MOSCOW, September 25 (RIA Novosti) - The First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama has challenged world leaders to stand by their commitment to the second Millennium Development Goal, providing primary education to all girls, The Guardian reported Thursday.
"If we truly believe that every girl in every corner of the globe is worthy of an education as our own daughters and granddaughters are, then we need to deepen our commitment to these efforts," The Guardian quoted Michelle Obama as saying.
The First Lady of the United States spoke at an event dedicated to learning and education on the sidelines of the 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
"I'm thinking about girls like Malala, I'm thinking about those brave girls in Nigeria, I'm thinking about all the girls who will never make the headlines, who walk hours to school each day, who study late into the night because they are so hungry to fill every last bit of their God-given potential," The Guardian quoted Michelle Obama as saying when she referred to Pakistani Malala Yousafzai who survived being shot by the Taliban for wanting to get educated, and Nigerian girls kidnapped by the Boko Haram militants opposing Western education and values.
According to the Guardian, the latest UNESCO statistics shows that almost one third of primary school-age children worldwide cannot read, write or count.
In June, Director-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova stated that there was "no chance whatsoever" to reach Millennium Development Goal in education by 2015, as quoted by The Guardian.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight goals that were established after the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000. The goals were set to be achieved by 2015.
