Michelle Obama will help Launch the Peace Corps Support of Education for Girls

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – First lady Michelle Obama will travel to Japan and Cambodia this month as part of a U.S. global effort to support education for girls, the White House said on Tuesday. She will visit Tokyo and Kyoto in Japan from March 18 to March 20, and the Cambodian capital Siem Reap from March 21 to 22, it said in a statement. The initiative aims to reduce the number of girls — 62 million worldwide — who do not attend school, according to the administration.

The effort, launched last summer through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), will use the Peace Corps volunteer program to help expand access for schooling for girls, especially for teenagers. Cambodia is one of 11 countries targeted by the Peace Corp initiative during the program‘s first year, the White House said. The other countries are: Albania, Benin, Burkina Faso, Georgia, Ghana, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Togo, and Uganda.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey)

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  • Why is Michelle Obama going to Japan? Are they working with us on the initiative? Obviously Japan has never had the Peace Corps, is not a targeted country according to this report and their volunteer agency has worked with us in the past. Just curious

  • This is the second launch of an Obama initiated program to Help Girls Learn. I would like to see the evaluation of the first program and will make an FOIA to ask for such an evaluation. Here are excerpts from the White House Announcement of the first program, October 11, 2016.

    “Let Girls Learn leverages resources across the U.S. Government and has resulted in investments for adolescent girls’ education around the world that are coordinated, effective, and sustainable. Supported by both the President and the First Lady and coordinated by National Security Council staff, Let Girls Learn draws from the diverse expertise of six U.S. Government Agencies – the Department of State and its programs like the President’s Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR); the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID); the Peace Corps; the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC); and most recently, the Department of Labor (DOL), and the Department of Agriculture (USDA)October 11, 2016”

    “Through Let Girls Learn, Peace Corps has trained more than 2,800 volunteers to create the conditions necessary for girls to succeed.  As of September 30, Peace Corps Volunteers and community leaders have utilized more than $918,000 from the Peace Corps Let Girls Learn Fund to initiate over 330 community-identified projects, which were matched by more than $620,000 in local in-kind contributions. With this strong community investment, projects have reached more than 152,000 girls aged 24 and under at the grassroots level. Today, Peace Corps announces the expansion of Let Girls Learn to nine additional countries for FY 2017, – Dominican Republic, Comoros, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, Rwanda, Timor-Leste, Nepal, and Morocco – bringing the total to 44. These Peace Corps programs receive enhanced training and programming support to promote girls’ education and empowerment, increasing the initiative’s reach to ensure more girls around the world will have the resources and opportunities needed to succeed.”

    https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/10/11/fact-sheet-let-girls-learn-comprehensive-investment-adolescent-girls

    • Alana, You are absolutely right, I think. I thought it was it was in addition to the 2016 initiative.
      I am confused.

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