Sixty-two million girls. That’s the number of girls around the world who are not in school.
Recently, first lady Michelle Obama announced a new campaign during a star-studded Global Citizen Festival in New York’s Central Park to raise awareness of the issue.
“I see myself in these girls. I see my daughters in these girls. These girls are our girls, and I simply can’t walk away from them. So for me, this is truly a moral issue,” she said in a videotaped message played during the event.
It’s also an economic issue and a health issue, she said.
In the video appearance, Obama asked supporters to post photos of themselves on Twitter and Instagram along with a message about what they learned in school using #62milliongirls. The photos will be posted on 62milliongirls.com to highlight the number of girls who aren’t receiving an education.
The social campaign, in partnership with Girl Rising, is part of the Let Girls Learn initiative the first lady and the president announced in March.
There was a pause in the taped message to allow people in the audience to start posting with the new hashtag, which Obama herself had already used.
