Qatar Foundation, under the leadership of its Chairperson, Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser established the World Innovation Summit for Education in 2009.
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In an essay for The Atlantic posted on Monday, the First Lady wrote about the 62 million girls worldwide who are not in school, and why that needs to change.
First Lady Michelle Obama participates in a meet and greet with service members, in support of the Joining Forces initiative, at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, November 3, 2015.
The first lady also referred to her own experience of gender discrimination as a child growing up in Chicago, recalling that even though she was “bright and curious, and I had plenty of opinions of my own, people were often more interested in hearing what my brother had to say”. “Political will is required as is a joint sense of moral and historic responsibility to protect and invest in education”, she said.
As part of Let Girls Learn, Obama has worked to fund community girls’ education projects, educate girls in conflict zones, and address issues like poverty and HIV that keep girls out of school. “I don’t want to see you again if you don’t go on this trip”. “As fathers, as husbands and simply as human beings, this is your struggle, too”.
She said that it was distressing indeed that even after their secondary and further level of studies, many girls were finding themselves out of employment and there was no place where they could use the skills they had worked so hard to develop.
In a passionate speech to the delegates of the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) in Doha, Mrs. Obama said that a frank discussion was needed around the world on the way women are treated and, in particular, on obstacles that prevent girls from achieving their potential at school.
“If we truly want to get girls into our classrooms, then we need to have an honest conversation about how we view and treat women in our societies”, she told an global education conference.
In many countries when girls begin to menstruate, they are forced to stay home instead of attending classes because they don’t have adequate resources to accommodate this natural function while they are in school. “We need you to speak out against laws and beliefs that harm women”.
Both Sheikha Moza and Obama jointly awarded Dr. Sakena Yacoobi from Afghanistan the 2015 WISE Prize for Education Laureate..
“My goal is there would not be one single child uneducated in Afghanistan, especially girls”, she said. But I was lucky, because I had parents who believed in me, who had big dreams for me.
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“However my most important job I have ever had is I am a mother of two lovely girls”, the first lady said to thumping applause.
