On October 12, American Elinor Ostrom became the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Economics Prize. Recognized for her research on economic governance and new institutional economics, Ostrom shares the prize with fellow economist Oliver Williamson. In her work, Ostrom extends the reach of economics to analyze the “social and legal norms and rules that underlie economic activity,” as Xinhua News reports. Following the announcement of the prize, Ostrom said that the win comes as “a great thrill and a very big surprise,” going on to comment:

“I think we’ve already entered a new era and we recognize that women have the capability of doing great scientific work. I think it’s an honor to be the first woman but I won’t be the last.”

This year, a record five women were awarded Nobel prizes. The honorees joining Ostrom include Literature laureate Herta Mueller, Chemistry Laureate Ada Yonath, and Medicine laureates Elizabeth Blackburn and Carol Greider.

Expert: 2009 Nobel Economics Prize is more a merit of past contributions-Xinhua News

First woman wins Nobel Economics Prize -AFP

In late March, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon wrote to the President of the General Assembly requesting that the body confirm Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand, as Administrator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for a term of four years. With a career in politics that spans nearly 30 years, Clark has most recently served as Prime Minister of her native New Zealand, governing from 1999 to 2008. As the eighth Administrator and the first woman to lead UNDP, Clark was chosen after an extensive selection process.

UNDP has released a statement on the confirmation of Clark, in which it is noted that “Miss Clark has the needed leadership and international recognition that would allow her as the new Administrator to build on her predecessors’ legacy.” UNDP further adds:

“She would bring a strategic perspective coupled with fresh thinking and impetus for change.”

As Prime Minister, Clark has “led her country’s policy debate on a wide range of economic, social, environmental and cultural issues, including sustainability and climate change, and the development of an inclusive multicultural and multi faith society,” as the UNDP describes. A strong supporter of development efforts and a leader on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in her region, Clark recently expressed her enthusiasm in her new role during a luncheon co-sponsored by Vital Voices on ‘Women in Power’, hosted by the Women’s Foreign Policy Group.

Secretary-General nominates Helen Clark as new UNDP Administrator-UNDP Newsroom 

In her first election before parliament, Tsetska Tsacheva became the first female speaker elected in Bulgaria with a 226-0 vote, as EurActiv reports. The 51-year-old lawyer is from northern Bulgaria, and has served previously in the municipal council. The Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria party, to which Tsacheva belongs, recently won 40 percent of the vote in national elections earlier in July. During her first address to parliament, Tsacheva spoke of the work ahead: “What people expect from us is more work and, most of all, self-discipline.”

Minority government set to lead Bulgaria -EurActiv

Bulgaria Elects First Female Speaker-Ms.Magazine

As Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel is consistently touted as not only one of the most powerful women, but one of the most powerful people in the world. Her story is distinctive: she is a native East Germany, and the first female chancellor of the German state.

Born in Hamburg in 1954, Merkel and her family soon migrated to then-communist East Germany, where she was raised in a rural community outside of Berlin. Having earned a doctorate in physics and worked as a chemist for many years, she did not take the typical path into politics.

In 1989, Merkel joined the burgeoning democracy movement in East Germany. With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the first democratic elections of East Germany, she entered politics as a government spokeswoman. Before the reunification of Germany, Merkel became an official member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), rising swiftly after reunification as a member of Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s cabinet in the role of Minister for Women and Youth. Later heading the Environment Ministry, she helped to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol.

In 2000, Merkel became the leader of the CDU, a role usually held by men from West Germany. Five years later, she was not only the first female German Chancellor, but also the first chancellor to hail from the East.

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Fatima Zahra Mansouri was recently elected mayor of Marrakech, Morocco, becoming the first woman to hold the position in the city, and only the second in Morocco’s history to be elected a mayor. The Secretary General of her Party for Authenticity and Modernity, Cheikh Mohamed Biyadillah, commented on the impact and meaning of the election: “Her election reflects the image of a modern Morocco.”

Mansouri, a 33-year-old lawyer, expressed her thanks after the election: “I am honored to lead Marrakech city hall.”

Buzzing Marrakech gets woman mayor-Middle East Online

In a ceremony marking the 47th anniversary of Algeria’s independence, President Abdelaziz Boutaflika promoted Colonel Fatma-Zohra Aardjoun, former department head of hematology at the army hospital, to the rank of General, making Aardjoun the first female general in Algeria.

The Mideast News Source reports that “Aardjoun’s promotion reflects a growing trend of Algerian women taking more prominent positions in the workforce, most notably in the police and military. Algeria boasts the largest number of female officers in the Muslim world, with 8 percent of its entire police force being women.”

Omar Benderra of Algeria-Watch, an Algerian human rights organization based in France, pointed to the achievement as a positive move, yet noted that there remains much progress to be made for women’s rights in the country: “It’s a good signal. But the question is not lying in the fact that a woman, a single person is put into this position, at this rank. The question is whether there is a sound policy to improve the general situation of the women in Algeria.”

Woman Becomes First Algerian Female General-The Media Line

Algerian woman becomes country’s first female general- Jerusalem Post

Rosa Parks with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

On July 4th, American citizens will celebrate the independence of the United States, commemorating the 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence. When we consider the idea of independence, we think of freedom, of rights fought for and received; we think of those who bravely stood or defiantly sat, of those who united and refused to be divided; we cannot help but think of women who have championed social and political change, advancing the rights and independence of those across the globe.

