SAVING THE WORLD'S WOMEN: SPECIAL EDITION

By Ann Lewis on 08/25/2009 @ 01:33 PM

An important issue of The New York Times Magazine this Sunday, August 23, addresses the challenges facing women all over the world -- and the need for policies that truly value women's lives. You'll want to read this magazine for yourself. Here are some highlights:

The Women's Crusade cover story by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn:
"In The 19th Century, the paramount moral challenge was slavery. In the 20th century, it was totalitarianism. In this century, it is the brutality inflicted on so many women and girls around the globe: sex trafficking, acid attacks, bride burnings and mass rape....

"In many poor countries, the greatest unexploited resource isn't oil fields or veins of gold; it is the women and girls who aren't educated and never become a major presence in the formal economy."

A New Gender Agenda interview with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:
"I happen to believe that the transformation of women's roles is the last great impediment to universal progress - that we have made progress on many other aspects of human nature that used to be discriminatory bars to people's full participation. But in too many places and too many ways, the oppression of women stands as a stark reminder of how difficult it is to realize people's full human potential...

"We've moved from an understanding of how to deal with global AIDS to recognizing it's now a woman's disease, because women are the most vulnerable and often have no power to protect themselves. ...But women die every minute from poor maternal health care. You know, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria - those are all, unfortunately, equal-opportunity killers. Maternal health is a women's issue; it's a family issue; it's a child issue."

HILLARY'S TRIP TO AFRICA: PUTTING IDEALS INTO ACTION

Hillary returned from her 11-day trip to Africa last week, days filled with official events and televised town halls and interviews, meetings with government executives and legislators, with women entrepreneurs and educators; with HIV/AIDS patients and health care providers in South Africa; with students and young leaders everywhere.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where rape and violence against women are so widespread, Hillary announced a $17 million plan to fight sexual violence, including programs to train doctors, supply rape victims with video cameras to document violence; and train Congolese police officers, especially women, to crack down on rape.

Read Hillary's roundtable on rape and violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo here.

See a video diary of Hillary's trip here.


AND TRANSFORMING AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY

"Amid all the distractions, what is Clinton actually doing? Only overseeing what may be the most profound changes in U.S. foreign policy in two decades ...The secretary has quietly begun rethinking the very nature of diplomacy and translating that vision into a revitalized State Department, one that approaches U.S. allies and rivals in ways that challenge long-held traditions"

David Rothkopf, Washington Post, August 23, 2009

One more for your summer reading: Rothkopf, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, discusses how Hillary is transforming the State Department with her emphasis on building coalitions, and working with allies. Read it for yourself here.

YOUR TURN: SPEAK UP FOR HEALTH CARE (AGAIN!)

Congress will return to session on September 8th, and health care leads the agenda. You know the issues: our current health care system costs too much, and leaves too many people out. Too many people can't get the insurance they need; or learn after they get sick that their health insurance won't help. Too many families go to the emergency room for health care, or wait in line for hours for free care -- or don't get care at all!

We need reform that ensures everyone has access to quality affordable health care: health care reform with a public option to help keep costs in line, care that includes women's health - the kind of health care program that Americans voted for in the last campaign.

But now the news is dominated by shrill, angry voices, complete with scare tactics and false charges ("death panels" anyone?) Will these be the only voices that Congress hears? That's up to us!

Have you spoken up for health care yet? If you have already spoken or written to your Senators and representatives, will you contact them again?

The Last Word: "It seems like this bill is allowing people more control over their lives, and your reading of it is hyperbolic and dangerous."

Jon Stewart explains health care reform to self-proclaimed health expert Betsy McCaughey, who has been attacking non-existent provisions of the bill.

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