Malala Yousafzai lobbies on Capitol Hill for global education funding

WASHINGTON, June 23 (UPI) -- Malala Yousafzai, the 17-year-old Pakistani girl who won a Nobel Peace Prize for her advocacy for girls' education, asked U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday to increase funding for her cause.

Yousafzai and her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, met with a number of U.S. politicians on Capitol Hill, including Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill.; and Reps. Kay Granger, R-Texas, and Nita Lowey, D-N.Y.

Ahead of her visit, she released a statement calling for the United States to step up its funding for education worldwide.

"It is time that a bold and clear commitment is made by the U.S. to increase funding and support governments around the world to provide 12 years of free primary and secondary education for everyone by 2030," Yousafzai wrote.

The young lobbyist said she wants all governments to make the same commitment.

"I hope for a positive outcome," she told The Washington Post of her visit Tuesday. If not, "I will come again and again and again."

In 2012, Yousafzai was shot in the head by the Taliban for promoting the education of girls.