Women

Over at ThePeopleSpeak.org, Elisa Lai makes a really excellent argument that climate change disproportionately affects women. It’s a very clear and compelling point, and one that I frankly don’t see a ton of.

Worth a read when you have a minute:

In most developing countries and most least-developed countries, women often have lower social statuses and have lower accessibility to social/political affairs participation than do men. The same is true in the context of international climate change negotiations, where women’s efforts are often downplayed, and women’s opinions are underweighted. Attention on international climate change negotiations and their agendas is not focused on climate-vulnerable women in the developing world. To reach gender equality and gender justice in terms of climate change issues, the harmonious role many women play in managing natural resources with minimal ecological footprint needs to be recognized and valued more. In order to mitigate and adapt to climate change impacts, it is critical for the international community, through women empowerment, to involve women’s participation and reinforce women’s capabilities in the face of climate change disasters.

CNN just posted this video from their “Inside Africa” series profiling Ntsiki Biyela, South Africa’s first black female winemaker. You can check it out below and check out CNN’s article for a little more background here.

When you have a minute, check out Kathleen Parker’s column in today’s Union Leader, in which she profiles women in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and beyond who are daily risking their lives to bring about gender equality in their respective countries.

Plugging the organization Vital Voices along the way, she writes:

“We are not victims.”

Yes, of course, many have been victimized by brutal regimes in some cases, or by cultural forces, or by men who have hijacked religion to justify actions that would be treated as crimes in our part of the world. But these women are not seeking restitution; they are seeking empowerment.

This is a crucial distinction that underscores the courage they display in the routine machinations we call everyday life.

Female judges kiss their families goodbye in the mornings and make peace with their maker just in case they don’t return. Parents send their daughters to school despite incidents such as the acid attacks on 15 schoolgirls and teachers in 2008.

I heard the “not victims” refrain a day earlier from another group of women — from Bahrain, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kenya, Brazil and Haiti — in Washinton to be honored by Vital Voices Global Partnership, a nongovernmental organization that works to empower female leaders and social entrepreneurs around the world.

Vital Voices, which grew out of the U.N.’s Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, focuses on advancing women as a U.S. foreign policy goal. Translation: Empowering women will lead to greater prosperity and world peace.

One cannot sit and talk with these women and escape inspiration. On one end of the spectrum is Afnan al Zayani, a CEO from Bahrain who leads the Middle East and North Africa Businesswomen’s Network. On the other is Rebecca Lolosoli, matriarch of Kenya’s Umoja Village, an all-women’s community she created to support women, girls, orphans and widows who had been abandoned by their families or were fleeing domestic violence, forced marriage or genital mutilation.

It sort of puts that bad hair day in perspective, doesn’t it?

But, again, they refuse to be victims.

The whole piece is worth a read.

A month ago I had the opportunity to travel across Ghana and Sierra Leone with Yvonne Chaka Chaka, South African musical legend and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. Despite her modesty, Yvonne would inevitably steal the show at every stop we made, bursting into song in schools, hospitals and factories at the request of our hosts.

Yet it wasn’t until last weekend that I witnessed the true power of Yvonne’s voice on the continent. To help celebrate her 25 years in the music industry, fellow South African musicians Lira and Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse joined Yvonne in Sun City, South Africa. Lira and Hotstix helped warm up the crowd, but it was Yvonne who convinced three First Ladies and a handful of Ministers up to dance on stage and captured the audience with films from her travels to meet women across the continent.

After keeping first ladies and ministers up all night dancing, the next morning Yvonne brought them around a table for a much different purpose: a consultation on integrated preventative strategies to meet Millennium Development Goals 4, 5, and 6, which target the reduction of child mortality, maternal mortality, and the spread of infectious diseases.

Integration might seem like a bland topic to follow-up a concert, but considering the occasion – the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day- the discussion was anything but boring. Women across the continent are perhaps the biggest beneficiaries of integrated, comprehensive approaches to healthcare. Here in DC and in African capitals, programming and funding for health is often compartmentalized into buckets like HIV/AIDS, child survival and malaria; but for women, interventions like clean water, vaccinations, skilled birth attendants and insecticide-treated bed nets are all part of a single package to keep them and their families healthy. Although I was one of the only observers from the Washington, D.C. advocacy community, this conversation felt especially timely given the administration’s commitment to both an integrated and women’s centered approach in the Global Health Initiative outlined last month.

