Photos by AFP/Safin Hamed

Malala Yousafzai, a Nobel Prize laureate and international women’s activist marked her 20th birthday among university students in the Kurdistan Region. 

  
She met with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani on Tuesday hailing co-existence and the spirit of tolerance among the Kurdistan Region's different ethnic groups. 
 
She plans to visit refugee camps in the Kurdistan Region containing women who have been subjected to violence and fled for their lives.
 
She had also said she was ready to work with the KRG and non-governmental organizations to help Kurdistan women and girls at camps and cities in terms of education. 

Yousafzai arrived in the Kurdistan Region on Monday to raise awareness on female education for vulnerable populations.
 
She also met with the head of the Region's Foreign Relations Department Falah Mustafa, on Monday saying she was eager to meet with the Yezidi women survivors of ISIS, wanting to hear their stories.
 
The Kurdistan Region has provided shelter to tens of thousands of Yezidis who fled after they were targeted by ISIS in 2014. More than 15,000 babies have been born in camps to Yezidi parents, according to health officials in Duhok.
 
Yousafzai added that her people had also suffered at the hands of terror, displacement and plights.
 
She hoped for the development of education for children. She said she would continue to hold her message to support children women and girls.
 
Yousafzai first gained recognition by blogging for BBC Urdu in 2009 about growing up under the influence of the Taliban in Pakistan. Using the name "Gul Makai," she described being forced to stay at home and questioned the motives of the Taliban.