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Secretary of State Clinton reaches out to women in Seoul, Korea

Main information crossposted from 51 Percent.

"I think that it’s imperative that nations like ours stand up for the rights of women. It is not ancillary to our progress; it is central." - Hillary Rodham Clinton speakng in Seoul, 2/20/2009

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is doing as many of us expected, using her position to reach out to and therefore empower women around the world. One way women here at home can begin to overcome their differences to work together toward women's emancipation is to understand what we share in common with women around the world, so that we can all work toward women's emancipation. Below is the text of Secretary Clinton's primary remarks, my emphases added.

Women's Empowerment Is Key To Progress

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Secretary of State

Town Hall Meeting at Ewha Women's University

Seoul, South Korea

February 20, 2009

SECRETARY CLINTON: Good afternoon. (cheers and applause) Thank you so much, President Lee. I am honored to be here at this great university. I wish to thank also Chairperson (inaudible) and the more than 107,000 alumni at this great school. Standing up with me was our Ambassador Kathy Stephens, who has told me that more than 50 graduates of Ewha Womans University work at U.S. Embassy Seoul. We are extremely proud of the education they have received here.

It is a great privilege to stand here before you on the stage of the largest women’s university in the world. And I came to – (applause) – this university as a matter of destiny, because you see, Ewha and I share a connection. (Cheers and applause.) I am a Methodist, my family on my father’s side comes from Scranton, Pennsylvania – (applause) – and I must say that Wellesley College is a sister college for Ewha University. (Applause.) So being an honorary fellow seems right at home today.

I also note that in this audience are some Korean-American friends from New York and California. There are several Wellesley graduates whom I met backstage as well – (applause) – and an extraordinary number of talented young women, faculty members, and administrators.

Learning about this great university and the role that you have played in advancing the status of women made me think about so many of the women throughout history who are inspirations to me: Madame Scranton, someone who started teaching one young woman, and from her dedication and hard work came this university; Eleanor Roosevelt, a pioneering First Lady of the United States and a voice for democracy around the world, and one of the driving forces behind the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights. Now, that was more than 50 years ago, but just a few weeks ago, one of Korea’s most accomplished leaders, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, called on all nations worldwide to push for more progress on women’s equality. And I want to thank the Secretary General – (applause) – because he said that women’s empowerment is the key to progress in developing nations.

People who think hard about our future come to the same conclusion, that women and others on society’s margins must be afforded the right to fully participate in society, not only because it is morally right, but because it is necessary to strengthen our security and prosperity.

Before I came out on stage, I met a number of young women who are in political office here in the Republic of  Korea, and I hope I was looking at a future president of this great nation. (Applause.)

As you think about your own futures, keeping in mind security and prosperity and the role that each of us must play, is essential because of the urgent global challenges we face in the 21st century. We need all of our people’s talents to be on the very forefront of setting a course of peace, progress, and prosperity; be it defending our nations from the threat of nuclear proliferation and terror, or resolving the global climate crisis or the current economic crisis, and promoting civil society, especially women’s rights and education, healthcare, clean energy, good governance, the rule of law, and free and fair elections. All of these matters speak to our common desire to make a nation that is safe and strong and secure.

More than half a century ago, this university became the first to prepare women for professions that were formerly reserved for men, including medicine, law, science, and journalism. At about the same time, your government wrote women’s equality into your constitution and guaranteed protections for women in employment. And there have been other rights and protections for women encoded in Korean law in subsequent decades.

These advances coincided with Korea’s transformation from an undeveloped nation to a dynamic democracy, a global economic power, and a hub of technology and innovation. The inclusion of women in the political and economic equation, calling on those talents and contributions from the entire population, not just the male half, was essential to the progress that this country has made.

As I have been on this first trip as Secretary of State, I have visited Japan and Indonesia, and tomorrow I will be in China. I was very impressed by my visit to Indonesia, a young democracy that is demonstrating to the world that democracy, Islam, modernity, and women’s rights can coexist. I met elected women officials. I met high appointed members in the foreign ministry and other cabinet positions in the government. It would be hard to imagine the progress that Indonesia has made in the last ten years, moving from a stagnant autocracy to a burgeoning democracy, without women being part of the reason.

And on Sunday, I’ll meet with women in China to hear about their efforts to improve opportunities for themselves in their own country, another reason why women have to lead the way if there’s going to be higher standards of living, a healthier population, and an actively engaged citizenry.

