I am writing this letter on the International Day of the Girl Child. This is two days after Malala Yousafzai, a 14-year old girl, was shot by Taliban gunmen in north-western Pakistan. The militants said they targeted Malala because her promotion of education for girls was “pro-Western.” A spokesman for the Islamist militant group told BBC Urdu on Tuesday that Malala would not be spared if she survived.
Malala Yousafzai came to public attention in 2009 at the age of 11 when she wrote a diary for BBC Urdu about the suffering caused by the Taliban militants who had taken control of the valley. Writing under the pen-name Gul Makai, Malala rose to fame because of her desire to attend school, which translated into a one-girl campaign of resistance when the Taliban captured Swat valley in 2009 and ordered that all girls’ schools be closed. Several hundred in Swat and neighboring Bajaur and Mohmand were destroyed. The government’s inability to rebuild the schools was matched by its ambivalence towards the Taliban, which allowed it to carry out acts of brutal acts of sabotage with impunity. Malala’s identity emerged after the Taliban were driven out of Swat and she later won a national award for bravery, and was nominated for an international children’s peace award. Then the Taliban shot her.
Doctors in Peshawar operated on Malala for hours before managing to remove the bullet early on Wednesday. “She is a candle of peace that they have tried to blow out,” said one Pakistani man, Abdul Majid Mehsud. Malala’s father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, who ran a girls’ school, said his daughter had wanted to go into politics. He said that of all the things he loved about her, it was her fairness – her democratic ideals – that he loved the most.
Today at the Global Fund for Women we launched an appeal in order to mobilize resources for the security and safety of girls and women in Pakistan while they continue to fight for their rights – to an education and so much more. www.globalfundforwomen.org
A couple of weeks ago, I was fortunate to meet with the President of Bryn Mawr College, Jane McAuliffe – a truly great educator, thinker and leader. I was there to discuss a Gender and Development Lab initiative designed to deepen students’ understanding of the tools and approaches that contribute to gender-inclusive policy and program design and delivery, including gender-inclusive budgeting. Encouraging students to ask the critical questions that will address the underlying causes of gender equality, rather than just dealing with the symptoms and consequences, is so important at this time and Bryn Mawr is uniquely equipped to assume such a role.
Josh had come with me, not needing an excuse to be in the gorgeous locale in which Bryn Mawr is situated. He directed my attention to a plaque at the entrance to the college: a tribute to an earlier President of the college, Katherine McBride, from the poet Marianne Moore:
…unique in her
exceptional
unpresidential
constant
a liking for people
as they are
In this same spirit of addressing the core assumptions and approach that perpetuates gender inequality, I was fortunate to attend the Meeting of the Troika+ of Women Leaders on Gender and Climate Change hosted by the Hon. Mary Robinson. I was there with the President of Global Fund for Women, Musimbi Kanyoro, whose leadership on issues affecting women and girls is renowned. It was during Musimbi’s leadership of the World YWCA that she steered the organization’s policy to ensure that 50% of the World YWCA’s international board is under the age of 30.
Troika+ members gathered in New York to formulate a new decision to improve gender balance in bodies established by the Climate Change Convention. This would then go for consideration to the 18th Conference of the Parties (COP18), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Doha. The meeting also provided an opportunity to share plans for COP18 in relation to gender and women’s leadership.
Musimbi and I were at the Climate Change meeting with our own commitment – a new Green Grants for Women global fund to support women’s action on addressing green issues. These include climate change realities, sustainable energy initiatives, ecologically sustainable agricultural practices, and in democratizing access to food and water. This weekend I’ll be having conversations in a very different forum, the Bioneers Conference in San Rafael. What’s encouraging is to see the number of young people signed on to attend this gathering and keen to be involved in social media advocacy and organizing.
