The first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, teamed up with CNN documentaries to show the inequalities that girls from all over the world face when it comes to education.
The film titled “We Will Rise: Michelle Obama’s Mission to Educate Girls Around the World” comes as a part of the first lady’s initiative called “Let Girls Learn,” which focuses on primary education for women all over the world. The documentary also features actresses Freida Pinto and Meryl Streep, along with Isha Sesay a CNN journalist, the three of them along with Obama travel to Liberia and Morocco to understand the struggles girls are facing in the African nation.
“I want to know what keeps you going, what do you think is different about you that you were able to overcome all those challenges and be as articulate and smart and inspiring as you are,” asked the First Lady to Raphina Felee, an African student who told her story to Obama.
Education inequality for girls all around the globe
World education is a commitment in which countries from all over the world have been participating, ‘Education for all’ for example, is a movement and a commitment proposed by the UNESCO in which different regions of the globe have promised to fight illiteracy. However, there’s a higher population of illiterate girls than boys in the world.
According to CNN Films, more than 62 million young women across the world are not enrolled in school whether it is for political, cultural or economic reasons, a large population of girls around the globe is being denied a proper education.
The World Bank informs that over 16 million young girls, between the ages of 6 and 11-years old will never have access to education, compared to eight million boys in the world.
The documentary led by the broadcasting network, CNN, aims to show how girls across the seas have been denied education and the way they deal with the situations that come with it.
“During the Ebola crisis, some girls lost their parents. Some lost their family members. Some lost their entire family,” explains Felee to Michelle Obama as they meet in the R.S Caulfield Senior High School in Liberia. “Most of them feel discouraged about life because they feel that they are not important in society.”
Felee’s declarations are shown in the promotional video of the upcoming documentary, in wich the Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is also present.
Even though gender equality has gained a significant role in the modern society’s topics of discussion, education from girls across the world has remained as a top priority for some.
Take Malala Yousafzai for example, a girl that was shot in the head by the Taliban’s in Pakistan, as she fought for her right to be educated, Malala survived the attack and since then has become a symbol for girl’s education.
Obama has been a part of the initiative since her First Lady duties started and has long collaborated with the Let Girls Learn movement, using her influence as a public figure, to create awareness on the subject.
Obama’s documentary will be released on CNN International on October 11th and CNN U.S on Wednesday, October 12th.
Source: CNN