Former US first lady Michelle Obama speaks to adolescent girls at Cần Giuộc High School in southern Long An Province on December 9. — VNA/VNS Photo

LONG AN — Former US first lady Michelle Obama has arrived in Việt Nam and paid a visit to Cần Giuộc High School in southern Long An Province on December 9.

This is her first activity the former first lady, on behalf of the Obama Foundation’s Girls Opportunity Alliance to spotlight the education for girls, has undertaken during her visit in Việt Nam.

Actress Julia Roberts, Vietnamese-American actress Lana Condor, Youtuber Liza Koshy and Jenna Bush Hager, daughter of former President George H. W. Bush joined with her.

Michelle Obama, together with her accompanies, have met with representatives of education organisations and beneficiaries of programmes supporting the education for girls in Cần Giuộc District.   

She has spent hours talking with local authorities and adolescent girls and discussing solutions to help develop their full potential through education.

She has showed desire to listen to every story of adolescent girls. She said they were studying and working hard to overcome challenges that their peers in the United States could yet understand.

She said she believed that the students would overcome challenges with support from organisations around the world and created their own success stories in the family and society.

The Girls Opportunity Alliance was launched a year ago by the Obama Foundation to help adolescent girls around the world pursue their dream, reach their full potential through education and transform their families, communities and countries.

The programme also unites global citizens to work together to help educational institutions in each region and work out feasible and long-term solutions.

In Việt Nam, the programme is co-operating with Room to Read, an international non-profit organisation, to promote gender equality through education.

As scheduled, Michelle Obama and her accompanies would wrap up their activities in Việt Nam and be heading for Malaysia where they would discuss their trip to Việt Nam, as well as “lessons from their own leadership journeys and their path-breaking careers”, according to a press release from the foundation. — VNS