First ladies Obama and Bush urge African leaders to educate, empower women and girls

8 August, 2014
Click to watch video
Click to watch video

In a conversation at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. with former first lady Laura Bush, Michelle Obama shared her personal success story and the important role education played in her life.

“I am an African American woman”, she noted, “and there’s nothing in my life that would indicate that I would be sitting on this stage with a former First Lady and the most renowned journalist and every first spouse in Africa. My parents believed in the value of education, even though they were not educated themselves.  And they pushed my brother and I to do the best that we could do.”

Likewise, Mrs. Bush stated that “because only countries where all people are involved can be successful.  When we look around the world and we see countries where half of the population is marginalized or left out, then we usually see countries that are failing.”

Mrs. Obama urged leaders from African nations to empower women and girls by improving their access to education. “Until we value women and girls, we won’t tackle those other problems,” she said. “Until we prioritize our girls and understand that they are as important and their education is as important as the education of our sons, then we will have lots of work to do.”

Read in full: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2014/08/06/first-ladies-obama-and-bush-urge-african-leaders-to-educate-empower-women-and-girls/

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Comments
Carmen Maria Luis9 August, 2014 at 1:16 pm

I like the photo and message of Michelle Obama, every country in the world where sexism and discrimination exists, are a failed country.

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