US first lady plans mid-March visit to Japan, Cambodia

Michelle Obama will promote educating girls around the world during a mid-March visit to US ally Japan, and to Cambodia, a place where the government's record on human rights gave her husband pause during a reluctant visit a couple of years ago.
Obama will visit Tokyo and Kyoto, Japan, from March 18-20 and end the trip with a March 21-22 stop in Siem Reap in northwestern Cambodia, the White House said today.
Cambodia is an interesting choice for the first lady. President Barack Obama became the first US president to visit Cambodia in late 2012 after his re-election.
White House officials insisted at the time that Obama was only going because Cambodia was the host for two annual regional summits he has made a point of attending. Obama appeared visibly unhappy during the brief visit.

The Cambodian government has been led since 1985 by Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has a reputation for ruthlessness and a low tolerance for opposition. The southeast Asian nation also has problems with child prostitution and human trafficking.
The Obamas were announcing the "Let Girls Learn" education initiative at a White House event today.

The president and first lady, the parents of two teenage girls, both say their own success would not have been possible without education, and everywhere they travel they encourage young people to finish school.
In the US, Obama also leads a separate initiative encouraging young people to continue their education after high school.

More than 60 million girls around the world, half of them adolescents, do not attend school, said Tina Tchen, chief of staff to the first lady.
Lack of education limits their economic opportunities and makes them more vulnerable to such afflictions as HIV and AIDS, early and forced marriage, and gender-based violence, said Tchen, who also directs the White House Council on Women and Girls.
Educated girls and their families, meanwhile, are more likely to have a better quality of life.
The administration is putting under the "Let Girls Learn" umbrella a range of programs currently operating largely across Africa and the Middle East that focus on education, empowerment and leadership, health and nutrition, gender-based violence, and early and forced marriage.

Separately, the Peace Corps and Obama's office will work together to support community-based solutions to these issues.
The Peace Corps has thousands of volunteers working in more than 60 developing countries.
Its "Let Girls Learn" program will begin in Albania, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Georgia, Ghana, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Togo and Uganda, before it is expanded to other countries.