Congratulations to Malala Yousafzai for making the cover of the 2013 TIME 100 issue. Like our Voices For Change leaders, Malala is a young and powerful woman who bravely stands up for equal rights of women and girls: she represents a strong new generation who knows their value. A 15-year old student, Malala Yousafzai was gunned down by Taliban at the back of her school bus for standing up for girls and women’s education. The TIME 100 list also includes Aung San Suu Kyi, the Democratic Burmese leader who was put under house arrest for nearly 15 of the 21 years she was politically active, and SMF Global Advisory Board Member Sheryl Sandberg, whose new book Lean In is opening a heated discussion on women in leadership.
Thanks also to TIME for including Somaly Mam with a pro bono ad on page 150, photo by famed LOOK and LIFE magazine photographer Douglas Kirkland. Thank you to Price Arana and Press Cabinet for making it a reality.
But still we wonder: must it take acts of violence for the world to listen and understand the need for change? How long will women and girls have to risk their lives to be heard?
Onwards,
the Somaly Mam Foundation