming to create a world in which every girl receives an opportunity to complete twelve years of quality education in a safe environment.^[1]The Malala Fund leaders advocate at local, national, and international levels to ensure that all girls have the necessary resources to complete their education. The organization invests in developing leaders in countries and regions where most girls miss out on secondary education. The fund is striving to get help from the government and insititutions to reach its goal of educating all girls worldwide.^[2][3]

History

In November 2012, Malala Yousafzai, her father, and a group of advocates, engaged with Vital Voices to support the beginning of the Malala Fund.^[4] From the beginning, key partners such as the UN Foundation and Girl Up supported the Malala Fund. A core committee of Malala’s family, entrepreneurs, education and international experts also ran and advised the organization.  

The Malala Fund dispersed its first grant in April 2012 to a Pakistan-based non-governmental organization with extensive experience working on education issues. The grant allows 40 girls ranging in age from five to 12 years old to attend school — girls who were engaged in domestic labor or at high risk of entering the workforce. The program takes a holistic approach to education and will provide the girls with formal support at school and access to technology. It will also support a network of girls and families that value girls’ education. 

On December 10th, 2013, UNESCO and Pakistan launched the Malala Fund as a part of the celebration for human rights day. At the event, the president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, announced that his country would be the first one to donate ten million dollars.^[5]

On her 16^th birthday on July 12, 2014, Malala gave her first public address before the United Nations and announced that The Malala Fund would become its own independent organization. The launch of the fund brought together a community of funders and supporters to the cause from bake sales, campus activists, to entertainment icons such as Angelina Jolie.^[6]

Advocacy Work

Because Malala Yousefzai believes that every child should receive more than just basic education, her mission is to secure twelve years of education for every girl. In a world that is rapidly changing, she does not believe that a basic education is enough. To be able to compete with other children, more education is needed for girls from underserved communities. Because the Malala Fund seeks to go beyond basic education, it strives for more participation from donors. It is estimated that the current shortfall in funding is $39 billion to grant all girls twelve years of education.

In addition to fundraising, the Malala Fund is advocating to have the United Nations Statistical Commissions to agree to the measures of success for the new Sustainable Development Goals to collect data in every country on children's participation in 12 years of primary and secondary education, not 9. Also, the fund aims to push governments to invest in measuring girls participation in education in 12 years, not 9 years, which many governments are currently doing.

Because girls in areas with conflict are twice as likely to be out of school, the Malala Fund is asking governments to increase its humanitarian aid for education, world leaders to make financial commitments to a new Global Fund for areas with conflict, and for governments to sign the Safe Schools Declaration and implement its provisions of ensuring access to education under tough circumstances.^[7][8]

Programs

Pakistan

Pakistan, Malala's home country, has the second largest number of girls not in school in the world. The Malala Fund is seeking to reduce barriers to secondary education for girls.^[9] The organization has expanded itself in Pakistan by increasing enrollment for girls in secondary education in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. In addition, the fund has repaired classrooms and provided books, uniforms, and other school supplies to girls at schools in Punjab affected by floods and has also established educational programming and social support at an Internally Displaced People camp in the Tribal Areas for children escaping the dangerous circumstances in North Waziristan.^[10]

Nigeria

Nigeria has the largest number of girls not in school in the world. The average girl stays in school only until the age of nine.^[11]The Malala Fund teams up with local partners to Nigeria to offer girls an education, and for those women who are unable to return to school, an alternative path to be self-sufficient. Additionally, the organization has provided kidnapped girls who escaped from Boko Haram with counseling services and full scholarships to finish secondary schooling.^[12][13] Also, through the Centre for Girls Education in Northern Nigeria, the fund provides funding to support safe spaces led by local mentors to teach girls reading, writing, math, and life skills. This program is aimed at decreasing social and economic barriers to girls' education, delay marriage, and develop a soft and hard skill set.^[14]

Syrian Refugees

Providing access to education for displaced and refugee children from Syria is a one of many priorities for the Malala Fund. On her 18th birthday, Malala opened a new all-girls school in Lebanon^[15] to provide informal education for Syrian refugee girls in the Bekaa Valley.^[16] Additionally, the Malala Fund currently funds programs in Za’atari and Azraq refugee camps in Jordan. In Za’atari, the fund supports Save the Children to offer information technology courses for adolescent girls; and UNICEF and UNHCR to offer transportation, tutoring and eyeglasses for students in Azraq camp.^[17]

Kenya

Nairobi, Kenya is quickly becoming the digital hub in Africa and the Malala Fund aims to help economically disadvantaged girls take advantage of this current trend. The Malala Fund supports girls from Nairobi’s underserved neighborhoods to enroll in NairoBits’ Girls’ Centres, where they gain training in technical skills, reproductive health, and life skills; which helps them enter the technology workforce.^[18][19] Moreover, because secondary school fees are out of reach for many, the fund supports Free The Children’s Oleleshwa All-Girls Secondary School in Narok County, serving low-income girls.^[18]

End Child Marriages in Pakistan

Because early marriages related to low levels of education, RTE is aiming to reach politicians, youth, and parents through educational events to create awareness about the detrimental consequences of early marriage and to campaign and lobby for proper legislation. RTE is also providing legal and social aid to individuals affected by early marriages. Along with RTE, there are many partners such as with Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) and Rutgers WPF, assisting in supporting the end to child marriages in Pakistan.^[20]

