Michelle Obama’s girls’ education effort gets Pakistani boost

WASHINGTON: Welcoming guests with the traditional Muslim greeting of “asalaam alaikum,” Michelle Obama announced a US pledge of $70 million (Dh257 million) to help educate 200,000 adolescent girls in Pakistan.

She said the money will help build more than a dozen schools, rehabilitate hundreds of facilities and provide training and scholarships to help Pakistani girls “fulfil their promise” to become the next generation of doctors, teachers and entrepreneurs.

“These girls are all of our girls,” Michelle said. “I have passion for this issue because I cannot look into the eyes of young women and not see myself and not see my own daughters, and not want the best for them.”

Michelle was accompanied Thursday by the Pakistan prime minister’s wife, Kalsoom Nawaz Sharif, and his daughter, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, who praised the first lady’s global effort to educate girls.

Sharif said Michelle is an inspiration and her daughters, Malia and Sasha, “could not have a better role model.”

Joining hands with Michelle at one point, Sharif said: “We shall see about making a difference and we shall not rest until every girl is learning and in school. We shall not rest until every mother is confident that her daughter will have a better life than what she had.”

The US commitment follows Pakistan’s recent promise to double education spending, enroll more girls in school and provide more female teachers.

The first lady leads a US government effort to help more than 62 million adolescent girls around the world enrol and stay in school.

Michelle said since announcing the Let Girls Learn initiative this year, the US has received pledges of more than $800 million. The sum includes $350 million from Japan, $200 million from South Korea and $200 million in a partnership with the United Kingdom.

Officials say girls in the developing world are less likely to attend primary school and more likely to face barriers to access and completing an education, which benefits themselves, their families and their communities.

Since launching the programme, Michelle has visited Japan, Cambodia and the United Kingdom to promote the initiative and recognise new partnerships.