What happens when young people seek to spark a movement was shared by a young woman called Natalie Warne who gave a TEDTeen talk that I saw at a recent Women’s Funding Network Board Meeting. Natalie’s topic was Anonymous Extraordinaries –– and she began by speaking about being raised by a strong mother whose life was inspired and defined by Dr. Martin Luther King’s life commitment to civil rights. At 17, Natalie saw the documentary Invisible Children: The Rough Cut, a film exposing Africa’s longest running war. Driven by this story, Natalie applied to be a volunteer for Invisible Children, using her voice to help end this war. She was quickly given responsibility to help lead Invisible Children’s largest project to date, an event in 100 cities worldwide called “The Rescue.” Thanks to her determination, tens of thousands of people came out to the event, sleeping in the streets for up to six days in order to raise the profile of this war.
There’s an image on the video of young people streaming to support the cause. The image is compelling in its message of Anonymous Extraordinaries – young people literally running toward causes in which they believe. In this case, Natalie’s tireless efforts paid off when Oprah Winfrey invited Invisible Children, and Natalie, onto her show to add her voice to the numbers.
In this same spirit of citizen action, girls in countries where violence against women is extreme, such as in Egypt, are also claiming their own power through social media. Check out The Adventures of Salwa and see the power of women seeing red and using their red bags to furiously fight back and say NO! NEVER. EVER (In every one of the scenarios in these brilliant animated clips).
As women become increasingly active in public spaces, organizing to claim their full human rights, they are also more exposed to sexual harassment and abuse, and to efforts to shut them out of access to spaces for collective action. Investments in women and girls having the space to meet and organize seems to be diminishing, which is why the work of the Global Fund for Women is so important.
Yet, even when women are denied their human rights, other women often step up to champion their cause. In Jeffrey Toobin’s brilliant book, The Oath
As Toobin described it, ‘Alito’s bloodless opinion, with its tender regard for the Goodyears of the world and none at all for the Ledbetters’ inspired Ginsburg to unleash a powerful and thorough dissent (At 6,200 words, it was nearly as long as Alito’s opinion for the court).’ Crucially, Ginsburg offered up the Civil Rights Act as an example of an act that effectively overruled the Supreme Court’s similarly restrictive decisions and implied that Congress could pass similar legislation to ensure the Lilly Ledbetters’ of the future would secure victory and not defeat. As Toobin points out, ‘rarely in the history of the Court had a justice speaking from the bench called so directly on another branch of government to nullify a decision by her colleagues.’ And of course this is what happened with the first legislation signed into power by President Obama being the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Ginsberg’s broader plan to turn Lilly Ledbetter and her own dissenting opinion into a victory also sent a message about the power of dissent in leveraging policy and social change – and where the points of influence lie.
We have seen the extraordinary victories that come from women standing strong against the most pervasive forces of cruelty and injustice. The shining example is Aung San Suu Kyi’s victory in becoming a member of Burmese House of Representatives and with the possibility of her becoming the elected leader of a democratic Burma. I’ve been invited to join a delegation to Burma in December, led by Australian Parliamentarian, Janelle Saffin, who has tirelessly advocated for the rights of the Burmese people to a free and Democratic Burma for many years. My dear friend, Cheri Mangrai, will also join us, having grown up with Aung San Suu Kyi’s family and been an advocate for Aung San Suu Kyi’s vision and leadership for as long as I’ve known her.
Here in San Francisco, I attended a rockstar reception and awards night for Cecile Richards, CEO of Planned Parenthood, and whose visionary leadership led some present to ask her to consider standing for the US Presidency in the future. “It won’t be me, but I hope I see a woman President of the United States in my lifetime”, Cecile responded. “I cannot emphasize how important it is to have women in Parliament making policy.” In the audience were young women who had survived breast cancer due to the early detection services provided by Planned Parenthood. Also cheering Cecile on were some of the 20% of Americans who use Planned Parenthood, from military wives using their services to teenagers seeking advice.
Tomorrow I move to Sausalito, a new home for me, where nature abounds. Last time I was there I watched a young woman climb into her sea kayak late afternoon and head out on the water. I could hear the slap-slap of the water as she paddled confidently, her gaze strong, as a sea eagle dipped low, seemingly to accompany her on her journey. She put on her red hat. She was on her way.
As a woman I have no country. As a woman my country is the whole world.
-Virginia Woolf
Jane Sloane