Remarks at the Women in the World Summit
Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Lincoln Center
New York City
March 10, 2012
SECRETARY CLINTON:
So how do you like my jacket? (Laughter and applause.) I cannot believe
what just happened. (Laughter.) I really had no idea what was going to
be portrayed or done by Meryl. I thought we might get some extraordinary
renditions of everyone from Aung San Suu Kyi to Indira Gandhi, a
reprise of Margaret Thatcher. And it was quite astonishing because I’ve
always admired her. And as she said, we do unfortunately throughout our
lives as girls and women often cast an appraising eye on each other. I’m
just glad she didn’t do a movie called The Devil Wears Pantsuits.
(Laughter.)
But just as I marked various stages of my life by remembering what
amazing role she was playing at the time, it is quite a humbling
experience to have someone who I admire so greatly say what she said
today. Because the work that I’ve done has been work that I felt drawn
to for some of the same reasons that Meryl and I share these
generational experiences, particularly these big-hearted mothers who
challenged us to go as far as our efforts could take us.
So here we are at the end – it truly is the end – of the conference
that has brought all of these women of the world, in the world, to New
York. And I want to thank Tina Brown and her entire team that worked so
hard to enable everyone to see what I get to see all the time.
(Applause.) I just can’t thank you enough. (Applause.)
Because for me, it has not been so much work as a mission, it has not
been as strenuous as it has been inspiring, to have had the chance
throughout my life, but certainly in these last 20 years, to have the
privilege of meeting women and girls in our own country and then
throughout the world who are taking a stand, whose voices are being
heard, who are assuming the risks that come with sticking your neck out,
whether you are a democracy activist in Burma or a Georgetown law
student in the United States. (Applause.)
My life has been enriched, and I want yours to be as well. I am
thrilled that so many of you have taken the time out of your own lives
to celebrate these stories of these girls and women. And of course, now I
hope that through your own efforts, through your own activism, through
the foundations, through your political involvement, through your
businesses, through every channel you have, you will leave here today
thinking about what you too can do. Because when I flag in energy, when I
do recognize that what my friends are telling me – that I need more
sleep – is probably true, I think about the women whom I have had the
honor to work with. Women like Dr. Gao, who Meryl met, who is about –
well, she’s shorter than the podium. She is in her ‘80s now. She did
have bound feet. She became a doctor and she was the physician who
sounded the alarm about HIV/AIDS despite the Chinese Government’s
efforts for years to silence her.
Or I think about Vera, the activist from Belarus whom I met. She’s
worked so hard to shine a spotlight on the abuses happening right inside
Europe one more time – another regime that believes silencing voices,
locking up dissidents, rigging elections, is the only way to stay in
power. So she and her allies brave the abuse every single day to say no,
there is another way.
Or Inex, who Meryl also mentioned, who I got to know during our
efforts on behalf of the peace process in Northern Ireland. And she was
reaching across all of these deep divides between the communities there,
trying to forge understanding and build bridges. And like Muhtaren, the
Pakistani young woman who had been so brutally assaulted for some
absurd remnant out of an ancient belief in settling scores between
families which should have no place in any country in the 21st century –
(applause) – she was expected to kill herself. Well, of course; you’ve
been shamed, you’ve been dishonored; through no fault of your own, you
are now dead to us, so just finish the job. Well, she not only didn’t,
but she is a living rebuke to not only those who assaulted her but to
the government that did not recognize it needs to protect all of its
girls and women, because without their full involvement in their
society, there can never be the progress that is so necessary.
Now, I doubt any of these women would have ever imagined being
mentioned on a stage by an Oscar-winning actress. I know I didn’t
imagine I would be so mentioned on this stage. (Laughter.) But they are
because they are special. We know about their stories. Somehow, we have
seen their struggles break through the indifference and the resistance
to telling the stories of girls and women who are struggling against
such odds across the world.
But they also represent so much more. Because this hall – I know
because I know many of you – are filled with women and men who are on
the front lines fighting for change, for justice, for freedom, for equal
rights. And there are tens of millions more who need our support. So
what does it mean to be a Woman in the World? Well, I too believe it
means facing up to the obstacles you confront, and each of us confront
different kinds. It means never giving up – giving up on yourself,
giving up on your potential, giving up on your future. It means waking
early, working hard, putting a family, a community, a country literally
on your back, and building a better life.
You heard from Zin Mar Aung, the Burmese democracy activist who spoke
earlier. When I met her late last year when I, on your behalf, on
behalf of our country, went to Burma, I discussed with her and other
activists what civil society would now be able to do to further the
political and the economic reforms that the people so desperately need.
And we did honor her along with nine extraordinary other women as
International Women of Courage at the State Department.
