Michelle Obama: We Need to Work on Cultural Norms That "Devalue Girls"

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Worldwide, more than 62 million girls are not in school. According to UNESCO, girls who are denied an education have a harder time escaping a life of poverty, suffer poorer health, and are more likely to be forced into child marriages. 

In March, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama announced they were spearheading the Let Girls Learn initiative to draw attention to this global education crisis. 

Michelle Obama spoke about her critical mission to Cosmopolitan.com after delivering the keynote address at the World Innovation Summit for Education in Doha, Qatar, on Nov. 4. She wants to ensure that girls have access to education no matter where they live. "When I think about those girls, I think those are our girls," she said.​

"We've seen significant development in education for children at the primary school level. Things really drop off for girls in secondary school," she said. ​According to a 2015 UNESCO report, adolescent children "are nearly twice as likely to be out of school as children of primary school age" around the world.​ In many countries, however, adolescent girls face higher barriers to school than boys do, due to a variety of social and economic factors.

Girls without a secondary education are six times as likely to be married as children. In areas affected by conflict, going to school may be unsafe for girls, as they are vulnerable to sexual abuse and other forms of exploitation. In fact, UNESCO reports that "most out-of-school children and adolescents in conflict-affected countries are girls​." In some countries, stigma against menstruation or lack of sanitary facilities at school can keep teenage girls at home for several days every month. In cultures that value men over women, a family with limited means may prioritize a boy's education while marrying off its girls.​​

Obama explained that world leaders need to address the underlying cultural norms and stigmas that devalue girls. "While we need to invest in resources like bathrooms and school fees and uniforms and safe transportation," she said, "we also need to work on cultural norms that devalue girls, that only value them for their bodies and not for their minds. That takes a lot of work."​

The societal benefits of educating girls are so profound, according to What Works in Girls' Education, that "girls education is the best investment that can be made anywhere in the world" in both developing and advanced nations.​ That's why the Let Girls Learn campaign is partnering with international aid organizations and companies to create educational infrastructure and establish empowering development programs around the world. 

These girls "have just as much promise and potential as my daughters, as I had when I was that age," Obama said. "Knowing that exists, I can't walk away from it."

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