Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai said on Saturday it was “not too late for world leaders to do right by girls”, adding that it was time for adults to “listen to them, fund their work, and follow their lead”, a statement issued in this regard said.

Malala was speaking during a gathering on Saturday in New York organised by “What Girls Want”, backed by an informal coalition of girl-centered non-profit organisations, institutions, networks, and funds and sought improvements to the United Nation’s agenda for the Summit of the Future, scheduled to begin on September 22.

The Summit of the Future is an event that brings world leaders together at the UN headquarters in New York where the international body tries to forge a new international consensus on how they can deliver a better “present and safeguard the future”.

According to the statement, the activists — surrounded by “life-size cutouts of world leaders dressed ironically as youthful “girl experts” — delivered a strong message: “World leaders aren’t the experts on what girls want and need for their futures — girls are.”

Eylül Erçin — a participant in the demonstration — said, “Time has long passed for girls and young women like me to be treated as mere afterthoughts or last-minute considerations.”

“World leaders have a crucial responsibility to include us in the foundational design of these processes, ensuring that our priorities are integrated into shaping the future we will inherit,” the statement said quoting Erçin.

“Anything less is unacceptable,” Erçin said.

The statement further added that the event was about more than calling out a process failure, rather, delivered “a forward-looking call to action this week built around clear, actionable proposals”.

“They [the girls] expect government officials, UN institutions, philanthropists, and community leaders to step up and help shape a more equitable future,” it said.

It stated that the demands put forward by the girls were “practical and universal, ranging from improving access to safe, quality education; eliminating gender-based violence; resourcing girls’ movements; and investing in solutions to combat climate change, among many others”.

While citing a UN study, the statement said there was clear evidence that “investing in girls and young women and delivering on their rights has transformative impacts for economies, societies, and the environment, helping to advance the Sustainable Development Goals and building towards a brighter future that girls deserve.”

Malala said that everywhere she has travelled in the world, “girls are eager to tell me their vision for their futures.”

“As adults, it is our job to listen to them, fund their work, and follow their lead,” she said, according to the statement.

“The good news is that it is not too late for world leaders to do right by girls,” she said.

“They can start by prioritising their demands in tomorrow’s final Summit of the Future deliberations and by investing resources to match their words in the months ahead,” she added.

According to the What Girls Want website, the leaders “haven’t bothered to meaningfully listen to or involve the people who have the most at stake in that future: girls and young women. This is unacceptable.

It listed down 12 demands that the girls had come to a consensus on through public consultations.

The 12 demands are: “End inequality and discrimination; invest in gender-sensitive policies; fund girls’ work and activism; codify girls’ rights; ensure decision-making power; strengthen accountability; combat climate change with sustainable practices; ensure reproductive justice; guarantee full and quality education for all; build peaceful societies; freedom from violence; economic justice.”