Today, March 8, we celebrate International Women’s Day, joining with advocates and leaders around the world to recognize the progress made and obstacles that remain in advancing women’s equality. In a video address, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that this year “marks an anniversary very close to my heart,” referencing the 15-year anniversary of the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China.

“The message from that conference rang loudly and clearly, and still echoes across cultures and continents: Human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights.”

Secretary Clinton went on to say that much work remains: “Women are still the majority of the world’s poor, unhealthy, underfed, and uneducated. They rarely cause violent conflicts but too often bear their consequences. Women are absent from negotiations about peace and security to end those conflicts.”

Throughout the week, Secretary Clinton will be commemorating International Women’s Day, and will present Melinda French Gates the Global Trailblazer award at the 2010 Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards on March 10.

Today marks the start of an exciting week for Vital Voices. This evening, Board Member Diane von Furstenberg will host a reception for Panmela Castro, our Human Rights Award honoree. Panmela is a graffiti artist from Brazil who brings the message of women’s rights to the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, informing women of their right to live free of violence under Brazil’s domestic violence law. During the day, Panmela will be creating a mural at the DVF Studio in New York City.

Other events this week include:

March 9

Launch of Women Can and Do media campaign with the ringing of the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. 2010 honorees will join past honoree Danielle Saint-Lot of Haiti to introduce this exciting collaboration with Diane von Furstenberg and founding partners Standard Chartered Bank, Avon, and Time Inc.

Day one of a three-day summit hosted by the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Women, a collaboration between Vital Voices and the Avon Foundation for Women at the State Department. Delegates from around the world will gather at the State Department for dialogue and working sessions on ending violence against women. An evening reception will honor Men’s Voices to End Violence Against Women.

March 10

2010 Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards at the Kennedy Center. We will honor six remarkable women for their contributions in the fields of human rights, economic empowerment, and political and social activism.

March 12

Opening night of The Daily Beast’s Women in the World: Stories & Solutions summit at the Hudson Theatre in New York. Vital Voices’ play SEVEN will be performed by actresses including Meryl Streep, Shohreh Aghdashloo.

March 13

Inaugural DVF Awards at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Four outstanding women will be recognized for their contributions to their communities, including Vital Voices Global Network members Danielle Saint-Lot and Sadiqa Basiri.

Visit our site to learn about the many exciting events of the week!

Washington Life Magazine recently named the Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards ceremony as the Most Inspirational Event of 2009. Held annually at the Kennedy Center in Washington, the Awards honor remarkable women leaders from across the world for their contributions in the fields of human rights, economic empowerment, and political participation. Among the honorees and presenters this year were Somaly Mam, Nicholas Kristof, Chouchou Namegabe, Ben Affleck, Sally Field, Ambassador Melanne Verveer, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Washington Social Diary: We Pick 2009 Best Events -Washington Life

On December 12, The Somaly Mam Foundation, Acting for Women in Distressing Situations (AFESIP), and world-renowned anti-human trafficking activist Somaly Mam will join the Cambodian nation in observing National Anti-Human Trafficking Day. In an effort to raise awareness of the crisis of human trafficking in Cambodia, Somaly will commemorate the day by holding a press conference with the Minister of Women’s Affairs, among other senior officials of the government.

For more information, visit AFESIP Cambodia.

Playwright Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer-Prize winning work, “Ruined,” was staged on the evening of November 9 at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC with the cooperation of The Enough Project. A powerful depiction of the plight of Congolese women during ongoing war, “Ruined” is the product of Nottage’s conversations with various women in the Democratic Republic of Congo during her travels to the state. Told in a bar in a remote mining town, the stories of Mama Nadi, Sophie, Salima and others illustrate the effects of a war waged largely upon women’s bodies. Sophie, portrayed by Condola Rashad, is damaged, the mark of war left on her body, she has been cast out from her family and community –she is “ruined.” Mama Nadi, read by Portia, agrees to take Sophie in as one of the many girls who work her bar, presenting a unique dialectic and provoking all to consider instances in which the oppressed might become an oppressor. As Nottage explained in a panel discussion following the staging, she intended to provide an accurate representation of the reality in Congo, of ethics blurred by conflict and the remarkable resilience of the women she has encountered there.