It would take 72 years of campaigning, and a total of 144 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, before American women would be recognized as equal citizens in the United States. In an age of globalization, interconnectedness and an active global civil society, it is difficult to imagine a campaign that spanned more than a lifetime to affect change. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott and Susan B. Anthony were among countless women activists making up the suffrage movement, which is said to have begun with the first women’s rights convention in 1848, held in Seneca Falls. It was at Seneca that Stanton and Mott first petitioned for women’s rights, protesting the mistreatment of women and issuing the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, modeled after the Declaration of Independence. Included in the Declaration, it was resolved, as Mott read out:

“That the speedy success of our cause depends upon the zealous and untiring efforts of both men and women…for the securing to woman an equal participation with men…”

These women were zealous, they were untiring, and they defined a movement that continues to inspire and propel change. At Seneca, independence meant equality, it meant extending the promise of human dignity to all members of a society; at the time they were rebels to be cast out, today they signify the progress of American independence and democratic values.

It is on the first of December in 1955 that most historians mark as the beginning of a civil rights movement that would forever transform the United States; this was the day that Rosa Parks chose to take, and keep, her seat in Montgomery, Alabama. In an act so simple and honest that it has since been recognized as profound, Ms. Parks sparked a movement for the desegregation of American society and the comprehensive inclusion of the rights of African-American citizens. Famously, it was her weariness that motivated Rosa Parks’ defiance, and it would be her fearlessness that would sustain it: “I didn’t have any special fear,” Ms. Parks once said, “It was more of a relief to know I wasn’t alone.”

On that December evening, independence meant freedom, it meant the right to be seen and regarded as an equal. For the movement that she ignited, and for the progress that has resulted and remains to be achieved, we must acknowledge Ms. Parks as a remarkable patriot; it was through her, and because of the civil rights movement, that America moves forward, in pursuit of a more perfect union.

As we honor the women leaders of the past, we also look to those who lead today.

We look to Africa, where just three years ago in 2006, Africa’s ‘Iron Lady’, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, became the first African female head of state. Since her momentous election, she has implemented a successful debt relief program, instituted free and compulsory education for children, and maintained peace in a previously war-torn country.

We look to Asia, to pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, who has dedicated herself to protecting the human rights of Burmese citizens and furthering the democratization of the Burmese nation. Suu Kyi is presently being detained in prison, despite an international outcry for her immediate release.

We look to the Middle East, where Vital Voices Global Advisory Council member Rola Dashti joined three other women in making history this May, becoming the first women elected to parliament in Kuwait. Four years after women gained the right to vote, the achievement of Dashti and those elected serves as an example of regional promise and progress.

We look to Europe, where Angela Merkel leads as the first female chancellor in Germany. As an advocate for human rights and proponent of women’s economic empowerment and inclusion in the business world, Merkel has risen to become an internationally recognized leader.

We look to Latin America, where Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, the first woman in the region to have ever held the posts of Minister of Health and Minister of Defense, is breaking the mold of male-dominated political leadership.

Whether past or present, to the women in whose footsteps we walk, and to those who continue to blaze the trail, we remember and give thanks to all who have struggled for equality, liberty and justice.

It is on days like Independence Day that we are reminded of our mission here at Vital Voices –to invest in emerging women leaders –pioneers of economic development, political participation, and human rights –and to help them build the capabilities, connections, and credibility they need to unlock their potential as catalysts of global progress.

To the women leaders that have inspired us and to those who will, we salute you!

On June 23, Mahinur Ozdemir was sworn in as a Minister of Parliament in Belgium with two distinctions, one as the youngest member of the body, and the other as the first headscarved MP in Europe.  The 28-year-old politician of Turkish origin recognized the timely and historic moment of her swearing in: “I blaze a trail in Europe by swearing in parliament,” she said in comment to Turkish television, as World Bulletin reports.

In response to a question concerning the debates and controversy that surrounded her choice to wear a headscarf, Ozdemir insisted, “They are undue and I focused on my job. I will continue to do that.”

Belgium’s Ozdemir becomes Europe’s first headscarved MP-World Bulletin

On July 1, 2009 Ursula M. Burns will become for the first African-American female CEO to lead a Fortune 500 company.

A mechanical engineer and former intern, Burns will ascend to be the head of the Xerox, the copy machine company that raked in $17.6 billion last year.

Her predecessor, Anne M. Mulcahy, was appointed to CEO in 2001 and the “Dynamic Duo”, as they have been amicably dubbed, have worked together to save the company from looming bankruptcy.

In 2007, Burns was appointed to president of the company, as Mulcahy planned the first succession from one female CEO to another in Fortune 500’s history. Mulcahy will stay with the company and serve as chairman of the board.

Sources:

Ursula Burns: An Historic Succession at Xerox- Businessweek
Behind the Fortune 500’s first female CEO handoff- Fortune

With promises to reign in a new era of diplomacy in the Middle East, President Barack Obama signed an executive order in February creating the first “Office of Religious Partnerships.” The office serves as a resource to nonprofits and community organizations, both religious and secular, and includes an advisory council to help administer interfaith dialogue.

Among the recent appointments to the council is Dalia Mogahed, Senior Analyst and Executive Director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies. Most notably, Ms. Mogahed is the first Muslim woman to serve as a an advisor to the White House. Continue Reading »