Michelle Obama’s girl-focused education charity has raised more than $3.5 billion in little over a year since it was launched.

Let Girls Learn, a global initiative which aims to get 62 million girls into school, came about in partnership with activist Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban four years ago for demonstrating her right to go to school.

Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly spousal programme, the first lady said that the charity had raised nearly $600 million from countries like Japan, South Korea and Mexico, as well as more than half a billion dollars from the US.

The charity also gathered $2.5 billion from the World Bank, to be paid over the next five years.

Ms Obama added that she has fostered networks with close to 80 companies that were committing money and resources.

“All of this is happening because, time and again, whether it’s a head of state, a corporate CEO, or a 15-year-old girl here in the US, when people hear the stories of girls who aren’t in school, they want to help,” she said.

She added: “More than 62 million girls around the world are counting on us to be their voice. And I intend to keep speaking out on their behalf not just for the rest of my time as first lady, but for the rest of my life.”

Ms Obama recently traveled around the world to promote her charity, and returned to the US to speak at the Democratic National Convention in July.

The first lady, who was introduced at the UN summit by comedian Stephen Colbert, has become a champion of women’s rights, hosting the White House’s first ever summit on the cause in Washington DC this year.

She said at the UN that she was inspired by Malala, who was 15 years old when she was injured by a terrorist network in Pakistan as she rode the bus to school.

She added that although she came from a working-class background, she managed to study law thanks to hard work and financial aid.

“And I can tell you that education was everything for me,” she said.