Malala YousufZai:Speech on 18th Birthday

"I am honoured to mark my 18th birthday with the brave and inspiring girls of Syria. I am here on behalf of the 28 million children who are kept from the classroom because of armed conflict. Their courage and dedication to continue their schooling in difficult conditions inspires people around the world and it is our duty to stand by them.”

Human Rights Activist and Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai celebrated her 18th birthday in an incredible way. Yesterday, she expressed herunyielding commitment to refugees and education by inaugurating a school for more than 200 Syrian girls living in refugee camps in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. This new school, named The Malala Yousafzai All-Girls School, will offer education and skills training to girl refugees aged 14 to 18.

"On this day, I have a message for the leaders of this country, this region and the world: ‘you are failing the Syrian people, especially Syria's children’. This is a heart-breaking tragedy -- the world's worst refugee crisis in decades."

Malala, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, was attacked in her native Pakistan in 2012 because of her campaign for girls' rights and education.

Lebanon is currently hosting nearly 1.2 million registered Syrian refugees, though the total number in the country may be even higher.

Source:UNHCR

BRICS countries have closer partnership, broader prospects

In a commentary last Friday, People's Daily said that the BRICS countries will make greater contributions to world peace and development as long as the bloc continues todeepen cooperation. A closer partnership between the BRICS nations will definitely create broader prospects.

The leaders' meeting mechanism plays the most crucial political leading role in the multilevel and comprehensive cooperation framework between BRICS countries. The 7th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit was held in the south western Russian city of Ufa on July 9, 2015. The summit is of great importance for the BRIC Snations to join hands in building a closer partnership.

The theme of this year's summit is "BRICS partnership: A powerful factor for global development". In his keynote speech on the summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on BRICS countries to build a four-pronged partnership -- safeguarding world peace,boosting common development, promoting diversified civilization and strengthening global economic governance.

The farsighted proposal will guide people to further understand the positioning, mission and influence of BRICS countries, the commentary said.

The steady development of cooperation between BRICS countries has proved the block's effectiveness and forceful action. The BRICS bloc has increasingly become a driving force in promoting world economic growth and international financial monetary system reform.

Furthermore, the BRICS bloc can further stimulate the rising momentum of the over all strength in emerging market countries and the majority of developing countries, as well as having a profound influence in international affairs.

It is predicted that the BRICS countries will play an active and constructive role in the post-2015 development agenda, climate change negotiations, IMF reform, and other global issues. 

The world economy is in a deep adjustment stage after the global financial crisis. Under such background, the BRICS nations are facing many difficulties and challenges. Thus,they choose to join hands and strengthen cooperation.

source:People's daily