Charting further gains in the status and rights of women - Fourth World Conference on Women in China - U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Madeleine K. Albright speech - Transcript

US Department of State Dispatch, August 7, 1995

The Women's Conference will contribute to a freer and more equitable world. As its recommendations are implemented, it will also strengthen families around the world. We know from our own experience that when families are strong, children are cared for, socially constructive values are taught, and an environment is created in which civility and law may thrive.

So we want momentum to build around the idea that women and men should share fairly in the responsibilities of family life; we want to see girls valued to the same degree as boys; we want parents and prospective parents to be able to make informed judgments as they plan their families; and we want to see domestic violence curtailed and condemned. Each of these is a central element of the Conference draft Platform for Action. Effective action on each w@ill help families and communities everywhere.

Despite recent gains, women remain an undervalued and underdeveloped human resource. This is not to say that women have trouble finding work; in many societies especially in rural, agriculturally based areas-they do the vast majority of the work. But they do not own the land; they are not taught to read; they cannot obtain personal or business loans; and they are denied equal access to the levers of political decisionmaking.

It is no accident that most of those in the world who are abjectly poor are women-often caring for children without the help of the children's father; many trapped from an early age in a web of abuse, discrimination, ignorance, and powerlessness from which only a few are able to escape.

We cannot be indifferent. It is reported that, in Angola, one-third of all homicides are perpetrated against women, usually by their spouse. In Thailand, child prostitution is growing because clients believe older prostitutes are more likely to be infected by HIV. In Senegal, females receive less than one-third the schooling received by males. In Sierra Leone, women perform much of the subsistence farming and all of the child-rearing and have little opportunity for education. Almost everywhere, women are restricted by discriminatory attitudes and social and economic structures that are unjust.

The Women's Conference will not solve these problems overnight, but it will call attention to them and promote remedial action. Women the world over a,re prepared to be full partners in sustainable development, but they need access to education and health care; they need access to credit; and they need equality under the law. Releasing the productive capacity of women is one key to breaking the cycle of poverty, and that will contribute, in turn, to higher standards of living for all nations.

Since the first Women's Conference 20 years ago, opportunities for women have expanded throughout the world. It is no longer a question of whether women from all countries will have a strong voice in controlling their destinies but only when and how that goal will be achieved.

But building inclusive societies is still a work in progress. The United States has been working on it for two centuries. For more than half our nation's history-until 75 years ago this month-american women could not even vote. Many traditional or authoritarian societies still have a very long way to go. The Fourth Women's Conference will offer guidelines and promote commitments for every state to move forward, whatever current practices and policies may be.