Remarks by the First Lady at the Summit of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders

MRS. OBAMA: Oh, my goodness. Look at you all! (Applause.) Oh, please sit, sit. Rest. (Laughter.) How has everything been? Exciting? So you've talked to a lot of important people -- my husband, he was here. (Applause.) That's good. And a few other people? You've been traveling around the country doing great things. It is such a pleasure, and such an honor and a joy to join you here today for this wonderful summit.

Let me start by thanking John for that beautiful introduction, but more importantly, for his outstanding leadership for young people -- in particular, young girls -- in Uganda. And I want to take a moment to thank all of you for being part of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders. Yes. (Applause.) We have been so excited about your presence here in this country. We have been so excited.

Now, I've had the opportunity to read through your bios, and I have to tell you that I am truly in awe of what you all have achieved. Many of you are barely half my age, yet you already have founded businesses and NGOs, you've served as leaders in your government, you've earned countless degrees, you know dozens of languages. So you all truly represent the talent, the energy and the diversity that is Africa's lifeblood, and it is an honor to host you here in the United States. (Applause.) We're so proud.

Now, from what I've heard, you all have been making good use of this time here. You've been learning new skills, questioning old assumptions, and having some frank conversations with experts and with each other about the challenges and opportunities in your countries. And I want to use our time together today to continue that dialogue. Today, I want us to talk -– and I mean really talk. I want to speak as openly and honestly as possible about the issues we care about and what it means to be a leader not just in Africa but in the world today.

Now, one of the issues that I care deeply about is, as John alluded to, girls' education. And across the globe, the statistic on this issue are heartbreaking. Right now, 62 million girls worldwide are not in school, including nearly 30 million girls in Sub-Saharan Africa. And as we saw in Pakistan, where Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen, and in Nigeria where more than 200 girls were kidnapped from their school dormitory by Boko Haram terrorists, even when girls do attend school, they often do so at great risk.

And as my husband said earlier this week, we know that when girls aren't educated, that doesn't just limit their prospects, leaving them more vulnerable to poverty, violence and disease, it limits the prospects of their families and their countries as well.

Now, in recent years, there's been a lot of talk about how to address this issue, and how we need more schools and teachers, more money for toilets and uniforms, transportation, school fees. And of course, all of these issues are critically important, and I could give a perfectly fine speech today about increasing investments in girls' education around the world.

But I said I wanted to be honest. And if I do that, we all know that the problem here isn't only about resources, it's also about attitudes and beliefs. It's about whether fathers and mothers think their daughters are as worthy of an education as their sons. It's about whether societies cling to outdated laws and traditions that oppress and exclude women, or whether they view women as full citizens entitled to fundamental rights.

So the truth is, I don't think it's really productive to talk about issues like girls' education unless we're willing to have a much bigger, bolder conversation about how women are viewed and treated in the world today. (Applause.) And we need to be having this conversation on every continent and in every country on this planet. And that's what I want to do today with all of you, because so many of you are already leading the charge for progress in Africa.

Now, as an African American woman, this conversation is deeply personal to me. The roots of my family tree are in Africa. As you know, my husband's father was born and raised in Kenya -- (applause) -- and members of our extended family still live there. I have had the pleasure of traveling to Africa a number of times over the years, including four trips as First Lady, and I have brought my mother and my daughters along with me whenever I can. So believe me, the blood of Africa runs through my veins, and I care deeply about Africa's future. (Applause.)

Now, the status of women in Africa is also personal to me as a woman. See, what I want you all to understand is that I am who I am today because of the people in my family -– particularly the men in my family -– who valued me and invested in me from the day I was born. I had a father, a brother, uncles, grandfathers who encouraged me and challenged me, protected me, and told me that I was smart and strong and beautiful. (Applause.)

And as I grew up, the men who raised me set a high bar for the type of men I'd allow into my life -- (applause) -- which is why I went on to marry a man who had the good sense to fall in love with a woman who was his equal -- (applause) -- and to treat me as such; a man who supports and reveres me, and who supports and reveres our daughters, as well. (Applause.)

And throughout my life -- understand this -- every opportunity I've had, every achievement I'm proud of has stemmed from this solid foundation of love and respect. So given these experiences, it saddens and confuses me to see that too often, women in some parts of Africa are still denied the rights and opportunities they deserve to realize their potential.

