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Clinton: US to Push for Womenâs Rights in New Mideast Democracies

   David Gollust | State Department  March 08, 2011
   U.S.  first  lady  Michelle  Obama  (L) and Secretary of State Hillary
   Clinton  (R)  honor  Kyrgyzstan  President  Roza Otunbayeva during the
   International   Women   of   Courage  Awards  Ceremony  at  the  State
   Department, March 8, 2011

Photo: Reuters

   U.S.  first  lady  Michelle  Obama  (L) and Secretary of State Hillary
   Clinton  (R)  honor  Kyrgyzstan  President  Roza Otunbayeva during the
   International   Women   of   Courage  Awards  Ceremony  at  the  State
   Department, March 8, 2011

   Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that the United States
   will  "stand  firm"  for  womenâs  empowerment as new democracies take
   shape  in  the Middle East.   Clinton spoke at a [1]State Department
   event honoring women from 10 countries for advocacy on womenâs issues,
   including Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva.

   Clinton  used  the event, part of the U.S. observance of International
   Womenâs  Day,  to serve notice that the Obama administration will make
   womenâs  empowerment  a  policy priority in its dealings with emerging
   democracies in the Middle East.
   "The  women  in  Egypt and Tunisia and other nations have just as much
   right as the men to remake their governments, to make them responsive,
   accountable,  transparent,"  she said.  "The United States will stand
   firmly  for  the  proposition  that women must be included in whatever
   process goes forward."
   Clinton  said  no  government  can  succeed if it excludes half of its
   people - its women - from important decisions.
   The  secretary of state, joined by first lady Michelle Obama, presided
   at  the  fifth  annual  Women  of  Courage  awards  ceremony, honoring
   activists  around  the  world  for  advocating  for womenâs rights and
   empowerment.
   This year, the 10 recipients include the first female head of state so
   honored,  Kyrgyz  Republic President Roza Otunbayeva, who Clinton said
   steered  her  country  to democracy last year after the collapse of an
   autocratic regime.
   "She  decided early on she would help to set up a new government, have
   a  new  constitution,"  she said.  "And when the time came, after the
   elections  were  finished, she would turn over powers to the new prime
   minister  and  that  government.   In  so  doing,  she has offered an
   invaluable lesson to fledging democracies everywhere."
   In  an  acceptance  speech on behalf of all of the honorees, President
   Otunbayeva  said  the new Kyrgyz democracy - the first in the region -
   might  appear  chaotic,  but  that  the  apparent disarray is far more
   preferable to the order enforced by a dictator.
   "Yes,  when  you  are  a  dictatorship,  it is very easy to create the
   artificial picture of stability and harmony," she said. "When you have
   a  democracy,  you must learn to accept many voices, some of them very
   critical, some even insulting. To  the outsiders,  it looks like you
   are about to collapse every minute."
   Other  awardees at the event included Afghan regional prosecutor Maria
   Bashir,  journalist  Henriette Ekwe Ebongo of Cameroon, Chinese lawyer
   Jianmei  Guo,  Hungarian  parliamentarian  Agnes  Osztokyan, Jordanian
   legal  advocate  Eva  Abu  Halaweh,  Pakistani  rural womenâs activist
   Ghulam Sughra and Mexican Deputy Attorney General Marisela Morales.
   Belarusian   youth  organizer  Nasta  Palazhanka  and  Cuban  Internet
   activist Yoani Sanchez were barred by their countries from attending.
   But  first  lady  Michelle  Obama  said  the Cuban government has been
   powerless to prevent the dissemination of Sanchezâs online essays, and
   that  this  kind  of courage is the common thread that connects all of
   the honorees.
   "Each  time these women speak up, they inspire others to use their own
   voices,"  she  said.   "Their fearlessness inspires other to overcome
   their  own  fears.   And  so soon, citizen networks emerge, eager for
   change.   Soon  itâs  possible to rewrite laws, to topple regimes, to
   transform peoplesâ lives."
   Obama  said  some  of  the woman activists might not see the fruits of
   their  labors  during their lifetimes, but that they carry on with the
   knowledge  that  they  are  paving the way for a better life for their
   daughters and their sons.

   2011 International Women of Courage Awards Ceremony:

References

   1. http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2011/03/157895.htm

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