NEW YORK — Former first lady Michelle Obama is doubling her efforts to ensure girls overcome barriers to education in some of the world’s most economically deprived regions.
The Obama Foundation’s Girls Opportunity Alliance pledged Saturday to raise $2.5 million for dozens of grassroots groups that advance adolescent girls’ education by covering school-related costs, challenging patriarchal practices such as child marriage, counseling survivors of sexual abuse and providing other forms of support.
“These groups are changing the way girls see themselves in their own communities and in our world, helping to create the leaders we need for the better future we all deserve,” Obama said in a video released on October 11, International Day of the Girl Child. “Because when our girls succeed, we all succeed. »
Nearly three-quarters of the world’s 119 million out-of-school girls are of secondary school age, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund. Girls Opportunity Alliance — an outgrowth of an Obama White House initiative that invested $1 billion in U.S. government programs promoting overseas education for adolescent girls — launched in 2018 with the goal of helping this population ages 10 to 19 earn a degree.
But the latest announcement comes amid stark warnings from international aid groups that budget cuts would reverse recent progress. UNICEF predicts that a 24% drop in global education funding in rich countries will push six million girls out of school by the end of next year.
“The need right now, I think more than ever, is critical,” said Tiffany Drake, executive director of Girls Opportunity Alliance. “We were just in Mauritius and we heard over and over again that organizations need funding. They need support.”
The Girls Opportunity Alliance meeting in early October in Mauritius brought together the Asian and African members of its network. The high demands placed on local leaders who work tirelessly with few resources made it, Drake said, perhaps the most emotional gathering they have held.
But Jackie Bomboma, founder of the Young Strong Mothers Foundation in Tanzania, said her connections with other powerful women there have encouraged her knowing she is not alone. A recipient of the latest GOA grants, she said the Obama Foundation’s support provides not only financial support, but also increased confidence from the international community and additional channels for obtaining resources.
Growing up without a mother and surviving a teenage pregnancy, Bomboma said Obama’s example also gave her and the girls she serves confidence. Her nonprofit organization provides psychological services, vocational training, entrepreneurial skills development and sexual health classes to hundreds of girls at risk of early marriage, teenage pregnancy and school dropout.
“We call ourselves ‘watoto wa Michelle Obama,’ which means ‘Michelle Obama’s children,'” she said. “So everyone feels so proud to have such a strong, very powerful, very loving mother.”
The Girls Opportunity Alliance Fund is intentionally designed to provide a range of support. Drake said anyone can apply for up to $50,000. The grant does not support general operations but rather goes to a specific project described by the grantee.
Once they join the network, community leaders have access to monthly online training sessions and in-person meetings, where they share strategies and learn from major non-governmental organizations such as UNICEF and Save the Children.
Girls Opportunity Alliance funds an undisclosed amount, then uses its broad reach to help organizations raise the rest on GoFundMe pages. Campaigns are promoted publicly on its social media accounts and through its celebrity and corporate donor network.
The idea, Drake said, was to use their “megaphone” to attract more attention and gain more support for organizations that often struggle to get by in more remote locations. Girls Opportunity Alliance hopes that everyday individuals will be inspired to join them.
“We didn’t want to just tell people, ‘Google, how you can help them,'” Drake said. “We wanted to give them a place where they can take action.”
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