She, as you could see, came out of prison not embittered, although
she had every right to be so, but determined, determined to make her
contribution. She didn’t have time to feel sorry for herself, to worry
whether her hair was the right shade or the right length. She got to
work. And because of her, she’s founded four organizations, she’s
working with young people and women to build civil society and
citizenship. She raises funds for orphanages, she helps the families of
political prisoners trying to re-enter into society, and she is one of
those watering the seeds of democracy.
Or consider the young Nepali woman Suma, who sang so beautifully for
us. (Applause.) You know what her story was. Six years old, sold into
indentured servitude, working under desperate conditions, not allowed to
go to school, not even allowed to speak her own native language. But
then finally rescued by an NGO, an organization supported by the United
States State Department, your tax dollars, called Room to Read, helped
her enroll in a local school. We’ve helped 1,200 girls across India,
Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka complete their secondary education.
So there is much we can do together. And I have to tell you, I
thought it was exquisitely appropriate as I woke up and was getting
ready this morning to open The New York Times front page and see
Christine Lagarde and Angela Merkel there. (Applause.) I know both of
them and I think they are worthy of our appreciation and admiration,
because boy, do they have hard jobs. Christine, who was here, is
demonstrating not only her leadership at the IMF but also sending a
message that there is no longer any reason that women cannot achieve in
business, finance, the economy. And Chancellor Merkel is carrying Europe
on her shoulders, trying to navigate through this very difficult
economic crisis.
Now, I also heard a report of the call to action and the passion that
Leymah Gbowee, our Nobel Peace Prize winner, along with President Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf from Liberia summoned you to. Now, for those of you who
have seen the movie Pray the Devil Back to Hell, you know what happened
in Liberia in the spring of 2003. But for others of you who may not yet
have seen it, I urge you to do so, because thousands of women from all
walks of life – Christians and Muslims together – flooded the streets,
marching, singing, praying. Dressed all in white, they sat in a fish
market under the hot sun under a banner that said: “The women of Liberia
want peace now.” And they built a network and they delivered for their
children and for future generations. It was an extraordinary
accomplishment. (Applause.)
And when the peace talks finally happened in Ghana – not in Liberia –
they went to Ghana. They staged a sit-in at the negotiations, linked
arms, blocked the doors until the men inside reached an agreement. So
the peace was signed, the dictator fled, but still they did not rest.
They turned their energies to building an enduring peace. They worked to
elect Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who became the first woman ever elected
president of an African country. And in January, I had the honor of
attending her second inauguration. (Applause.)
I just saw my good friend, President Jahjaga of Kosovo. She’s a very
young president, but already her life is a testament for what women can
do to promote peace and security. She was still a student when the war
started. She saw so much suffering. She wanted to help. So after
finishing her studies, she became a police officer. She worked closely
with international troops to forge a fragile peace. She rose through the
ranks and eventually became the leader of the new Kosovo police force.
And then just last year, she became the first woman elected president
anywhere in the Balkans. (Applause.) And she has worked to bring her
country together to promote the rule of law, ethnic reconciliation,
regional stability – all the while standing up for the rights and
opportunities of women and girls.
You can look around the world today and you can see the difference
that individual women leaders are making. Dilma Rousseff in Brazil,
former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, who’s now leading UN women.
They carry an enormous load for the rest of us, because it is hard for
any leader – male or female. But I don’t fear contradiction when I say
it is harder for women leaders. There are so many built-in expectations,
stereotypes, caricatures that are still deeply embedded in psyches and
cultures.
When I sat down alone for dinner with Aung San Suu Kyi back in
November, it really did feel like meeting an old friend, even though it
was the first time we’ve had a chance to see each other in person. Of
course, from afar I had admired her and appreciated her courage. I went
to the house where she had been unjustly imprisoned. Over dinner, we
talked about the national struggle, but we also talked about the
personal struggle. How does one who has been treated so unjustly
overcome that personal sense of anger, of the years that were lost,
families that were no longer seen, in order to be a leader that unites
and brings people together? Nelson Mandela set such a high standard, and
he often told me how going to prison forced him to overcome the anger
he felt as a young man, because he knew when he walked out that prison
door, if he were still angry, if he still was filled with hatred, he
would still be in prison.
Now, Aung San Suu Ky, like Nelson Mandela, would have been remembered
in history forever if she had not made the decision to enter politics,
as he did as well. So there she is at, I think, 67, out traveling in an
open car through the heat of the countryside, meeting crowds of tens of
thousands, even hundreds of thousands, absorbing their hopes that they
are putting onto her. She knows that when she crosses into politics,
even though it is ultimately the way change is made that can last, she
moves from being an icon to a politician. I know that route. (Laughter.)