The forum kicked off with three presentations on integrated strategies. First, Debrework Zewdie, Executive Director of the Global Fund, talked about the Fund’s success at promoting integration and supporting health systems in countries like Ethiopia and Malawi, as well as its current financing challenge. She was followed by Sophia Musaka Monaco of UNAIDS, who spoke of the remaining barriers to achieving universal access to HIV/AIDS, treatment, prevention and care and warned that through disease specific interventions we are “treating our people like programs.” Finally, Dr. Eric Lugada presented on a pilot program that CHF International launched in Kenya last year with the help of Yvonne and a firm called Vestergard Frandsen launched last year in a Kenyan community. To tackle the three interrelated challenges of HIV, malaria and diarrhea, the program used a community-based model to deliver CarePacks, which include bed nets, “Life Straw” water purifiers, condoms and educational materials. You can read about it here.

After the presentations, a lively discussion ensued on the impact of poverty and disease on women and what needs to happen to make real progress in healthcare across the continent. The spectrum of topics reflected the diversity of the participants, ranging from greater accountability and spending by African governments and to better incorporating men into women and family health programs, to greater financing for integrated approaches through demand-driven mechanisms like the Global Fund. A need to address women’s health and utilize their role as leaders in their community was central to all these strategies.

The meeting concluded with a commitment by Yvonne to bring everyone back together in August for a second “Leading African Women’s Forum,” and to continue to offer up her voice for not just AIDS or malaria or child health, but for an integrated approach to address the health of women and their families. Ideas and opinions on all these topics will continue in DC and other hubs across the globe, but it takes often someone like Yvonne- a true global health diva- to bring them together and extend them to the communities where they matter the most.

This weekend, the Washington Post published a piece by Eleanor Herman about Peggielene Bartels, the first woman to become the ruler of Otuam, Ghana. It’s a fascinating study of both Bartels– who was actually a secretary in Washington, DC– and Otuam, and a really good read.

Towards the end of the piece, Herman writes:

Bartels’s organizational skills and decades of administrative experience are greatly admired in Otuam. For one thing, she is literate, which many of the elders are not. She knows computers, having received a diploma from Strayer University in computer information systems. She has lived in the United States since 1979, when she was offered an embassy job during a visit, and has faced daily challenges they can’t even imagine.

Armed with such an impressive résumé, Bartels is a symbol of hope to younger residents. Twenty-five-year-old Kweku Acheampong, a student, asked for a private audience with her, with no elders at the table. Acheampong was tall and muscular with golden brown skin, alert eyes and a trim moustache. He came with nine friends in tow.

Acheampong stood respectfully and cleared his throat. “We have been waiting for you,” he said. “We have been waiting for years. Why do you think this town has no water? Why is there no library? No Internet? Why does the elementary school have no toilet, and 250 kids use the bushes? Why are our roads so bad? Why does our clinic have only nurses and not a single doctor? Why can we not move forward? It is because the elders have been stealing the town’s funds, so there is no money for development. That’s why! This must change.”

Acheampong continued: “We, the youth of Otuam, want to make sure it will change! We stand behind you as our king. You are young, you are American, and you are a woman. The ancestors sent you here to change things. We want to join your council of elders to make sure no more money is stolen.” His companions grunted in approval.

“You are right,” Bartels replied. “I will get to the bottom of the corruption and appoint some of you to the council to collect the fishing and farming fees. Now that I have been gazetted, it is time to get serious about this.”

As a follow up to the article, the Washington Post hosted a Q&A with the author, which you can read here.

Andrea Mitchell sat down with Secretary Clinton to discuss the state of the world’s women today. In the interview, Secretary Clinton talks about the growing role of women in developing countries, and the setbacks they still face.

