week 14 first ladies and representatives of 28 nations met in kuala lumpur to try and tacklethe issue of how to improve children's education and welfare. the three day inaugural first ladies summit, which was hosted by malaysia's first lady rosmah mansor, brought together the wives of leaders from around the world in an effort to go beyond rhetoric and achieve concrete results. eckart sager sat down with the first lady of malaysia to find out more. >>reporter: madame first lady, thank you very much for joining us on world business. >>mansor: welcome. thank you. >>reporter: you have gathered here more than a dozen first ladies from all around the world here in malaysia forthe first ladies' summit. what are the objectives of the summit, what are your goals? >>mansor: i feel that each country will have their own peculiar problems, depending on you know the continent,the part, which part of the world you come from. some countries may be suffering from malnutritionof the children, diseases that the children have, birth rates, death rates and other social problems. and we will find a common problem, probably which are faced by all the countries of - by the first ladies in their recept

week 14 first ladies and representatives of 28 nations met in kuala lumpur to try and tacklethe issue of how to improve children's education and welfare. the three day inaugural first ladies summit, which was hosted by malaysia's first lady rosmah mansor, brought together the wives of leaders from around the world in an effort to go beyond rhetoric and achieve concrete results. eckart sager sat down with the first lady of malaysia to find out more. >>reporter: madame first lady, thank you very much for joining us on world business. >>mansor: welcome. thank you. >>reporter: you have gathered here more than a dozen first ladies from all around the world here in malaysia forthe first ladies' summit. what are the objectives of the summit, what are your goals? >>mansor: i feel that each country will have their own peculiar problems, depending on you know the continent,the part, which part of the world you come from. some countries may be suffering from malnutritionof the children, diseases that the children have, birth rates, death rates and other social problems. and we will find a common problem, probably which are faced by all the countries of - by the first ladies in their recept

other issues concerning the education and welfare of children, the first lady of malaysia rosmah mansor, this week hosted an unusual summit of 14 first ladies from across asia, africa, andsouth america. our southeast asian correspondent rian maelzer filed this report. >>reporter: first ladies are now no longer content to walk three paces behind their husbands, or even merely to stand at their sides. they are now determined to step forward and be counted on issues close to their hearts. >>and to make sure their influence is felt on the world stage and that they can effect real change, the first ladies are beginning to organize themselves in a cohesive way. >>banda: i think when we come to summits like this one we all have one voice. i think one voice will carry abigger weight than a single first lady talking about educating a child especially from a tender age, so if we come together as one voice i think it will carry a bigger voice. >>reporter: the theme of this inaugural summit was "a child today, a leader tomorrow," with a strong focus on providing adequate education to boost children's opportunities for a decent life..

while their husbands were inside the united nations building...the first ladies took matters into their own hands by holding their own summit in new york. vilified in the past for being more into shopping than caring, this new generation of educated, professional women, married to africanleaders...want the needs of women and children in their countries prioritized. they believe they have a unique access to power >>odinga: i can whisper to him because it's something that's going to affect the nation, it is going affect the young people, it's going to affect the children, it's going to affect everybody, that is why. but secondly, i may not be elected but i'm opinion leader, when i talk, they listen to me. they listen to me because i'm in that position of a leadership and i know that when i say it, they take it seriously and i'm the right person to say because i'll say it without any strings attached. >>reporter: one of the primary causes of africa's underachievement is gender inequality. despite the fact that women literally feed the continent...with 80 percent of africa's farmers being female...they are heldback by poor acce

first ever summit on community colleges. it will talk about how we develop our educational system. he will join dr. baden at the opening session. later, the president and first lady will host the diplomatic corps reception here at the white house. in the evening, the president will address the 2010 world's most powerful women summit in d.c. and about the impact of women in business and economy and the steps we can take to remain competitive over the long term. on wednesday, he will award robert j. miller of the u.s. army the medal of honor. staff sergeant miller will -- will receive this for his heroic actions on january 5, to designate. the first lady will also attend that event. the president will travel to new jersey to attend a dnc dinner. on thursday, he will travel to prince george's county maryland to attend an event for governor martin o'malley and later to chicago to attend an event for senate candidates. on friday, he will attend meetings here at the white house. [inaudible] to be determined. we're going back and forth on that just as i came out. >> can you talk about the likely time line for a permanent chief of staff? >> let me give you a broad answer

lady of the united states and community college chair dr. jill biden. [applause] >> good afternoon. welcome to the first ever white house summit on community colleges.am jill biden and i'm proud to stand he today as a community college professor. this is a historic and exciting opportunity for all of us in the community college world. for years i have said that community collegesare onof america's best kept secrets. well, with the president of the united states shing a light on us i think the secret is out. at today's summit is an important next step in our efforts to meet the president's goal of having the best educated most competitive work force in the world by the end of this decade. as we meet here today, families all across our country are struggling. we see that struggle firsthand in community colleges. we see people who are determined to build a better life for themselves and their families no matter how hard it is. today community colleges are the largest and fastest-growing, most affordable gment of america's higher education system. for generations, these schools have been an option for many students who didn't have other options. recent