But no country has yet achieved full equality for women. We still have work to do, don’t we? And just a few weeks ago, President Obama signed into law a new provision protecting women from salary discrimination, a step that was overdue. So there is a lot ahead of us to ensure that gender equality, as President Lee mentioned, becomes a reality. And we also need to remain vigilant against a backlash that tries to turn the clock back on women and human rights, countries where leaders are threatened by the idea of freedom and democracy and women are made the scapegoats. The abuses of women under the Taliban are horrific reminders that just as women had been central to progress in countries like ours, the reverse can happen as well.

Some of you may have seen the news reports some weeks ago of young girls in Afghanistan who were so eager to go to school, and every day they went off with a real light in their eyes because they were finally able to learn.
And one day, a group of these young girls were assaulted by a group of Taliban men who threw acid on them because they had the desire to learn. We have to remain vigilant on behalf of women’s rights.

We see this kind of suppression in different forms in different places. In Burma, the valor of Aung San Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for her courageous struggle for freedom of expression and conscience. To the North, 70 percent of those leaving North Korea in search of a better life are women, a sad commentary on the conditions in their own country.

So part of my message during this trip and part of my mission as Secretary of State is that the United States is committed to advancing the rights of women to lead more equitable, prosperous lives in safe societies. I view this not only as a moral issue, but as a security issue. I think that it’s imperative that nations like ours stand up for the rights of women. It is not ancillary to our progress; it is central.

In 1995, when I went to the United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing and said that women’s rights were human rights, and human rights were women’s rights, people were so excited. But that to me was almost a sad commentary that we had to say something so obvious toward the end of the [twentieth] century.

So here we are in the [twenty-first] century, and every day we make progress, but we can’t be complacent. We have to highlight the importance of inclusion for women. We have to make clear that no democracy can exist without women’s full participation; no economy can be truly a free market without women involved.

I want to use robust diplomacy and development to strengthen our partnerships with other governments and create collaborative networks of people and nongovernmental organizations to find innovative solutions to global problems – what we call smart power.

Today, I’ve come to this great women’s university to hear your thoughts about the future. The other night in Tokyo, I had the privilege to listen to students at Tokyo University, and I came away not only impressed by their intelligence and the quality of their questions, but encouraged by their concern about the future that lay ahead and what each of them wanted to do to make it better.

Today, I’ve held bilateral meetings with your president, your prime minister, and your foreign minister. We have discussed issues like the need to continue the Six-Party Talks to bring about the complete and verifiable denuclearization in North Korea, and how we can better coordinate not only between ourselves, but regionally and globally, on the range of issues that confront us. But in each meeting, we took time to reflect about how far this country has come.

Back in the early 1960s, there were a series of studies done where different groups were looking at nations around the world, trying to calculate which ones would be successful at the end of the 20th century. And many commentators and analysts thought that the chances for the Republic of Korea were limited. But that wasn’t the opinion of the people of Korea. And so for 50 years, you have built a nation that is now assuming a place of leadership in the world, respected for the vibrant democracy, for the advances across the board in every walk of life. And it is a tribute to your understanding of what it takes to make progress at a time of peril and uncertainty.

The relationship between the United States and Korea is deep and enduring, and it is indispensible to our shared security. Without security, children can’t even imagine their futures and may not have the potential to actually live up to their talents. Our two countries have joined together as a force for peace, prosperity, and progress. Korean and American soldiers have served shoulder-to-shoulder in so many places around the world.
We know that the most acute challenge to stability and security in Northeast Asia is the regime in North Korea, and particularly its nuclear program. It bears repeating that President Obama and I are committed to working through the Six-Party Talks. We believe we have an opportunity to move those forward and that it is incumbent upon North Korea to avoid provocative actions and unhelpful rhetoric toward the people and the leaders of the Republic of Korea. Remember that the North Korean Government committed to abandoning all nuclear weapons and returning at an early date to the Treaty of Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

And I make the offer again right here in Seoul: If North Korea is genuinely prepared to completely and verifiably eliminate their nuclear weapons program, the Obama Administration will be willing to normalize bilateral relations, replace the peninsula’s longstanding armistice agreement with a permanent peace treaty, and assist in meeting the energy and other economic and humanitarian needs of the Korean people.

Also essential to our shared security and prosperity is a resolution to the global economic crisis. Korea and the United States have both benefited from a strong economic relationship, and your leaders and I today discussed ways we can develop that relationship further. We are going to work on a vision of a much more comprehensive strategic relationship. We want more partnerships to bring not just government leaders together, but business and professional and academic and political and people-to-people. We want to work with Korea so that both of us will be leaders in getting at the root causes of global climate change and vigorously pursuing a clean energy agenda. And I applaud your country for being a global leader in this area, and for calling on the ingenuity and skills of the Korean people to promote green technologies that will create jobs and protect our planet and enhance our security.

