62 million girls globally are not in school.
WASHINGTON, DC: The White House has announced a new initiative that will allow tens of millions of adolescent girls around the world to attend and complete school.
“Sixty-two million girls around the world who should be in school are not,” President Barack Obama said while introducing the First Lady Michelle Obama, who announced the initiative, in the East Room, on Tuesday. “That’s not by accident. It’s the direct result of barriers, large and small, that stand in the way of girls who want to learn.”
The initiative will build on the “Let Girls Learn” campaign launched last year by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a fact sheet released by the White House on the occasion said.
“Let Girls Learn will elevate existing programs, including in areas of conflict and crisis, and leverage public and private sector partners,” it said. “It will also look to build more partnerships and challenge other organizations and governments to commit resources to lift up adolescent girls across the globe.”
Obama thanked Reps. Kay Granger and Nita Lowey, two big congressional supporters of the initiative.
Michelle Obama said the new community-focused girls’ education initiative “will draw on the talent and energy of the nearly 7,000 Peace Corps volunteers serving in more than 60 countries.”
The first lady said she will kick of the initiative “with a trip later this month to Japan and Cambodia.”