Yesterday First Lady Michelle Obama gave an empowering and convincing speech about the benefits the world has to gain from supporting the education of young girls. The talk was in support of the #LetGirlsLearn initiative she launched with President Obama last year and the World Bank’s commitment to invest $2.5 billion over five years in education projects directly benefiting adolescent girls.
What made this announcement all the more powerful was that it was made on the two year anniversary of the exact eve of the day in which nearly 300 girls in Nigeria were abducted by Boko Haram just for the mere fact that they wanted to get an education. In addition to Mrs. Obama, other speakers at the event included U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and three representatives from the developing countries of Rwanda, Ghana and India who shared their advancements and continued commitment to improving the number of girls who go to school in their respective countries.
“Globally, 62 million girls are not in school, and barriers to adolescent girls completing school are particularly significant.”
In addition to this startling stat, these world leaders came together in support of research showing that countries with more girls in secondary school tend to have lower maternal mortality rates, lower infant mortality rates, lower rates of HIV/AIDS, and better child nutrition.
Before introducing Mrs. Obama, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim also cited an example of one of the strongest economic reasons in encouraging girls to complete their schooling – “In Latin America, we found that when women’s participation in the labor market increased 15 percent in just one decade, the rate of poverty decreased by 30 percent.”
As each speaker shared their perspective and the documented benefits of keeping girls in school, it wasn’t hard to understand why when girls go to school, everything is better. Quite possibly the most emotionally moving piece of the presentation was when Mrs. Obama compared both her experience and that of her daughters’ to those still struggling to make strides in their communities and cultures. She even went so far as to ask as,
“Why are girls still missing so many days of school because of their menstrual cycles?”
Ironically, just two days ago ,we provided at least one answer to this question in a guest blog post by our #FierceWomenFunded partner, Global Grassroots, which tells the story of how an English teacher in Rwanda decreased the occurrence of menstrual shaming and sexual assault in schools by educating community members about menstruation and creating private latrines for girls. As a result, the national exam passing rate among girls jumped from 14.7% to 76%! Don’t you think this is a program that would be well deserving of some of the World Bank’s investment?
It’s no secret that having #healthymenstruation practices can make girls feel more comfortable and successful in school, and Rwanda is not alone in its efforts. We are experiencing some of the same needs for menstrual equity in schools right here in the U.S., in the form of a drop in school attendance rates due to the lack of access to menstrual care products. New York City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras-Copeland (D-Queens) is behind an initiative that received funding just last month to provide 25 middle and high schools in the Bronx and Queens with free tampons and pads. The program was approved after a smaller pilot version of it proved to increase attendance rates in young girls from 90% to 92.4%.
Councilwoman Ferreras-Copeland’s leadership on this initiative and our support of our #FierceWomenFunded partners is exactly what Michelle Obama called for in her closing paragraph at yesterday’s event. She thanked the World Bank for its significant investment in the cause, but then she emphasized the importance of smaller local leaders and businesses to create the same in their realms of influence. Thank you Mrs. Obama for using your platform to give girls around the world a voice, which also happens to be Maxim’s mantra of the year.
We’ll continue to do our part and invite you, our readers, to do the same. Whether it be with your next purchase of Maxim organic and natural menstrual care products (use the following coupon code at check out to get 10% off your order and support a 10% donation from Maxim to Global Grassroots: GLOBALGR) or creating an initiative of your own, let’s give the world a reason to #LetGirlsLearn!
