know you is not a healthy way to live your life. that you have to live your life by your truth and your values. when you think back to the life that you have led, because you ve got a lot of lives that you have led. mm. what stands out? ooh. i know that is a terrible question to ask you, because there are so many things. it is it s not the big glitzy moments that you would think about. i mean, i wrote about this in becoming. you know, the majority of my book was not about the eight years in the white house or the state dinners or meeting important people, it was about the small moments, the first time i met some of these young girls that inspired me to start the girls opportunity alliance. i remember that first event in a school in london where there was a group of girls from the elizabeth garrett anderson school. they were first generation
they can be who they want to be in society. so your question, when i meet young adolescent girls in these communities, all over the globe, it s really about, how do we empower the communities around them with knowledge, sometimes, to realize, my gosh, we will all be better off if we make sure this girl settinged, how do we make sure the community organizations that are already doing this work have the funding that they need so they can stop early and forced marriage. or make sure a girl gets into school. because we know that if a girl gets into school and can stay into school, it completely changes the trajectory of her life. every single one of us on this stage were once a girl. and we all will talk deeply about our own education and who helped us get there. because that education unlocked for us where we each hoped to
school in london where there was a group of girls from the elizabeth garrett anderson school. they were first generation immigrant transplants. i came. that was my first international tour, when i dared to touch the queen. and i spent time with those girls who were dealing with mental health issues, first generation, being young girls of color, wearing head scarves, facing discrimination. but they reminded me of me of. and i was reminded then that girls like me who have a flame in them and know their ability, but are uninvested in, and people, you know, set their bars so low. the flame starts to die. it starts and it is, for some intentionally trying to be blown out. i was reminded then of the fact that girls like me are
when girls don t learn, we all over. amal, you are a fierce fight for justice around the world. and i know that you face all manner of frightening things. the people that you go after are dangerous. i want to ask you what you see as the greatest challenge for girls and young women today. well, we re talking about one of them here today. lack of education. i was born in a part of the world, in the middle east, where girls don t often have the ability to go to school, and every opportunity that i ve had come from the fact that my parents were able to leave a war zone. i was born in beirut in lebanon and we were able to go to the uk. and it s the education that i got there has led to my ability to practice law and everything that has followed from that. we have to keep girls safe and give them a chance to be educated. over 100 million girls out of school, over 10 million a year being forced into child
and i know that you face all manner of frightening things. i mean, the people that you go after are dangerous. i want to ask you what you see as the greatest challenge for girls and young women today. well, i mean, we re talking about one of them here today. lack of education. i was born in a part of the world, in the middle east, where girls often don t have the ability to go to school, and every opportunity that i ve had come from the fact that my parents were able to leave a war zone. i was born in beirut in lebanon and we were able to go to the uk. and it s the education that i got there that has led to my ability to practice law, to everything that has followed from that. i think we ve got to keep girls safe and then we have to give them a chance to be educated. over 100 million girls out of school, over 10 million a year being forced into child marriages. and that has consequences, obviously, for each girl who s not able to pursue her dream. and who knows how many of the 10