Global Responses to #BringBackOurGirls Campaign
The social media platform has become a powerful tool in addressing social challenges, and at no other time has it been used for the greater good than now with the hashtag campaign #BringBackOurGirls . The campaign seeks to create awareness of the more than 200 innocent Nigerian girls who were abducted on April 14th, by the Boko Haram terrorist sect. The girls are believed to be currently held hostage deep in the forests of Borno state. Their mothers have held rallies and campaigns in the streets of Nigeria pleading with the authorities to take decisive actions that will rescue their daughters from the hands of the Boko Haram. People from all walks of life have joined in on the hashtag campaign #BringBackOurGirls to create awareness and to pressure authorities to step up their rescue efforts. The White House too has not been left behind. US First Lady Michelle Obama breaks record for being the first US First Lady to issue a very outspoken foreign policy, and remarks on the weekly presidential address held today. Mrs. Obama stated that her and her husband were “outraged and heartbroken”. She claimed the incident reminded her of her own daughters and, in addition to condemning the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, cited other incidences around the world where retrogressive, chauvinistic ideas denying girls of the opportunity to advance their education and careers occur.