Education Law Centres

RTE operates Education Law Centres (ELC) in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The ELC in New Jersey was founded in 1973 fro New Jersey's public school children and advocates for educational equality in the United States. It promotes this through coalition building, policy development, communications, research, and lobbying at state and federal level. Through Abbot v. Burke, ELC has advanced fair school funding, and safe and adequate school facilities, which has proved to be effective in closing student achievement gaps in New Jersey.^[21]

The ELC of Pennsylvania was founded in 1975 and has strived to make good public education accessible to underserved children such as children of color, children in foster homes, and English language learners. ELC does this through legal work by advocating for new laws and policies, and training and information-sharing. ^[22]

Often times, Western and Pakistani media have shown similar events Malala Yousafzai's life in a completely contrasting way. While the west commonly portrays Malala as a feminist education activist and a victim of terrorism, the Pakistani media initially avoided taking a stance, but became more critical of Malala’s symbol post western intervention in Pakistan.^[23]

Although mainstream Pakistani media has echoed similar sentiments to Western media such as sympathizing for Malala and illustrating her as a hero, alternative Pakistani media has discussed underlying western motives in painting a glorified image of Malala. A common question for alternative media has become why Malala? Alternative Pakistani media has concluded that her image was used to create a negative depiction of Pakistani society as a violent and misogynistic country. This was a way for the west to justify their military intervention in the tribal regions of Pakistan. By illustrating Malala as a helpless victim, the West was able to portray itself as a potential savior for the Pakistan.^[23][24]

When Malala was first nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013, a sample of 2000 Pakistanis were asked about their opinion on the nomination. While 44% said they were pleased, another 44% said they were on the fence, leaving the remaining feeling displeased.^[25] While there were numerous tweets and social media posts congratulating her, there was a clear group of people wondering why she was even nominated in the first place.^[26] Pakistanis felt that she was just a normal girl who had unfortunately been shot by the Taliban and was now receiving attention worldwide. It was commonly felt that she had not made enough of a social impact to receive the prize as other social leaders may have made. ^[27][28][29]

While there are clear negative sentiments about Malala in Pakistan, there is also support from Malala's nation. In 2014, Pakistanis were once again asked to express their opinion of Malala in a survey. Again, more people, specifically 30% held positive views about her, while 20% had negative sentiments. The rest held no opinon. ^[30]

Proposal to add information to "Reception in Pakistan" on the Malala Yousafzai page

The article does a poor job in discussing a variety of perceptions of Malala Yousafzai in Pakistan. The section "Reception in Pakistan" primarily focuses on how Yousafzai is not receiving too much support in Pakistan because the public perceives her glorified image as way for the West to victimize women in the Muslim world and pursue its hidden agenda. By adding more negative reactions by the Pakistani public, a reader can easily be misled that there is not a large group that actually supports Yousafzai. I think this section could use equal amount of information about negative and positive views on Malala. Thomas and Shukul do a great job of discussing Western and Pakistani media coverage of Malala during the different significant phases of her life. ^{[31] [24]}In addition, I would like to add more information on how people in Pakistan reacted to Malala wining the Nobel Peace prize.^[28]

While it is important to point out negative reactions by the Pakistani community^[32], it is also crucial to point out support from Malala's nation for her efforts. Many Pakistanis support Malala's initiatives and views on education access for all children.^[33][34]

Proposal to create a new page for "The Malala Fund"

While Malala Yousafzai's page discusses The Malala Fund, it does not give enough detail to understand what the non-profit organization raises funds for. Because The Malala Fund is one of the most significant outcomes from Malala's activism and her assassination attempt, it would be useful to have a new page dedicated to the fund and its progression. This new page would include a section on the history of the fund, which will include when and why it was formed. There will be a second section discussing the different types of programs the fund supports. ^[35][36] Lastly, the third section will discuss awards and recognition the fund has received over time. ^[37][38][39]

Proposal to create an English page for Sonia Bone Guajajara

Although Sonia Guajajara has an article in Portuguese, I would like to create a page for her in English as she is the national coordinator of Brazil's Association of Indigenous Peoples and a strong spokeswoman for the country's indigenous movement. Currently, the page in Portuguese only discusses a brief introduction to Guajajara's biography and mission. I would like to elaborate more on those two topics and add in the social and legal impact she has had on indigenous rights and movements across Brazil.^{[40] [41][42]}Additionally, I would like to add a section on awards and recognition she has received over time. ^[43]

After reading the "Reception in Pakistan" section on the Malala page, I would have to agree with your suggestions. The section seems very biased. By using Thomas and Shukul's article, a more comprehensive and unbiased draft can be provided.

The Malala page only mentions the fund in two places... which is absurd. Personally, I would create a new subsection for the Malala Fund as opposed to and entire page. The reason being the Malala page gets millions of views whereas a new page might get lost in the Wikipedia world. Other than that... it's a great addition.

Drafting an English page for Sonia would create as well as spread awareness on the issue of indigenous people. Every movement requires inspirational figures and Sonia is a great example of one.

Overall, I like the additions and edits that you have suggested in your sandbox for the two different articles (three if The Malala Fund is created). Also, you have great compiled a great list of sources to support your suggestions. I would recommend that you start drafting these articles as soon as possible.