EMPOWERING WOMEN AND ENDING POVERTY

Breakthrough Summit Keynote Speech
by Madeleine K. Albright, former US Secretary of State

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Fellow co-chairs, members of the Leadership Council, distinguished officials, special guests, sisters, brothers, and friends - good afternoon.

I am delighted to participate in this breakthrough summit.

I want to thank Dean Lloyd and the cathedral's center for global justice and reconciliation and the many organizations and individuals who have made this seminal event possible.

Listening earlier to the choral prelude, I was reminded of a favorite saying: music is the sound of God breathing in and out.

This is appropriate because we are assembled here today to make a joyful noise.

A LOUD and joyful noise.

The Women, Faith & Development alliance is something new under the sun.

We are global, we are united, we are doers, and we are here to stay.

This afternoon, we are present at the creation of a new era based on a big idea - that investments in women and girls hold the key to an achievable goal - the elimination of extreme poverty and injustice.

Though we represent different perspectives, we meet on common ground and have a shared message for the world.

We do not accept that poverty is an inevitable part of the human condition.

We do not accept that five hundred thousand women should die each year because of avoidable complications in pregnancy.

We do not accept that ten million children should perish annually due to preventable illness and hunger.

We do not accept that millions of women should be infected by HIV/AIDS because too little is being done to shield them.

And we do not accept that, in the 21st century, the vast economic potential of women should remain underutilized.

By this, I do not mean that women have trouble finding work. 

In many societies, women do the vast majority of work; but don't own land; aren't taught to read; can't obtain credit; and don't get paid.

We refuse to accept this because we know that when women have the power to make their own choices, the chains of poverty can be broken; families are strengthened; the environment protected; the spread of sexually-transmitted disease slows; and socially-constructive values are more likely to be handed down to the young.

We are pleased that, in recent years, women around the world have made great progress in achieving legal recognition of their rights. 

But often, even if the laws on the books are changed, the reality in villages and cities has not. 

So appalling abuses are still being committed against women.

These include domestic violence and rape, coerced abortions, ritual mutilations, dowry murders, honor crimes, and even the killing of infants simply because they are female. 

Some say all this is cultural and there's nothing anybody can do about it. 

I say it's criminal and we each have an obligation to stop it.

I have been in public life for more than three decades, a mother for more than forty years, and a women for even longer than that.

I have attended many conferences related to women's rights.

And in each, uplifting goals were established.

But the purpose of this summit is not to list promises but to make commitments - to go beyond identifying goals to achieving breakthroughs that will save and enrich people's lives.

Within the Sufi school of Islam, there is a teaching in which a believer cries out, "Great God, how is it that a loving creator can witness such things as poverty, disease, violence and injustice and yet do nothing about them?  

To which God replies: "But you are wrong.  I did do something.  I made you."

According to the apostle Paul, there is one spirit but a variety of services.

Some of us are teachers; others are preachers, organizers, advocates for women, government officials, experts on development, or leaders in the field of public health.

We are diverse, but this weekend we are alike both in our commitment to social progress and in our adversary - which is a combination of disbelief and complacency.

If you've ever sat around a table and tried to convince a group of academics or politicians that poverty can be eliminated - you may have received the same reaction I have.  

People study their knuckles, roll their eyes and tell you that it can't be done.

I have to say, what's the deal? 

It's not like we're trying to reverse gravity or tie a rope around the Sun; poverty is not a force of Nature; poverty is a choice that society makes - and let's be clear: what we have the ability to choose; we have the power to change.

There is much about life that is shrouded in mystery, but this is not.

Ending or drastically reducing poverty can be done.

We know it, because we have already started; we understand what works.

It doesn't require a miracle; it does require empowering women, educating girls, teaching more, giving more, expanding the rule of law, and developing more equitable rules for labor, investment and trade.

By these means, hundreds of millions of people have lifted themselves out of poverty. 

In South Asia since 1990, the number of people without access to clean water has been cut in half. 

Globally, the percentage of people who must live on a dollar a day or less has been reduced by more than two-fifths. 

Literacy rates are up. 

Basic technologies such as malaria nets and oral vaccines have saved millions of lives. 

Micro-enterprise has put money in the hands of entrepreneurs from impoverished communities who work hard, save and create jobs for their neighbors.

The best corporations are lining up to join the anti-poverty cause along with members of the faith community from all parts of the political spectrum and every corner of the globe.

The generous commitments to action made at this summit will add to the momentum - and help ensure that, as further progress is made, women and girls are not left behind.

For my part, I can assure you that I will continue to participate in this alliance.

And I urge each and every one of you to stay with us - for although I am sure we will look back upon this week as a splendid beginning, we have only begun.

Breakthroughs are the work of many hands over many years.

They demand our own best efforts, but there is an even greater challenge.

And that is to take our big idea far beyond those who already share it; to vow, in years to come, that we will open eyes, reach distant hearts, and bring out the best in others.

That is what real leadership is all about. 

That is how truly historic change is created. 

That is the difference between being good sheep - and good shepherds. 

I said earlier that we had a message to share with the world.

Time is short, so let me distill it to three words.

Every life counts.

This has been the central premise of virtually every movement for positive change in history, from the freeing of slaves, to the ending of apartheid, to the improvement of labor conditions, to the granting of civil rights, to the rising tide of political liberty across the globe.

This principle is the magnet that has brought the women's movement together across boundaries of ethnicity and vocation, generation and gender.

And this principle is at the heart of our breakthrough summit.

Every life counts.

With this principle behind us, we can see before us a day when every girl will be confident that her dignity will be respected, her rights protected and her future determined solely by her own ability and character.

That is when we will be able to say that our alliance has truly done its job.

Let us not forget that each victory in support of women's rights becomes a platform upon which the next may be built.

Our task is to keep building until we have raised enough platforms high enough to transform the very horizons of the earth.

In that quest, we invite everyone to help us; and caution each that you cannot stop us.

Thank you very much -- and keep building.

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