Now, let's be very clear: In many countries in Africa, women have made tremendous strides. More girls are attending school. More women are starting businesses. Maternal mortality has plummeted. And more women are serving in parliaments than ever before. In fact, in some countries, more than 30 percent of legislators are women. In Rwanda, it's over 50 percent -- which, by the way, is more than double the percentage of women in the U.S. Congress. Yes. (Applause.)

Now, these achievements represent remarkable progress. But at the same time, when girls in some places are still being married off as children, sometimes before they even reach puberty; when female genital mutilation still continues in some countries; when human trafficking, rape and domestic abuse are still too common, and perpetrators are often facing no consequences for their crimes -- then we still have some serious work to do in Africa and across the globe.

And while I have great respect for cultural differences, I think we can all agree that practices like genital cutting, forced child marriage, domestic violence are not legitimate cultural practices, they are serious human rights violations and have no place in any country on this Earth. (Applause.) These practices have no place in our shared future, because we all know that our future lies in our people -– in their talent, their ambition, their drive. And no country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half of its citizens.

And I know this firsthand from the history of my own country. A century ago, women in America weren't allowed to vote. Decades ago, it was perfectly legal for employers to refuse to hire women. Domestic violence was viewed not as a crime, but as a private family matter between a man and his wife.

But in each generation, people of conscience stood up and rejected these unjust practices. They chained themselves to the White House gates, waged hunger strikes in prison to win the right to vote. They took their bosses to court. They spoke out about rape and fought to prosecute rapists, despite the stigma and shame. They left their abusive husbands, even when that meant winding up on the streets with their children. (Applause.)

And today in America, we see the results of those hard-fought battles: 60 percent of college students today are women. Women are now more than half the workforce. And in recent decades, women's employment has added nearly $2 trillion to the U.S. economy -– yes, trillion. (Applause.)

Now, are we anywhere near full economic, political, and domestic equality in the United States? Absolutely not. We still struggle every day with serious issues like violence against women, unequal pay. Women are still woefully underrepresented in our government and in the senior ranks of our corporations.

But slowly, generation after generation, we've been moving in the right direction because of brave individuals who were willing to risk their jobs, their reputations, and even their lives to achieve equality. And it wasn't just brave women who made these sacrifices. It was also brave men, too -- (applause) -- men who hired women, men who passed laws to empower women, men who prosecuted other men who abused women.

So to all the men, my brothers here today, I have a simple message: We need you to shake things up. (Applause.) Too often, women are fighting these battles alone, but men like you, progressive men who are already ahead of the curve on women's issues, you all are critically important to solving this problem.

And that starts by doing a little introspection. And I say this not just to the 250 of you who are in the room today, but to men around the world. Men in every country need to look into their hearts and souls and ask themselves whether they truly view and treat women as their equals. (Applause.) And then when you all encounter men in your lives who answer no to that question, then you need to take them to task. You need to tell them that any man who uses his strength to oppress women is a coward, and he is holding back the progress of his family and his country. (Applause.)

Tell them that a truly strong, powerful man isn't threatened by a strong, powerful woman. (Applause.) Instead, he is challenged by her, he is inspired by her, he is pleased to relate to her as an equal. And I want you to keep modeling that behavior yourselves by promoting women in your companies, passing laws to empower women in your countries, and holding the same ambitious dreams for your daughters as you do for your sons.

And to the women here, my sisters --

AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love you!

MRS. OBAMA: And I love you. I do. (Applause.) Which is why I want us as women to understand that oppression is not a one-way street.

See, too often, without even realizing it, we as women internalize the oppression we face in our societies by believing harmful messages about how we should look and act, particularly as women of color –- messages that tell us that we're ugly or irrelevant, that we don't deserve full control over our bodies, that we should keep our mouths shut and just do as we're told. And then, too often, we turn around and impose those same beliefs on other women and girls in our lives, including our own daughters.

For example, in countries across the globe, there are women who still support and carry out the practice of genital cutting. There are women who are still insisting on marrying off their young daughters or keeping them home from school to help with the housework.

And then there are the more subtle harms that we afflict -- inflict on each other -- the harm of spurning our sisters who don't conform to traditions because we're jealous or suspicious of their courage and their freedom; the harm of turning a blind eye when a woman in our community is being abused because we don't want to cause conflict with our neighbors by speaking up.

