Remarks by the First Lady at Youth Forum -- Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, Mexico
Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, Mexico
2:19 P.M. (Local)
MRS. OBAMA: Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.) Good afternoon, and thank you so much. Thank you, Jaime, for that very kind and profound introduction. It is such a pleasure and an honor to be in this beautiful country, at this great university, with so many outstanding young people from all across Mexico.
Let me start by thanking your First Lady, Mrs. Margarita Zavala. (Applause.) I want to thank her for her tremendous kindness not just to me but to my family. She is smart. She is tough. She is passionate. And she is my friend. We’ve had a wonderful time together, both here in Mexico and during her visits to the United States. And I look forward to welcoming her and her husband, President Calderón, to Washington for a state dinner next month. And I told her to prepare to have fun. (Laughter.)
I also want to recognize the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Ambassador Pascual. And I want to thank the rector of this school, Dr. Jose Morales Orozco, for his leadership and for hosting me here today. And finally, I want to thank all of the people of this country for your incredible warmth and hospitality during my visit here. From the moment I arrived, I felt like I was entre amigos –- (laughter) -- which is only natural given the close and enduring friendship between our two nations.
Mexico is home to more U.S. citizens living abroad than anywhere else in the world, and tens of millions of Americans trace their roots right here to this country. And for generations, Mexico and the U.S. have been bound together not just by a shared border, but by shared values and aspirations -– devotion to family and to faith; a willingness to work hard and to sacrifice for our children; a commitment to democracy rooted in struggles for independence that have defined our nations.
So when it came time for me to decide where to make my first solo international trip as First Lady, the choice was clear: Mexico, por supuesto! (Applause.)
And there’s also a reason why I wanted to come here to the Ibero and speak with all of you. It’s the same reason why, when my husband travels abroad to talk about the challenges we face –- from extremism to nuclear weapons, from poverty and hunger to climate change and to pandemics –- he doesn’t just meet with presidents and prime ministers. He doesn’t just visit palaces and parliaments. He goes to schools and to universities and he meets with young people just like all of you.
And this isn’t an accident. Today, we’re seeing what has come to be called a “youth bulge” –- an explosion of the youth population in nations around the world. And here in Mexico, nearly half the population is under the age of 25. In the Middle East, it’s 60 percent. And young people between the ages of 15 and 24 alone now make up 20 percent of the world’s citizens. This is the largest group in history making the transition to adulthood.
And the fact is, is that responsibility for meeting the defining challenges of our time will soon fall to all of you. Soon, the world will be looking to your generation to make the discoveries and to build the industries that will fuel our prosperity and ensure our well-being for decades to come.
We’re going to be looking to your generation to seize the promise of clean energy to power our economies and