“We cannot address our girls’ education crisis until we address the broader cultural beliefs and practices that can help cause and perpetuate this crisis”, Michelle wrote as she landed in Qatar as part of her trip to the Middle East which includes Jordan where she intends to promote girl’s education.
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First Lady Michelle Obama has written a powerful, poignant essay about the need for all girls around the world to have access to an education.
“I was even told that I would never be admitted to a prestigious university, so I shouldn’t even bother to apply”, added Obama, who graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School.
Her remarks Wednesday did not appear specifically directed at her Qatari hosts, though in its annual human rights report the State Department said “legal, institutional, and cultural discrimination” in the country limits women’s participation in society.
For her part, Obama lauded the high percentage of women attending universities and working in Qatar, crediting Sheikha Moza..
Obama said she and Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden, started the Joining Forces service member, military family and veteran support campaign “because we wanted to rally Americans to honor and support not just you, but your families … to take a few of the worries off your plates”. They’re receiving no formal education at all-no reading, no writing, no math-none of the basic skills they need to provide for themselves and their families, and contribute fully to their countries.
Said Conan, “When you’re on a base and #FLOTUS asks you to drop and give her fifty, you give her fifty of your @TeamCoco best”.
In this photo made available by the Qatar News Agency, QNA, U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama’ left, talks with Qatar Emir Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani in Doha, Qatar, Tuesday, November 3, 2015. “I was lucky because I had parent who believed in me, who had big dreams for me”. But I think after they’re done with their education, that’s where we need to confront all of the traditional norms.
“When girls are young they are often seen simply as children but when they hit adolescence and start to develop into women they are suddenly subject to all of their society’s bias around gender”.
Qatar Foundation, under the leadership of its Chairperson, Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser established the World Innovation Summit for Education in 2009.
Obama’s speech drew attention to a White House initiative called Let Girls Learn.
To loud applause she told the audience: “Today, to all of the men here, I want to be very clear – we need you”.
When you think about those numbers and how lucky we are to live in a place where value is placed on the education of women, it’s hard not to be inspired.
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Opening the conference, Sheikha Moza warned that the challenges faced by girls in the Middle East were worsening.