And I know how hard it is to be able to balance one’s ideals, one’s
aspirations, with the give and take of any political process anywhere in
the world.
Now, we can tell stories all night and we can talk about the women
who have inspired us. But what inspires me is not just who they are, but
what they do. They roll their sleeves up and they get to work. And this
has such important implications for our own country and for our
national security, because our most important goals – from making peace
and countering extremism to broadening prosperity and advancing
democracy – depend to a very large degree on the participation and
partnership of women.
Nations that invest in women’s employment, health, and education are
just more likely to have better outcomes. Their children will be
healthier and better educated. And all over the world, we’ve seen what
women do when they get involved in helping to bring peace. So this is
not just the right thing to do for us to hold up these women, to support
them, to encourage their involvement; this is a strategic imperative.
And that’s why at the State Department, I’ve made women a cornerstone
of American foreign policy. I’ve instructed our diplomats and
development experts to partner with women, to find ways to engage and
build on their unique strengths, help women start businesses, help girls
attend school, push that women activists will be involved in peace
talks and elections. It also means taking on discrimination,
marginalization, rape as a tactic of war. I have seen the terrible
abuses and what that does to the lives of women, and I know that we
cannot rest until it is ended.
In December, we launched a U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace,
and Security, which is our roadmap for how we accelerate and
institutionalize efforts across the United States Government to advance
women’s participation. And we’re taking on some really tough problems.
We’re trying to build local capacity. We’re giving grants to train women
activists and journalists in Kenya in early-warning systems for
violence. We’re supporting a new trauma center for rape victims in
Sudan. We’re helping women in the Central African Republic access legal
and economic services. We’re improving the collection of medical
evidence for the prosecution of gender-based violence in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo.
And that’s just the beginning, because from around the world, from
Iraq and Afghanistan to Sudan to the new transitional democracies in the
Middle East and North Africa, we’re expecting our embassies to develop
local strategies to empower women politically, economically, and
socially.
But we are watching carefully what is happening. We are concerned
about the revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa. They held so
much promise, but they also carried real risks, especially for women. We
saw women on the front lines of the revolutions, most memorably in
Cairo’s Tahrir Square. They marched, they blogged, they tweeted, they
risked their lives alongside their sons and brothers – all in the name
of dignity and opportunity. But after the revolution, too often they
have found their attempts to participate in their new democracies
blocked. We were delighted that our great Supreme Court Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsburg went on a State Department-sponsored trip to Egypt and
Tunisia. And while there, she rightly said the daughters of the Middle
East “should be able to aspire and achieve based on the talent God gave
them and not be held back by any laws made by men.” (Applause.)
Just a few weeks ago in a town hall meeting in Tunis, a young woman
wearing a head scarf stood up and talked about her experience working in
partnership with the U.S. Embassy in a program that we call Bridge to
Democracy. She said that often people she met were surprised that a
young women wearing a hijab would work with Americans, and that we would
work with her. Gradually, she said, these preconceptions broke down and
increasingly people are just eager to find new partners to help build
their new democracy. I told her that in America, in Tunisia, anywhere in
the world, women should have the right to make their own choices about
what they wear, how they worship, the jobs they do, the causes they
support. These are choices women have to make for themselves, and they
are a fundamental test of democracy.
Now, we know that young woman in Tunisia and her peers across the
region already are facing extremists who will try to strip their rights,
curb their participation, limit their ability to make choices for
themselves. Why extremists always focus on women remains a mystery to
me. But they all seem to. It doesn’t matter what country they’re in or
what religion they claim. They want to control women. They want to
control how we dress, they want to control how we act, they even want to
control the decisions we make about our own health and bodies.
(Applause.) Yes, it is hard to believe that even here at home, we have
to stand up for women’s rights and reject efforts to marginalize any one
of us, because America needs to set an example for the entire world.
(Applause.) And it seems clear to me that to do that, we have to live
our own values and we have to defend our own values. We need to respect
each other, empower all our citizens, and find common ground.
We are living in what I call the Age of Participation. Economic,
political, and technological changes have empowered people everywhere to
shape their own destinies in ways previous generations could never have
imagined. All these women – these Women in the World – have proven that
committed individuals, often with help, help from their friends, can
make a difference in their own lives and far beyond.
So let me have the great privilege of ending this conference by
challenging each of you. Every one of us needs to be part of the
solution. Each of us must truly be a Woman in the World. We need to be
as fearless as the women whose stories you have applauded, as committed
as the dissidents and the activists you have heard from, as audacious as
those who start movements for peace when all seems lost. Together, I do
believe that it is part of the American mission to ensure that people
everywhere, women and men alike, finally have the opportunity to live up
to their own God-given potential. So let’s go forth and make it happen.
Thank you very much. (Applause.)
