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Ensuring girls receive an education requires action from governments, everyday citizens and celebrities alike. To end extreme poverty by 2030 we must ensure all people have access to quality education, regardless of their gender. You can join us and take action on this issue here

The world will finally get to see more from Michelle Obama and Julia Roberts’ trip to visit schoolgirls in Vietnam in December 2019.

Obama announced in an Instagram post that she will star in YouTube’s upcoming special, Creators for Change, on the topic of girls’ education. YouTube released a trailer on March 8 for International Women’s Day and the full episode will be launched for free on March 17.

YouTube stars Liza Koshy, Prajakta Koli, and Thembe Mahlaba will join Obama to talk about the state of girls’ education around the world. Viewers will get to see how Obama’s Girls Opportunity Alliance affects girls in Vietnam, India, and Namibia. The show will shine a spotlight on the barries young girls face to receive an education. 

In Vietnam, Roberts, Obama, Jenna Bush Hager, and Lana Condor check in on a program run in partnership with the organization Room to Read to ensure that girls in southern Long An province stay in school. 

“There is value and importance and absolute necessity for us to be investing in girls in the same way we’re investing in boys,” Obama said in the show trailer. 

Worldwide, there are an estimated 130 million girls between the ages of 6 and 17 who are out of school. The reasons they cannot receive an education range from child marriage to menstruation. The Girls Opportunity Alliance collaborates with more than 1,500 grassroots organizations around the world to address the specific issues girls face within their communities and find the best strategies to deal with them.

“This is about creating a balanced and effective society,” Obama said.

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YouTube Is Releasing a Special on Michelle Obama's Girls' Education Initiative

By Leah Rodriguez