It’s an excellent insight into how the Obama Administration is approaching the promotion of women’s rights around the world:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

On a sunny Monday hundreds of women met on London’s Millennium Bridge to show their solidarity with women around the world on International Women’s Day.

They were joined with thousands of other women in more than 100 Join Me on the Bridge events in 18 different countries around the globe.

From Sudan, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the United States women came together to show that they build the bridges to peace and development.

They also remembered those women in other countries who were not able to meet on bridges due to the insecurity and for fear for their lives.

Watch a video of what happened in London:

In the last 100 years, since International Women’s Day was first celebrated, a great deal has changed for many women. But for those in developing countries change has not been so swift with an estimated 70% of people living in poverty being female.

In 1910, when International Women’s Day was established, 355 women per 100,000 live births died as a direct result of childbirth or pregnancy-related causes in England and Wales. Today the number of maternal deaths stands at around 14 per 100,000 across the UK.

Meanwhile recent figures show that in developing countries an average of 450 women per 100,000 live births die in childbirth.

By joining other women on the bridge on Monday we showed our commitment to change this.

P.S. If you weren’t able to take part in an event you can still join the Join me on the Bridge campaign and show your government that you want them to invest in women.

Here’s another great post in honor of International women’s Day from our partners at Opportunity International.

This International Women’s Day (and week), let’s come together and celebrate the stories of women who show resilience, strength and courage every day. Opportunity International works with many of these women. In fact, more than 85% of our clients are women. With determination, knowledge and the support of microfinance services, these women have transformed not only their lives, but the lives of their families and communities.

Here is the story of just one of these amazing women, Rosemary Namande. Rosemary’s life has been deeply affected by the AIDS epidemic. The disease has taken her daughter, two siblings, a nephew and the parents of 11 children in her community. Rosemary was able to adopt these children and provide them with shelter, safety, support and an education in large part due to her entrepreneurial spirit. Forty years ago, Rosemary opened a school for infants. Today, equipped with a staff of over 50 people and Opportunity loans, she has five permanent buildings that house an orphanage and an elementary school that allows over 900 children to go to school.

But Rosemary’s impact doesn’t just end with the children. She uses the increased income from her loans to reinvest in her community. She adopts orphans, hires widows to teach marketable skills, helps women establish businesses, leads a local women’s council, and opens her school to other community activities.
I believe that Susan Gillette of the Women’s Opportunity Network had Rosemary in mind when she said “Strong women mother the world.” If you know other strong and inspiring women like Rosemary, please post a tribute to them on the Global Opportunity Quilt. Help us celebrate women in honor of International Women’s Day.

-Ruth-Anne Renaud, Vice President, Women’s Philanthropy & the Women’s Opportunity Network, Opportunity International

Yesterday, Hill staffers, ONE’s partners, interested visitors and members of the media took time out of their busy schedules to gather with Cindy McCain, actress Connie Britton and Sen. Shaheen on Capitol Hill for the Exhibit Premiere of Women Who Go Beyond: Success Stories from Africa.

To have so many different people – influential in their own way – viewing photos of women who are reducing poverty in their countries and conversing about this issue was a great moment for me and my colleagues. But don’t just take our word for it. Check out what Cindy McCain and Connie Britton had to say about their experiences in Ghana and Sierra Leone and what you can do to help:

The photos, which were taken by ONE’s Morgana Wingard, will be on display in the Russell building on Capitol Hill through Friday, March 12. If you live in the Washington D.C. area, please feel free to stop by and learn about the incredible work women in developing countries are doing for their families, communities and countries.

As promised, here’s the video from the International Women of Courage Awards ceremony that was held yesterday. Among the recipients were Shukria Asil (Afghanistan), Col. Shafiqa Quraishi (Afghanistan), Androula Henriques (Cyprus), Sonia Pierre (Dominican Republic), Shadi Sadr (Iran), Ann Njogu (Kenya), Dr. Lee Ae-ran (Republic of Korea), Jansila Majeed (Sri Lanka), Sister Marie Claude Naddaf (Syria), and Jestina Mukoko (Zimbabwe).

Watch: