DOHA, Qatar (AP) – US first lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday called on the world to fund and promote societal change to support girls’ education.
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Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser met with the First Lady of Gabon, Silvia Bongo Ondimba, on the inaugural day of WISE 2015.
Changing cultures must come first, she said.
But she said it is essential to stop attacks on schools and children. And that is precisely the message I intend to deliver this week when I travel to the Middle East. I’ll be visiting girls at a school in Jordan- one of many schools in that country educating both Jordanian children and children whose families have fled the conflict in Syria-to highlight the power of investments in girls’ education.
“But there are also those quiet moments when I’m sitting with a wounded warrior who’s rebuilding his or her life, or with a military spouse whose husband or wife has been deployed half a dozen times, and I’m just awed by their courage”, she said.
The speech is part of the first lady’s two-nation visit to the Mideast this week.
“The fact that two-thirds of university students in Qatar and nearly 40 percent of the Qatar work force are women is not an accident”.
She said more men are challenging traditional gender roles to help level the playing field for women.
She gave examples of speaking out against discriminatory laws and beliefs, as well as questioning workplace policies, such as those surrounding parental leave, that may limit an individual’s ability to be both a successful professional and parent.
The participants included: First Lady Silvia Bongo Ondimba of Gabon, founder of the Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Foundation; Mabel van Oranje of the Netherlands, board chair of Girls not Brides; Dr. Sakena Yacoobi, 2015 WISE Prize for Education Laureate; Leymah Gbowee, Nobel Peace Prize from Liberia; and Ms. Graca Machel, former first lady of Mozambique and South Africa and founder of Graca Machel Trust.
“When girls do attend secondary school, they often do so at great risk”, Obama said, referring to incidents of violence against girls in Afghanistan in Nigeria who were trying to get educations.
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She established “underground” home schools for 3,000 girls during the Taliban years in the 1990s when female education was banned, set up learning centers for girls and created teacher training programs. “Millions have benefited from her optimism”.