Students here at Ewha have a long and proud tradition of engagement with the world. And you have the talent and the training to help shape that world. It may not be always obvious what you can do to make a difference, so do what you love. Do what gives you meaning. Do what makes life purposeful for you. And make a contribution.

I don’t know that Mary Scranton, who founded this university teaching one student in her home, could have ever dreamed of where we would be today. But that’s often the way life is. I never could have dreamed that I could be here as the Secretary of State of the United States either. (Applause.) You have to be willing to prepare yourselves and as you are doing to take advantage of the opportunities that arise, to find cooperative ways to work with others to promote the common good, and then follow your dreams. You may not end up exactly where you started out heading toward, but with your education and with the opportunities now available in your country, there is so much that you can do. And I know that you will be well-equipped to make your contribution that will contribute to the peace and prosperity and progress and security, not only of Korea, but of the region and the world that needs and is waiting for your talents.
Thank you all and God bless you. (Applause.)
And now we’re going to have some questions, I think, right? (Laughter.)

[Secretary Clinton's meeting continued]

Afghanistan: "Obama's War"

This was the lead story - front-page, above-the-fold-in yesterday's edition of USA Today: Obama's war: Deploying 17,000 raises stakes in Afghanistan.

I found this striking because almost every other news venue was covering economic issues, devoting attention either to the slightly expanded mortgage-holder relief program that the Obama administration is beginning to push or the new requests for billions of dollar in corporate welfare requested by GM and Chrysler.

Like most Americans, I cannot judge how much of a threat to international or national peace the Taleban continues to pose: I simply do not have access to the relevant information. But I do think we need to keep an eye on foreign military adventures as we ride the all-too-adventurous roller-coaster of economic affairs.

This deployment to Afghanistan, while not at all expected, is scheduled to occur before any draw downs in troops in Iraq. That's worrisome. But what is also worrisome is the tendency Presidents have to use military buildups to jumpstart the economy. How will be know whether the build-up in Afghanistan addresses national security (we have the same Secretary of Defense we had under the George W. Bush administration) or whether it is serving as a locus of unquestionable spending, rather like Operation Desert Shield during the George H.W. Bush term or Grenada during the Reagan years?

For those of us who would like to see government spending meant to help the economy concentrated on domestic infrastructure, rebuilding our own country rather than ravaging another one, how will we hold this administration accountable for assuring us that it is not using the good old military-industrial complex and the new tactic of shouting "terrorist" to siphon funds to the special interest groups that will push for military spending in Afghanistan but who have little or no interest in domestic improvements?

Secretary Clinton heads to Asia - smart power, meetings with women, discussions of economy and security

Here are  two sets of remarks Secretary of State Clinton has given directly to the press already, having only just begun her trip. The combination of openness to the press and the decision to get off the ministerial level to speak to ordinary citizens demonstrates how Secretary Clinton's style, as well the substance of her ideas, will transform American diplomacy. Emphases mine.

Overview of Trip to Asia

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Secretary of State

Remarks by Secretary Clinton En Route to Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo, Japan

February 15, 2009

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I wanted to come back and talk to you about this trip. It's my first trip, obviously, as Secretary of State, and going to Asia is, for me, a very big part of how we're going to demonstrate the Obama Administration's approach to dealing with the multitude of problems that we see, but also the opportunities as well.

This region is indispensable to our efforts to seize the opportunities and meet the challenges of the 21st century, and it is part of a larger context in which we intend to create networks of partners in order to deal with the problems that no nation, even ours, can deal with alone. And for me, this means employing all the tools of smart power. And I will be discussing with the leaders with whom I'll be meeting not only our bilateral relationships and our relationships with institutions in the region, but joint efforts that we can undertake on behalf of global problems like climate change or nuclear proliferation, or specific issues like the future of our efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan and beyond.

Now, this is not just about meeting with leaders, though, because I think it's important that we get out of the ministerial buildings and listen to the people in the countries where I'll be visiting. So to that end, I'll be doing town halls and visits in areas of concern that we can discuss with NGO leaders and local officials.

This is not the first time I've been in these countries, but it's obviously the first time that I come in this capacity. But it's an opportunity to renew relationships with some people that I've known before, as well as those with whom I'll be meeting for the first time.

And it really is about listening as much as talking. I think that's an important point I want to underscore. We think it's not only a smart approach to engage our friends, partners, and have an opportunity to hear from them, but we also are looking for the best ideas about how to further the objectives of this Administration in pursuing peace and prosperity and progress.

