Malala Yousafzi is to speak at Bradford Cathedral next month as part of a festival celebrating the achievements of women and girls across the world.
The teenage activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner will be taking part in the first Women of the World Festival to be held in the north of England, a weekend of events taking place in Bradford on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th of November.
An activist for female education and the world’s youngest Nobel Prize laureate, Malala Yousafzi came to the attention of the world when she was shot three times at close range by a Pakistani gunman in an assassination attempt. She has been named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2014 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, along with Kailash Satyarthi, for her struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.
?At Bradford Cathedral, on Saturday November 5 at 6.30pm, Malala will be joined by young women from across Bradford to talk about how they would like to reorganise their community – and the world – and the actions they will take to achieve it.
Welcoming the visit, the Dean of Bradford Cathedral, the Very Revd Jerry Lepine, said, "Malala Yousafzai is without doubt one of the most inspirational people on the planet at the moment. Her courage, humility, wisdom and commitment to the empowering of girls and women through education has challenged leaders of nations and schoolgirls across the world. ... It is more than a privilege to welcome her to Bradford Cathedral. It is a joy."
Music, dance, theatre, performance, poetry and comedy all feature heavily throughout the rest of the festival. Women of the World originated at the Southbank Centre in London and has spread to other cities but Bradford is the first city in the north of England to host the event.
Other speakers will include Naz Shah MP?, Karma Nirvana’s Jasvinder Sanghera and Irish Times journalist Róisín Ingle? who will discuss the universal issue of shame and the Samia Shahid honour-killing case; Salma Yaqoob ?and Bea Campbell t?alk about women in power and whether it leads to a more equal society; Kersten England?, Chief Executive of Bradford Council, Naz Shah MP? and Fiona Macaulay? from Bradford University’s Peace Studies department on the pioneering foremothers of Bradford who have been lost to history ; and writer Kay Mellor OBE,? who with campaigners and women from local prostitution services, discusses Band of Gold twenty years since it was televised.
Local organisations taking part include Staying Put, 4women, Karma Nirvana, WUR Bradford, Mind the Gap Studios, Dance United, White Ribbon Campaign, Equity Partnership, E5 project, Peacemakers International, and Tapepuka.
Day passes, giving access to a range of events, can be purchased at £10 full price, £5 concessions.
‘Malala in Bradford’ is free but ticketed. It is not covered by the WOW day pass - day pass holders require a separate ticket.
To book, please call Southbank Centre Ticket Office on: 0207 960 4200 or book online at http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/festivals-series/wow-bradford