Michelle Obama recently traveled to Japan and Cambodia to promote girls’ education in those nations, as part of the “Let Girls Learn” White House Initiative:
Image Credit: White House/Amanda Lucidon
During her visit, the First Lady gave a speech in Cambodia which covered issues facing female education, as well as the benefits that can be claimed with further progress on this front:
“When girls get educated — when they learn to read and write and think — that gives them the tools to speak up and to talk about injustice, and to demand equal treatment. It helps them participate in the political life of their country and hold their leaders accountable, call for change when their needs and aspirations aren’t being met.”
Image Credit: White House/Amanda Lucidon
According to the Phnom Penh Post, Prime Minister Hun Sen told the U.S. embassy that, although speaking about the initiative is good, it does nothing to help with the costs associated with making such a program functional:
“’Her [Michelle Obama’s] mission is very good, but I suggest the United States should help completely and not play like this,’ he said. ‘It is just playing around – it is not good. What if she chose 300 students? It would be death. I don’t have that money to give.’”
Prime Minister Hun Sen
Image Credit: WEF/Wikimedia Commons
Hun Sen has claimed that he has given each of the ten girls, who are ready to head to universities, a scholarship of $1,500. He believed that the United States would aid with the rest of the cost:
“’I thought the United States would give scholarships to those students until they complete university, but that’s not [the case],’ Hun Sen said. ‘I had strongly hoped [that was the situation], but she just came here to choose people and then [left] it to the Ministry of Education.’”
However, education in Cambodia is chiefly financed through the U.S. non-profit “Room to Read“:
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Since his statements, the Prime Minister made the point that not only does he not have the financial resources to back such a campaign, but he also worries the U.S. will be able to take credit for the initiative.
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