Chouchou Namegabe of the Democratic Republic of Congo

Vital Voices honoree and internationally-recognized journalist Chouchou Namegabe was also featured in the panel discussion, alongside Enough Project Co-founder John Prendergast. Chouchou shared her perspective of the war and ongoing violence, speaking on the use of rape and sexual violence as a tool of war. Chouchou is the 2009 Knight International Journalism Award Winner, recognized by the International Center for Journalists, she called for the guarantee of freedom of the press in Congo. She went on to insist:

“Our voices must be heard. Silence must come to an end…Change must come from the women. Change can come to Congo, and it must come from the women of Congo.”

John Prendergast spoke on the role of conflict minerals such as coltan, used widely in the production of electronics including cell phones, in fueling and perpetuating the war in Congo. Prendergast urged that American consumers voice their concerns to corporations that benefit from “the human misery” that results from the illegal mineral trade.

To take action on Congo, visit: Raise HOPE for Congo –The Enough Project

To support Chouchou Namegabe, visit: Vital Voices Women of the Congo Training Fund

On October 27, Vital Voices held a roundtable discussion, featuring Mukhtar Mai, on women’s rights in Pakistan and the work of the Mukhtar Mai Women’s Welfare Organization. After surviving a brutal gang rape by four assailants, the punishment for the crime allegedly committed by her brother when he held hands with a girl of a higher caste, Mukhtar says she felt it was necessary to help others in similar situations because, she says, “when you experience hardship and do not get help it makes the experience that much more difficult to live through.” Her case reached international prominence when highlighted by New York Times columnist and author Nicholas Kristof, who wrote of Mai’s near unprecedented decision to prosecute her rapists. Mukhtar was recognized by Vital Voices in 2006 with the Fern Holland award and her story is among those featured in the play Seven.

In order to benefit the community, Mukhtar established the Mukhtar Mai Women’s Welfare Organization. The organization’s services include a free legal help clinic, two schools for girls, a shelter for abused women, and a telephone helpline service. Through these avenues as well as others, Mai and her staff are able to educate six hundred girls, provide assistance to over one thousand female victims of violence, and support the local school for boys.

Over the past two years, the Mukhtar Mai Women’s Welfare Organization has partnered with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in order to build the organization’s capacity as well as providing technical assistance. Kristin Kim Bart, a member of the IRC team working with Mukhtar, describes how she sees Mukhtar:

“Mukhtar and [her colleague] Nasim [are] visionaries who were able to see dreams and formulate their projects into monuments.”

Though Mukhtar has faced a number of death threats as a result of her advocacy, she remains determined to follow through on her promises to help the her community and sees no sacrifice as too costly in the fight for women’s human rights.

Kakenya's Welcome. Photo: Kate Cummings, Vital Voices/Advocacy Project Fellow

Kate Cummings is a Vital Voices and Advocacy Project fellow studying in Africa. She recently visited Kakenya Naiya, Rising Voices Global Leadership Award honoree and Global Advisory Council member, at her Center for Excellence in Kenya. Kate shares her experience in the post below.

“All I want to do is see my girls. Are we going to make it? Oh look, it’s already past four.” Kakenya is pointing from the window of the car at the school children, running in their uniforms along the roadside. School has just let out and children are chasing skipping darting everywhere, unattended, on their long walks back home. We pull into Kakenya’s hometown of Enoosaen and quickly leave the rows of shops for a dirt road leading into the hills. The car lets us out and Kakenya is walking fast, her excitement building as we see the sign, “Kakenya’s Center for Excellence.” And just as we have the driveway in our sights, a flood of girls comes around the fenced corner. There are so many of them, their dresses different colors and patterns - some bright pink, others brown-and-white checks, a few with green collars peeping out from torn sweaters. Their small bodies stretch over the earth like track sprinters, hugging the twists in the path as they close in on us. From only a few feet away, their smiles are wild – huge and full of joyful screaming; Kakenya is waiting, her arms open, and all of the delicate frames in bright colors come rushing into her, hugging one another when they cannot reach Kakenya. I became, in a matter of seconds, completely devoted to these girls. Their goodness was so clear, whole; the world should belong to them.

