US First Lady Michelle Obama has paid tribute to apartheid victims on a visit to South Africa's township of Soweto.

美国第一夫人米歇尔·奥巴马在访问南非城镇索韦托之时慰问种族隔离受害者。

She was speaking to young women from across Africa in a church that became a landmark¹ in the 1976 Soweto uprising.

Mrs Obama said the successful fight against apartheid（种族隔离） as well as the US civil rights movement should inspire them to overcome the problems of today, such as HIV or violence against women.

On Monday, Mrs Obama met the former South African President Nelson Mandela.

The trip to South Africa is the first lady's second official solo visit abroad since her husband Barack Obama became president in 2009.

'Queen of our world'

It is just more than 35 years since the Soweto uprising, a black student protest against a policy forcing them to learn in Afrikaans.

The riots（暴动） spread to other townships and was seen as a milestone² in the growth of the movement against white minority rule, which was finally ended in 1994.

Mrs Obama delivered her keynote address（政策演讲） in the Regina Mundi church in Soweto, which was at the heart of the uprising.

Introducing the first lady, Mr Mandela's wife, Graca Michel, spoke³ of the symbolism of her visit.

"You may have been a toddler（学步的小孩） when [the] 1976 uprising took place. Now, in your adulthood⁴, you come to us and you connect that history, and to say the triumphs of yesterday have to be the triumphs of today," she said.

"Regina Mundi's name in Latin means queen of the world. And we welcome you as a daughter of African heritage, and we can call you 'the queen of our world.'"

More than 70 young women leaders from across the continent were brought to the church to hear the speech and to meet Mrs Obama.

She reminded the audience about the struggle for freedom in South Africa and the US.