Michelle Obama teamed up with the World Bank to announce the investment of $2.5 billion dedicated to help adolescent females attend school in low-income countries, according to U.S. News and World Report. The money will be distributed throughout the next five years.
Mrs. Obama spoke for her first time at this event, and discussed her and President Obama’s “Let Girls Learn” campaign they launched in 2015. The campaign’s mission is to tackle the various issues that hinder young females from attending school.
She called the investment powerful -- there is power in education and it will transform the lives of millions of females around the world.
The World Bank initiative focuses on girls age 12 to 17 and helps them achieve their real capabilities. The majority of the dollars will be used to make quality education accessible in regions like South Asia and the sub-Saharan Africa -- places with the leader number of adolescents not in school.
Development experts say quality education is imperative to overcoming gender inequality worldwide. A World Bank study found that a female’s lifelong income is 18 percent higher for every year she attended school. Officials from the World Bank feel the program will have positive economic effects worldwide.
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said that as little as one percent improvement in females who complete secondary school can have a major impact on income growth per capita.
Kim also points out stronger education makes it harder for generational poverty to exist.
An estimated 60 million females around the world do not attend school, and approximately half of those are adolescents.
I am so pleased to learn that the World Bank is donating this money for female education. The funds will make a significant difference in the lives of young women, their families, their communities -- and likely even their countries.