The Trump administration is saying goodbye to one of Michelle Obama’s biggest and most successful First Lady campaigns.
The ‘Let Girls Learn’ initiative was started in 2015 and championed educational opportunities for teenage girls in developing countries.
An internal memo first obtained by CNN reveals the program will cease operations immediately.
The program was aimed at helping teenage girls in 50 developing countries, who have had to overcome significant hardships such as physical violence and cultural barriers, to access and pursue an education.
Obama's former chief of staff, Tina Tchen told CNN she is extremely disappointed with the Trump administration's decision to remove support for the campaign.
"We think that this is an issue that has bipartisan support, it's really not a Republican or Democratic issue," she said.
"We were hopeful that given that [it's a bipartisan issue], 'Let Girls Learn' could continue. But obviously elections have consequences, and nobody knows that better than we."
According to UNESCO, teenage girls are three times more likely than boys to be excluded from educational opportunities, with more than 130 million girls worldwide are not in school today.
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Although Trump's administration has said it will continue some aspects of the program, it is not yet clear how the void left by 'Let Girls Learn' will be filled.
Top Comments
This is really sad. This attitude that his supporters display of "why help other countries" really concerns me. Do we really want to live in a world where half of it is rich and successful and the other half have no access to education, contraception, basic needs etc? It's a recipe for disaster.
He is so spiteful and so full of hate.