Michelle Obama visits London to promote girls' education

LONDON — First lady Michelle Obama met students here Tuesday as she visited the city to promote girls' education.

Some of the young people at east London's Mulberry School for Girls held American and British flags to greet Obama, who is promoting the "Let Girls Learn" initiative, aimed at helping adolescent girls around the world complete their education.

She announced the initiative with President Obama at the White House in March and promoted it during a trip to Japan and Cambodia later that month.

"The world needs more girls like you growing up to lead our parliaments and our board rooms and our courtrooms and our universities," she told the London students, who are mostly from working-class backgrounds. "We need you."

The first lady also announced a $200 million program between the U.S. and Britain to support girls' education in countries affected by conflict, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Before visiting the school, Obama had tea with Prince Harry. Kensington Palace said the royal was interested to hear about "Let Girls Learn," and that the two discussed their shared interest in support for veterans and their families.

In an article for the Financial Times published Monday, Obama wrote that more than 62 million girls around the world are not in school.

They often face "insurmountable barriers" including unaffordable school fees, early and forced marriage, pregnancy and beliefs that girls are less worthy of an education, she added.

"Every time I meet these girls on my travels abroad, I am blown away by their passion, intelligence and hunger to learn — and I cannot help but see my daughters in them," she wrote.

"Like my own girls, each of these young women has the spark of something extraordinary inside. The only difference is that my girls have had the opportunity to develop their promise."

Obama, who arrived in London on Monday with her daughters Sasha and Malia and her mother Marian Robinson, met with Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha later Tuesday. She will also attend the 2015 Milan Expo in Italy this week.