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Apple promises to help Malala Fund educate over 100,000 girls

Tech giant Apple and the Malala Fund have teamed up to help deliver education to over 100,000 girls in India and Latin America.

Apple is partnering with young Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai's organization to push for access to education for all girls around the globe.

In a press release, the tech giant promised to help the nonprofit by providing funding and matching grants to efforts for education advancement. Though the amount of money is unspecified, the company said its contributions would help more than 100,000 girls in India and Latin America receive a quality education.

Apple, the first company to sign a partnership with Malala Fund since its inception, will contribute money and technology to the effort, and it also promised to help with curriculum and policy research. CEO Tim Cook will occupy a seat on the Malala Fund leadership council, according to the press release.

Image: Apple CEO Tim Cook and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai speak with Lebanese and Syrian students in Beirut
Apple CEO Tim Cook and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai speak with Lebanese and Syrian students in Beirut, Lebanon.Apple Inc.

“We believe that education is a great equalizing force, and we share Malala Fund’s commitment to give every girl an opportunity to go to school,” Cook said in the press release. “Malala is a courageous advocate for equality. She’s one of the most inspiring figures of our time, and we are honored to help her extend the important work she is doing to empower girls around the world.”

Malala Fund pushes for girls to receive at least 12 years of quality education, according to the nonprofit’s website. The organization plants seeds in regions known for underdeveloped educational opportunities for girls. So far Malala Fund has established efforts in Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria, along with refugee sites such as Jordan and Lebanon.

The world’s youngest Nobel laureate ever, Yousafzai — who has a history of speaking out about the importance of education for all children — founded the organization with her father Ziauddin in 2013. The next year, Yousafzai won the Nobel Peace Prize when she was just 17 for her activism and efforts to advance children’s education. She now studies philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University.

Related: Malala Yousafzai's 19th Birthday Is for #YesAllGirls, Access to Education

In a tweet that appeared on her verified Twitter account, Yousafzai said that she is grateful that Apple decided to invest “in our dream of a world where every girl can choose her own future.”

A 2016 report by UNESCO estimates that 130 million girls globally are not receiving any education. Malala Fund, now with Apple’s financial and technological support, is striving to change that.