Clinton encourages girls, women in Malawi visit

MALAWI: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met schoolgirls and Africa's second woman president during an unprecedented visit to Malawi Sunday before jetting to South Africa to visit Nelson Mandela.

On the fifth leg of a tour that has already taken her to troubled South Sudan and focused on the continent's security woes, Clinton chose to emphasise women's rights and education.

The first US chief diplomat to visit the southern African nation stopped at the Lilongwe Girls Secondary School in the capital after meeting with President Joyce Banda. The diplomat was visibly moved when a girl wrapped a colourful gift around her -- an orange, blue and grey traditional African fabric locally known as chitenge.

Dozens of other girls welcomed Clinton with singing.

She then took time to shake hands with every woman at the school, where US volunteer group Peace Corps is holding a week-long camp for girls from across the country.

Clinton shared her mother's story as encouragement to the girls in a country where women's rights have been an upward battle, an issue which lay close to her heart. “She overcame a sea of difficulties early in her life.

AFP