Good afternoon i'm kathy bushkin Calvin for the United Nations Foundation andon behalf of my two partners Janet Howard from the coca-cola company in Milan for beer from Vital Voices. I want a welcome alive you for being here to celebrate International Women's Day with us . Queen Rania of Jordan - Good Morning America we have a very special guest and I'll get to her majesty in just a minute but I wanna first thank all of you for coming out and standing up for what we all know to bean inconvenient truth that women and girls are the key to eradicating poverty and ensuring social justice around the world and it's that now time not just just say it. It's just time to act and so that's why we're all here to day and we look forward to getting some inspirational messages on that .
I women from jordan who flew here
specifically to be with us and they are
from the international women's forum
the president and the vice president of
the International Women's Forum in
jordan
rem Alhassan who is right there
re welcome and now the love marcos
who is here you send out so Milan if
they'll come up and do the introductions
will get on with their program and again
thank you all very much for joining us
after the
a remarks by Her Majesty should join a
table and chair will all have a chance
to talk about not only what we think we
should do but what we're going to do
well and thank thank you Kathy him
your majesty it's wonderful to have you
back in washington
you have so many friends here and you
are an inspiration
to all of us and we are so grateful for
all that you're doing
to create a better world for people
everyplace
we have seen dedication
in so many ways and in so many places
by yourself you are leading humanitarian
efforts on behalf of
earthquake victims in Pakistan bringing
microcredit and training to women in
Afghanistan
working to get vaccines to the millions
of children in Africa who desperately
need them
and reminding all of us up our common
humanity
during these difficult times marked by
threats and suspicions
between people in the Middle East and
the West between Muslims and non-muslims
and you've called us all to greater
cross-cultural understanding
and during the hotel bombings in jordan
2005
you became the faith up Jordan screech
to the world
and you condemned these terrorist
attacks for what they were
brutal attacks on innocent people
you have also been telling us what you
describe as
the hope gap hope gap in your region
and in so many other places in the
developing world
where some seventy percent of the
population
is under the age of 30 and you've been
urging us to greater investments
in economic opportunity training and
educational outcomes
and you have been advocating like no one
else
for cutting edge solutions and
innovation
I'm information technology to
public-private partnerships
to drive progress and overcome
challenges
but we are especially pleased that
you're here for International Women's
Day
because whether it's been in supporting
women's rights
promoting girls education advancing
women in the political process
other workplace you've done
as we say not just talk the talk but
walk the walk
and one doesn't have to spend much time
in jordan
to see the difference you have made and
to know the dependable ally
you have been to those working to
improve the status of women
through your NGO the Jordan River
foundation you have enabled countless
women
to participate in micro finance an
income-generating
jobs you pioneered the National Council
for family affairs as a place where
government
and NGOs can come together to chart
national policies
and improve the quality of life for
women and families
and I saw firsthand your contributions
to protect families to end domestic
violence and abuse
when my colleagues and I met with public
safety officials in amman
they proudly described their efforts to
prevent
and treat cases of abuse and they even
showed us where you sit at the table
when you come to encourage them
and they said nothing like this would
have been possible
without her majesty support and today
Jordan is among the first
love the first in the Arab world leading
to far-reaching reforms
your majesty you are a role model for a
great
number of women not only in jordan
not only in the Arab world not only in
the Muslim world
but women around the world and your
wonderful mom
to your four wonderful children when you
became Queen
at the age of 29 you inherited the
responsibilities and burdens
that came with that position and you
recalled
that you felt you had to prove yourself
I'm sure that all of us here agree that
you have more than proving yourself
by your commitments in service to the
good people love Jordan
and by being a vital Voice for women and
children
everywhere please welcome
Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah
from I said thank you: Milan for those
very very kind words
its really great to be back in DC in to
be among so many
good friends and and more importantly to
be among so many people who care
people were true global citizens so
let's begin by thanking everyone for
being here today in the midst of
this very exciting political a season
I'm sure many argue like me will be
glued to your TV screens tonight as a
result from Ohio Texas start rolling in
so let's keep our fingers crossed now
obviously have no intention of
interjecting myself into the campaign
but if someone was washed with great
interest from afar
let me say that when it comes to the
issue we're here to talk about today
the importance of investing in women
around the world
it's clear we need both words and work
both inspiration and determined action
to succeed
and is a wonderful time to meet because
all love you know
this Saturday is International Women's
Day a time to celebrate and honor a
cheap women's achievements around the
bill
but let's not allow this one day for
women to diminish the other 364
in my opinion every day should be
International Women's Day
because when we empower women we're
really giving a boost to Olive humanity
you'll know the old saying give a man a
fish
and you feed him for a day teach a man
to fish and you feed him for a lifetime
well to borrow a line from the women
thrive coalition
when you teach women to fish everybody
eats
study after study shows that investing
in women's leadership development
is one of the smartest investments
societies can make
when women have a choice and a voice in
decision-making
for their families they prioritize
nutrition
health care and education so children
benefit to
working women are not only better able
to support their families
they strengthen productivity and bolster
growth for
their communities and their country's
and giving women access to political
power makes a positive difference for
everyone
as in India where local governments have
found that the women are elected
they invested public resources and clean
water education
a broader community needs in the Arab
world
we know that advancing women's
leadership must be a top priority
today women in the Middle East and North
Africa
have the world's slowest rate of
economic participation
but the landscape is changing we've made
real strides in closing gender gaps in
health and education
in jordan we have eighty-nine percent of
children in primary school
with more girls in the classroom the
boys and in many Middle Eastern
countries including Jordan
the majority view diversity students are
female not only that
but studies show that arab girls perform
better the boys in school
which makes me suspect that if you teach
in our women to fish
it won't be long before she invents a
better fishing pole
the challenge ahead is making sure these
bright young women can find good jobs
when they graduate
and it's a difficult task we know we
have a lot of work to do
but we're moving in the right direction
the number
are women entrepreneurs is on the rise
even in the most conservative countries
and in my travels across the region
from lebanon to Morocco to Dubai I see
our women taking on an even greater role
in society
as doctors lawyers politicians and
teachers
one area where I've been working hard
just to widen the reach of micro-finance
as you mention Milan I've seen in jordan
the macro difference
a mic alone to make I've been inspired
by women like IBM stuff from Hammond
will launch the natural cosmetics
business with less than a thousand five
hundred dollars a startup capital
as demand increased abuse business grew
and so did I have your skill to the
point where now she wants a three-room
Center
and employs more than that a dozen other
people spreading the priceless
dignity have decent work thruster
community
I want to see more women worldwide
enjoying success like I'm being
and that's why I am so pleased that just
yesterday
Vital Voices global partnership launched
the women can campaign
a path-breaking coalition to invest in
women's leadership
this coalition brings together not just
activists philanthropist and academics
but also leading private sector
organizations and individuals
like Exxon Mobil Euro RSCG Worldwide
Diane von Furstenberg Inc are you free
if you're in them
through innovative research a global
communications campaign
mentoring and women's leadership
training and education
woman can aims to make history by
building a better future for women
around the world
on the FEMA making history some love you
may know that ninety five years ago this
week
women's rights activist Alice Paul
organized a march for women's suffrage
right here in DC
the road to 19th amendment
in her words I always feel the movement
disorder because I Inc
each of us put in one little stone and
then you get a great mistake at the end
well if we work hard together we can
build a great news I cover own
them as I could justice equality and
hope
not just for women but for all humanity
a mosaic that reaches from West to East
and all around the world so thank you
all very much for coming
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