World Bank pledges $2.5 billion to support girl child education

US First Lady Michelle Obama has welcomed World Bank’s initiative to further women’s education worldwide after the lender pledged $2.5 billion to empower adolescent girls

Michelle was speaking at the ‘Let Girls Learn’ event that she and President Obama launched in March last year when the global body unveiled its new funding for education projects for adolescent girls over the next five years.

“When I travel the world and meet girls who are so bright and so hungry to go to school. I see myself in these girls, I see my daughters in these girls and none of us, none of us, not a single person in this room, would dream of not educating our daughter. None of us would dream of consigning our girls to a life of poverty illiteracy or abuse, so why would we accept this fate for any girl on this planet, why?” asked the First Lady.

“And of course I would like to thank all of you for joining us as we celebrate this extraordinary investment of the World Bank in young women across the globe. Let’s just take a moment, 2.5 billion dollars in support of adolescent girls education over the next five years, that is truly amazing and this is not just a breathtaking investment of resources it is also a powerful statement of mission,” she said.

World Bank pledging $2.5bn for education project for girls, says president Jim Yong Kim. Mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

— Sean Coughlan (@seanjcoughlan) April 14, 2016

She also praised the move and said investing in girls’ education will not only benefit them but the community at large.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said educating girls was a key part of the institution’s anti-poverty mission and that about 62 million girls around the world, half of them adolescents, are not in school.

“Empowering and educating adolescent girls is one of the best ways to stop poverty from being passed from generation to generation, and can be transformational for entire societies,” said Kim.

.FLOTUS is tremendous champion for girls & women—I’m so glad she could join us. - JimKim_WBG | #LetGirlsLearn pic.twitter.com/XdpLzoopmb

— World Bank (@WorldBank) April 13, 2016

The US$2.5 billion will go to facilities, scholarships and other educational needs mainly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia where a high percentage of young girls can not access education.