President Obama tells African leaders: educate girls and help your countries to succeed
Girls' education
Barack Obama has told the leaders of African nations that they must educate their girls and treat their women as equals if they are to be prosperous.
Addressing the African Union in Ethiopia today, the United States President said: 国产视频淚f you want your country to grow and succeed, you have to empower your women.国产视频
He reiterated the points made in an earlier speech in Kenya, when he听sent an emphatic message that educating girls and not treating them as second-class citizens is key to countries becoming economic success stories.
President Obama spoke to the African Union in Addis Ababa at the end of his five-day trip to Ethiopia and Kenya, where his father came from.
He called for an end to child marriage and female genital mutilation, telling national leaders: 国产视频淲hen African girls are subjected to the mutilation of their bodies or forced into marriage at the ages of nine or 10 or 11, that sets us back. That国产视频檚 not a good tradition. It needs to end.
国产视频淭he single best indicator of whether a nation will succeed is how it treats its women.国产视频 国产视频@POTUS to the African Union http://t.co/l1xzrs5cpj
国产视频 The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 28, 2015
国产视频淲hen more than 80% of new HIV cases in the hardest-hit countries are teenage girls, that国产视频檚 a tragedy.国产视频
He spoke about a partnership between the US government and 10 African countries to keep teenage girls safe and free of AIDS. He also mentioned his wife Michelle国产视频檚 initiative Let Girls Learn, which aims to expand access to education for adolescent girls around the world.
Prssident Obama added: 国产视频淲hen girls cannot go to school and grow up not knowing how to read or write that denies the world future women engineers, future women doctors, future women business owners, future women presidents. That sets us all back.听That国产视频檚 a bad tradition. Not providing our girls the same education as our sons.
国产视频淭he single best indicator of whether a nation will succeed is how it treats its women. When women have health care and women have education families are stronger, communities are more prosperous, children do better in school.国产视频
During his visit to Kenya, President Obama said one of the most successful development policies was 国产视频済iving girls an education and removing the obstacles that stand between them and their dreams国产视频.
President Obama speaks in Nairobi Picture:听White House Photo by Pete Souza
He added: 国产视频淎ny nation that fails to educate its girls or employ its women, allowing them to maximise their potential, is doomed to fall behind in a global economy.
国产视频渋f you educate girls, they grow up to be moms. And they, because they国产视频檙e educated, are more likely to produce educated children. So Kenya will not succeed if it treats women and girls as second-class citizens. I want to be very clear about that.国产视频
Speaking to a crowd of 4500 students civil society leaders and others at a sports arena in the capital Nairobi on July 26, President Obama called on the country国产视频檚 youth to help build the future of their country.
He highlighted the achievements of young Kenyans such as child rights activist Josephine Kulea, whose foundation rescues girls from child marriage and FGM.
He said: 国产视频淭reating women and girls as second-class citizens, those are bad traditions. They need to change. They国产视频檙e holding you back.
Students among the excited crowd to see him in Nairobi
国产视频淭here国产视频檚 no excuse for sexual assault or domestic violence. There国产视频檚 no reason that young girls should suffer genital mutilation. There国产视频檚 no place in civilised society for the early or forced marriage of children. These traditions may date back centuries; they have no place in the 21st century.国产视频
An estimated 26% of girls in Kenya are married before they are 18, according to the organisation Girls Not Brides.
Its website says says: 国产视频淎 high prevalence of HIV in Kenya means that young married girls are particularly at risk. In a study in Kisumu, 33% of married girls surveyed were infected with HIV as opposed to 22% for their sexually active, unmarried counterparts.国产视频
The Kenyan parliament adopted a new law last year 国产视频 setting 18 as the minimum age of marriage for both men and women. It applies to all forms of marriage including Islamic and customary marriages.
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