And I imagine that for some of you here today, getting your degree might have meant disobeying or disappointing your families. Maybe while you've been acing your studies and thriving in your career, you have a grandmother who has been wringing her hands because you're not yet married. (Laughter and applause.) But, my sisters, you all are here today because you have found a way to overcome these challenges, and you have blossomed into powerful, accomplished women. And we need you all to help others do the same.

All of us, men and women on every continent, we all need to identify these problems in ourselves and in our communities, and then commit to solving them. And I say this to you not just as lawyers and activists and business leaders, but as current and future parents. Because as a mother myself, I can tell you that this is where change truly happens. With the behavior we model, with our actions and inactions, every day, we as parents shape the values of the next generation.

For example, my parents never had the chance to attend university, but they had the courage and foresight to push me to get the best education I could. And they weren't threatened by the prospect of me having more opportunities than they had -- just the opposite. They were thrilled.

And that's what should drive us all: The hope of raising the next generation to be stronger, smarter and bolder than our generation. (Applause.) And that is exactly the kind of work that so many of you are already doing in your families and your communities, which is why I'm so proud of you.

I could name all of you, but there are a few of you that I will remark on. Mahamadou Camara from Mali. (Applause.) He is working to educate women about micro-credit and accounting so that they can run their own businesses and build better lives for their children. In Liberia, Patrice Juah. (Applause.) She founded Miss Education Awareness Pageant to inspire girls to pursue higher education and have opportunities their parents never dreamed of. And in Burundi, Fikiri Nzoyisenga. (Applause.) He created a youth coalition to fight violence against women because he doesn't want anything to hold them back from pursuing their dreams.

This is where Africa's future lies –- with those women-run businesses, with those girls attending university, and with leaders like you who are making those dreams possible. And the question today is how all of you and young people like you will steer Africa's course to embrace that future. Because ultimately, that's what leadership is really about. It's not just about holding degrees or holding elected office. And it's not about preserving our own power or continuing traditions that oppress and exclude.

Leadership is about creating new traditions that honor the dignity and humanity of every individual. Leadership is about empowering all of our people –- men, women, boys and girls –- to fulfill every last bit of their God-given potential. And when we commit to that kind of leadership across the globe, that is when we truly start making progress on girls' education. Because that's when families in small villages around the world will demand equal opportunities for their daughters. They won't wait. That's when countries will willingly and generously invest in sending their girls to school, because they'll know how important it is.

And we all know the ripple effects we can have when we give our girls a chance to learn. We all know that girls who are educated earn higher wages. They're more likely to stand up to discrimination and abuse. They have healthier children who are more likely to attend school themselves.

So no matter where you all work, no matter what issue you focus on -- whether it's health or microfinance, human rights or clean energy -- women's equality must be a central part of your work. It must. (Applause.) Because make no mistake about it, the work of transforming attitudes about women, it now falls on your shoulders. And it's up to you all to embrace the future, and then drag your parents and grandparents along with you. (Laughter.)

And I know this won't be easy. I know that you will face all kinds of obstacles and resistance -- you already have. But when you get tired or frustrated, when things seem hopeless and you start thinking about giving up, I want you to remember the words of the man whom your fellowship is now named -- and I know these words have been spoken many times. As Madiba once said, "It always seems impossible until it is done." And I, oh, I know the truth of those words from my own history and from the history of my country.

My ancestors came here in chains. My parents and grandparents knew the sting of segregation and discrimination. Yet I attended some of the best universities in this country. I had career opportunities beyond my wildest dreams. And today, I live in the White House, a building -- (applause) -- but we must remember, we live in a home that was constructed by slaves.

Today, I watch my daughters –- two beautiful African American girls -– walking our dogs in the shadow of the Oval Office. And today, I have the privilege of serving and representing the United States of America across the globe.

So my story and the story of my country is the story of the impossible getting done. And I know that can be your story and that can be Africa's story too. (Applause.) But it will take new energy, it will take new ideas, new leadership from young people like you. That is why we brought you here today.

We've done this because we believe in Africa, and we believe in all of you. And understand we are filled with so much hope and so many expectations for what you will achieve. You hold the future of your continent in your hands, and I cannot wait to see everything you will continue to accomplish in the years ahead.

Thank you. God bless. (Applause.)