Malala backs campaign against female genital mutilation

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager who survived being shot in the head by the Taliban, has offered her support to a campaign against female genital mutilation (FGM) in Britain.
The 16-year-old schoolgirl, who is now based in Birmingham, has linked a fellow teenager's campaign for greater awareness on the issue across British schools with her own global campaign for the right to education for every girl.
In an interview with the 'Guardian', Malala praised 17-year-old Fahma Mohamed's campaign and joined her in calling for better education in schools about FGM.
"I've watched every step of Fahma's campaign and I think she is on the edge of something huge. Over 140 million girls and women are mutilated - but like keeping girls out of school in Pakistan, we can come out together and be strong and change things for the next generation. I am her sister and I am at her side and I want her to be listened to I as I was," she said.

Fahma is to meet UK Education Secretary Michael Gove tomorrow in an attempt to convince him to play a role in ending the practice of FGM in the UK.
Malala, now a global advocate for women's rights, is to meet FGM campaigners in Birmingham where she lives with her family.

She will share a platform with FGM survivors and other campaigners next month when she gives a talk at the Southbank Centre in central London as part of the Women of the World festival.
She was 15 when she was shot in the head three times in Pakistan's Swat Valley for encouraging girls to go to school.

Surgeons at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham saved her life.