From The Peace Corps Director….Listen Up!

Dear Returned Peace Corps Volunteers,

Today, I am delighted to share that as part of the U.S. government’s commitment to girls’ education, First Lady Michelle Obama and the Peace Corps have formed a powerful collaboration called Let Girls Learn to expand access to education for girls around the world. I invite you to watch a special message from the First Lady to all Peace Corps Volunteers-and the staff who support them-worldwide.

While we know that educating girls is essential to healthy and thriving communities, globally, 62 million girls are not in school, and barriers to adolescent girls completing school are particularly significant. In some countries, fewer than 10 percent of teenage girls complete secondary school.

The Peace Corps’ collaboration with the First Lady will start this year in 11 targeted countries: Albania, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Georgia, Ghana, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Togo, and Uganda.

Under Let Girls Learn, we will be training Volunteers and counterparts to become local champions of girls’ education, working hand in hand with communities on projects through a new Let Girls Learn Fund, and increasing the number of Volunteers working to break down barriers to girls’ education in the communities they serve.

I hope you will take a moment to visit our new website, letgirlslearn.peacecorps.gov, to learn more, and to view the First Lady’s video message. Finally, as we celebrate Peace Corps Week, as well as International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, I would like to thank all Returned Volunteers who continue to carry out the Peace Corps mission. Day in and day out, you demonstrate your passion for sharing world peace and friendship, making a difference in the lives of women and men around the world. I am grateful and inspired to be working with and for you.

Sincerely,

Carrie Hessler-Radelet
Director