Girl’s day: Obama foundation launches new initiative for adolescent girls

The Obama Foundation, on Thursday, International Girl Child’s Day, launched a new initiative, which is an effort to empower adolescent girls around the world through education.

The initiative is called the Global Girls Alliance, the foundation, founded by former American President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, announced on Thursday.

The foundation works to empower young leaders and everyday citizens with the skills and tools they need to create change in their communities.

According to their statement on Thursday, the initiative is aimed at supporting families, communities, and countries of adolescent girls, who are out of school around the world.

In the fact sheets of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2016, about 263 million children and youth are out of school, which is equivalent to a quarter of the population of Europe.

That total includes 61 million children of primary school age, 60 million of lower secondary school age, and the first-ever estimate of those of upper secondary school age at 142 million.

Mrs Obama said, “What could those girls accomplish if they were allowed to unlock their full potential? What could they achieve if the hurdles that keep them out of school—scarce resources, early marriage and pregnancy, a toxic mindset that says they are unworthy of an education—were swept away?

“We’re determined to find out. Today, on International Day of the Girl, I’m proud to announce the Obama Foundation’s launch of the Global Girls Alliance, an effort to empower adolescent girls around the world through education, so that they can support their families, communities, and countries.”

According to her, the initiative is also taking a fresh approach to supporting the grassroots leaders who are already working in communities all over the world.

Speaking on past projects embarked upon by the foundation, she stated that “Firstly, we’ve created a network that will allow these leaders to connect with one another, share best practices, and, ultimately, scale their work.

“Second, we’ve partnered with GoFundMe to create a new crowd fundraising platform—a place where anyone, anywhere around the world, can support efforts to empower girls in places like India, Guatemala, or Uganda.”

Meanwhile, Mrs Obama on Thursday tweeted on the positive impacts of the girl-child education.

“An educated girl can lift up her family, her community, and her country. That’s why I’m so proud that today the @ObamaFoundation is launching the Global @GirlsAlliance in support of adolescent girls’ education around the world.”