“Women’s Rights are Human Rights” – Hillary Clinton Speaks In Beijing
Hillary Rodham Clinton, at the time First Lady of the United States, spoke on women rights at the 4th UN World Conference on Women on this day. The theme of the conference was Action for Equality, Development and Peace.
On December 18, 1979, the UN General Assembly had adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The United States, however, has still not ratified the Declaration.
On March 22, 2014, First Lady Michele Obama gave a speech in China, calling for free speech and greater freedom on the internet. The issue was politically sensitive given China’s heavy-handed censorship of the internet.
Clinton: “The great challenge of this conference is to give voice to women everywhere whose experiences go unnoticed, whose words go unheard. Women comprise more than half the world’s population, 70% of the world’s poor, and two-thirds of those who are not taught to read and write. We are the primary caretakers for most of the world’s children and elderly. Yet much of the work we do is not valued — not by economists, not by historians, not by popular culture, not by government leaders.”
Watch Clinton’s speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXM4E23Efvk
Read Clinton’s memoirs: Hillary Clinton, Living History
Learn about Amnesty International’s work on women’s rights: http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/women-s-rights