The final point I would say is that the global economic crisis is the backdrop against which this visit takes place. The four nations I'll be visiting are all members of the G-20. They will be in London. I will be discussing with them the approaches that each are taking, explaining what we have just done with the passage of our stimulus bill, and seeking greater cooperation about how together we're going to work our way through these very difficult economic times.

But I'm optimistic and very much looking forward to this trip. I chose to go to Asia deliberately in order to send that message that we are reaching out. We do see Asia as part of America's future. As I said in my speech at the Asia Society, we are both a transatlantic and a transpacific power. And part of what I hope we can do is better understand and create the kind of future that will benefit both Asians and Americans.

The U.S. and Japan: Collaborating To Address Global Concerns

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Secretary of State

Remarks upon arrival in Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo, DC, Japan

February 16, 2009

Thank you very much, and I am delighted to be back in Tokyo. I have come to Asia as my first trip as Secretary of State to convey that America’s relationships across the Pacific are indispensable to addressing the challenges and seizing the opportunities of the 21^st century. By strengthening our historic Asian alliances, starting right here in Japan, and forging new partnerships with emerging nations, we can begin together to build networks around the world to help us solve problems that none of us can solve alone.

The bilateral relationship between the United States and Japan is a cornerstone of our efforts around the world. I will be speaking with Japanese leaders and citizens during my visit, and we will be looking for ways to collaborate on issues that go beyond just our mutual concerns to really addressing the global concerns, including climate change and clean energy, Afghanistan, Pakistan, nuclear proliferation, and other common concerns.

The U.S.-Japanese alliance is vitally important to both of our countries, to the Asia-Pacific region, and to the world. And our partnership stretches back half a century. Its foundation has been and always will be a commitment to our shared security and prosperity. But we also know that we have to work together to address the global financial crisis, which is affecting all of us. And we have to work together, as we are doing, to try to assist those around the world afflicted by poverty, natural disasters, and disease. We have a longstanding tradition of exchange and cooperation between our two countries, and between the people of our two nations. We have cooperation in the fields of education and science, and through programs such as the Fulbright Exchange and the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program.

With us this evening are some of the Japanese citizens who have been part of the exchanges. We have two preeminent Japanese astronauts, both space pioneers whose work is indicative of the ongoing scientific cooperation between Japan, the United States, and our other partners around the world. It is an honor for me to meet Dr. Mukai, who is known and admired for her participation in two space shuttle missions. And I wish to acknowledge and welcome Ms. Yamazki, who is on her way to becoming the first Japanese mother to fly in space when she joins the International Space Station next year.
I am also pleased to be joined by members of Japan’s Special Olympics Committee, the leaders and the coaches and the other officials, and most importantly, the athletes who have just returned from the 2009 Special Olympics World Games in Boise, Idaho. I want to congratulate all of the athletes. We salute you for your accomplishments in the athletic arena, as well as the message of peace and kinship that your participation in the Special Olympics sends around the world.

I am looking forward to my opportunities to meet with government leaders and citizens in Tokyo. I look forward to these discussions, and to do the work together with the government and people of Japan that will continue our long friendship and alliance, and will enable us to move forward with confidence and optimism into this new century. Thank you for this gracious and generous welcome back to Tokyo and Japan.

If Iranian women can put themselves forward, American women have no reason not to

(Cross-posted from Heidi Li on Equality, 51 Percent)

Today's New York Times has a front-page story, above the fold, headlined "Starting at Home, Iran's fight for Women's Rights".  At home in Iran things obtacles to putting women forward are more obvious than they are at home in the United States.   In Iran:

Despite the gains they have made, women still face extraordinary obstacles. Girls can legally be forced into marriage at the age of 13. Men have the right to divorce their wives whenever they wish, and are granted custody of any children over the age of 7. Men can ban their wives from working outside the home, and can engage in polygamy.

The article highlights amazing things that can be done by women - and men - determined to resist these signs of pervasive misogyny. Chief among them is the rise in the ratio of women to men in university: "Today, more than 60 percent of university students are women, compared with just over 30 percent in 1982, even though classes are no longer segregated."

If an officially theocratic state, whose official religion is most definitely patriarchal, can achieve this ratio in higher education, certainly we in the United States can achieve comparable gains in not only in higher education but elsewhere, including especially in the use of smart power to encourage the promotion of human rights around the world.

I recommend not only the full New York Times article, but encourage all to visit the One Million Signatures website, which is font of information about sex discrimination and misogny in Iran; efforts to end this, and host of the One Million signatures petition supporting these changes.