It takes actually very little information to know someone. It takes only, for example, the abandon in the girls’ sprint to know them. It takes just the size and grip of the embrace that surrounded Kakenya to know Kakenya’s Center for Excellence. And it took only one moment of looking at Kakenya, surrounded by the uncontained love of her students, to know that Kakenya is exactly the person you have always hoped for.

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Trainers from the UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia, UNMIL, recently conducted a mock hostage exercise for visiting Security Council ambassadors, showcasing the innovative methods and capacity of female-dominated Liberian security forces. President Sirleaf, the first woman elected president of Liberia, has teamed with Ellen Margrethe Loj, the senior UN official in Liberia, to design a model whereby women are the empowered leaders addressing and overcoming challenges of corruption and lawlessness. Habits of a 14-year civil war have permeated Liberian society, emerging in forms of sexual violence such as the brutality of mass rape. As she seeks to forge peace, to introduce as viable the concept of peace itself, President Sirleaf is compounding this effort with a potentially transformative initiative of women’s empowerment.

An all-female police unit comprised of 130 Indian women trains Liberian female officers and defies perceptions that would dictate Liberian women are helpless to defend themselves against sexual violence. Commander Annie Abraham has witnessed “Liberian women seizing the opportunity to assert their rights,” adding that the impact is truly societal, “we have also been able to change the perception of the Liberian men. They feel their women can do much more.”

Posters hang throughout the capital, announcing it is “Time to rebuild mama Liberia, not time to destroy her.” From the heaviest burdens of a failed state, relief rises from a discounted resource –the women of Liberia.

In 2006, Vital Voices inaugurated the Global Trailblazer Award in honor of President Sirleaf, the first democratically elected African woman to serve as head of state. We only continue to be encouraged by the accomplishments of this remarkable leader, herself an impetus for positive reform within and without Liberia.

UN Endorses Johnson Sirleaf’s Liberia Turnaround Effort -VOA News

Rola Dashti

We would like to congratulate Vital Voices Global Advisory Council member and Global Leadership Award recipient Rola Dashti, Massouma al-Mubarak, Aseel al-Awadhi and Salwa al-Jassar for making history in Kuwait’s elections as the country’s first women members of parliament!

Four years after Kuwaiti women were granted the right to stand for public office and vote in Parliamentary elections, four women were elected to the 50-seat National Assembly on May 16, 2009.  In a historic moment for Kuwait, which has witnessed 3 elections in the past three years, Dr. Rola Dashti, Vital Voices Global Advisory Council Member, along with Dr. Massouma Al-Mubarak, Dr. Aseel Al-Awadhi, and Dr. Salwa Al-Jasser were elected to the National Assembly.

Elections were called after the Emir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, dissolved parliament in March following disputes between the parliament and the cabinet.  With a population of approximately 2.6 million people, 384,790 were registered to vote in the May 16, 2009 elections, more than half of whom are women.  And of the 210 registered candidates, 16 were women.

Vital Voices has been supporting the women of Kuwait since 2003, when they conducted an intensive two week training program in Washington, DC and New York City that focused on leadership, communication and lobbying.  In May 2006, Vital Voices took part in a follow-up conference that examined ways to increase women’s political participation.  That same year, Vital Voices honored the women of Kuwait, including Rola Dashti, at its annual Global Leadership Awards event.  Vital Voices will continue to stand by the women of Kuwait as they continue advancing women’s roles in public office and society.

News Coverage

First Women Win Seats in Kuwait Parliament - NY Times

Women win parliamentary seats for first time in Kuwait - CNN

Kuwait votes for first female MPs - BBC

Kuwaiti women win first parliamentary seats - AP

KUWAIT: In a first, four women elected to parliament - LA Times

FOCUS: Kuwaitis Elect First Women Lawmakers,Seek Econ Reform - Wall Street Journal

Somaly Mam, Vital Voices Honoree and Global Advisory Council Member has been named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People for 2009. At the age of 12 Somaly Mam was sold into sexual slavery in Cambodia. She is now considered to be one of the greatest heroes in the fight to end such abhorrent practices and has been responsible for the rescue of thousands of its victims.

Read her story which is written by Angelina Jolie at Time.com