The Pakistani schoolgirl and global campaigner for children’s education Malala Yousafzai has traveled to Abuja, Nigeria to meet the families of more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls.  She’s pledging to use her influence to help free the girls who were abducted from their school by the terrorist group Boko Haram, whose name means, “western education is forbidden”.

“I can see those girls as my sisters,” said Malala, who famously survived being shot in the head by the Afghanistan Taliban because she insisted on going to school, “and I’m going to speak up for them until they are released.”  Monday is her 17th birthday, and also the day Malala is scheduled to speak with Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan.

A #BringBackOurGirls Twitter campaign supported by US First Lady Michelle Obama and actress Angelina Jolie brought pressure on Nigerian authorities to act.  President Jonathan pledged to save the girls, drawing promises of Western help to do so. 

However, several weeks have lapsed since their abduction and aside from a few escaping, little progress has been made.  Boko Haram apparently feels secure enough to release another taunting video, in which the terrorist group’s leader mocks the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, and claims responsibility for recent terrorist attacks.