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First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama will travel to Japan and Cambodia as part a global effort to support education for girls.

She will visit Tokyo and Kyoto from March 18 to 20 and then go to Siem Reap on March 21 and 22. Her trip follows , which is a collaboration between Mrs Obama and the to expand access to education for adolescent girls around the world. It will start in 11 countries and will build on the investments and progress that the US government has made in global primary school education.

Announcing the programme at the White House on March 3, Mrs Obama聽said more than 60 million girls and adolescent females are not in school around the world. She told education activists: 鈥淵ou have told me that whatever obstacles these girls face 鈥� whether it鈥檚 school fees or violence or cultural beliefs that girls simply aren鈥檛 worthy of an education 鈥� you鈥檝e said that these problems will not be fixed from on high. That these are community challenges that call for community solutions.鈥�

President Barack Obama, who was also at the launch, said: 鈥淚鈥檓 proud to say that the US already does a great deal to support girls鈥� education around the world. But what we do, we tend to do quietly. It doesn鈥檛 get a lot of publicity. And what we all determined is that we鈥檝e got to take this work to the next level.鈥�

Cambodia is one of the 11 countries featured in the initiative. The others are Albania, Benin, Burkina Faso, Georgia, Ghana, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Togo and Uganda.

In Siem Reap, Mrs Obama will visit a school to see up how community-driven solutions are changing girls鈥� lives and will also meet Peace Corps volunteers.

During the Japanese leg of the trip, the First Lady will聽meet Akie Abe, the wife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. At the Let Girls Learn announcement, Mrs Obama said Mrs Abe 鈥渟hares her passions and is eager to partner鈥� in the initiative.