The First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, today, September 25, 2014, expressed deep feelings towards local schoolgirls.
She disclosed this during the special key-note address at the Global Education First Initiative’s (GEFI) event on the sidelines of the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Obama said, “I’m thinking about girls like Malala, I’m thinking about those brave girls in Nigeria, I’m thinking about all the girls who will never make the headlines, who walk hours to school each day, who study late into the night because they are so hungry to fill every last bit of their God-given potential.”
“If we can show just a tiny fraction of their courage and their commitment then I know we can give all of our girls an education worthy of their promise.
“If we truly believe that every girl in every corner of the globe is worthy of an education as our own daughters and granddaughters are, then we need to deepen our commitment to these efforts,” she said.
These sentiments came months after the Boko Haram insurgents abducted over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State. All efforts by the government to rescue the girls have proved abortive.
More so, Obama promised to support world leaders and education personalities to see that all girls and young women had the opportunity to be educated.
She called for quality education worldwide, adding that girls and women should be empowered to form part of the post-2015 development agenda.
“Keeping our girls safe on the way to school, teaching them relevant skills once they’re there, and ensuring they graduate from secondary school; all of these things must be a part of our agenda. Addressing gender-based violence in all of its forms … that needs to be on the agenda too,” she stated.
The Deputy Secretary General, Jan Eliasson, welcomed the political will from the highest levels for the event tagged ‘Quality Education for the World We Want’ where 14 Heads of State/Government and Ministers from all regions of the world with UN agency heads and international education leaders promised to work tirelessly in order to achieve a high standard of education.
In his words, Eliasson said, “Quality education is more than an entry point into the job market. It is the foundation for personal fulfillment, for gender equality, for social cohesion, for sustainable development, for economic growth and for responsible global citizenship”.
