Working for Women Worldwide - Embassy of the United States

philosophy of equality and the right of all people to
participate in their government. It seeks to promote
and protect women’s equal right to associate freely,
express their views publicly, debate politics openly,
petition their government, and otherwise participate
in the democratic process.
The resolution urges governments to ensure
equal access by women to education, and to eliminate
laws and regulations that discriminate against women.
It calls on governments, nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs), the private sector, and civil society
groups to encourage political parties to seek qualified
women candidates and to support initiatives aimed at
expanding women’s political, management, and leadership
skills. It recommends encouraging the media to
provide fair and balanced coverage of male and female
candidates, and to address issues that have a particular
impact on women.
The resolution goes further than previous efforts
by setting out a blueprint of practical measures that all
levels of government and all entities of civil society can
take to facilitate women’s full political participation.
Nations that are struggling to move ahead look to
U.N. resolutions for guidance, Sauerbrey said. The
fact that some NGOs and governments indicate they
are making the resolution more useful for women by
translating it into their national languages is particularly
noteworthy.
U.S. Programs Make Women
Equal Partners
The United States is funding programs in every
region of the world to support the activities and goals
outlined in this resolution. Such programs aim to
make women an equal partner in advocacy, voting,
leading, legislating, and governing.
Most of the programs originate at the U.S. State
Department or the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID). According to Charlotte
Ponticelli, the State Department’s senior coordinator
for international women’s issues, “We try to identify
women’s critical needs on the ground and then identify
potential resources here—not just money, but skills
and talents—that could be tied into meeting those
needs.” U.S. embassies are crucial in that process, she
said. She stressed that the U.S. government seeks to
match needs with resources through program funding,
and through the creation of partnerships among governments
and with the private sector and nongovernmental
organizations.
Many women’s empowerment programs are
implemented overseas in conjunction with local agencies
or local organizations. Others, most notably the
State Department’s International Visitor Program,
bring potential women leaders to the United States to
meet experts and see how the U.S. political system
operates in person.
In Ponticelli’s opinion, women need education
most. “Wherever we go, women tell us that the main
thing for them is acquiring the knowledge, the skills,
the education, to enable them to participate,” she said.
The U.S. government funds numerous basic literacy
programs all over the world. But this is only part of
what is needed, she explained. In many less-developed
countries and emerging democracies, U.S. programs
are designed to provide women with an education in
democracy.
Gender Equality in Iraq
What is democracy? How does it work? What
are the rights and responsibilities of citizens? Even
educated women ask these questions when they have
not had access to the free flow of information,
Ponticelli said. “A young woman science and public
health professor from the University of Baghdad
recently turned to me and said, ‘Only after Saddam
did I even learn that women have rights in the world.’”
With strong U.S. backing, Iraq’s Governing
Council adopted a new basic law providing equal
rights for all Iraqis without regard to gender. The
Governing Council, the Interim Cabinet, and the
Baghdad City Council all include women members.
The United States has allocated nearly half a billion
dollars to support democracy-building programs in
Iraq, including projects specifically designed to help
women. It has supported the creation of 11 regional
Women’s Centers and nine Women’s Centers in
Baghdad that offer education and training in computers,
job skills, health care, and legal services. These
centers will be open to all women and run by women
who are democratically elected.
Then U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell
announced two additional initiatives on International
Women’s Day in 2004. Among other activities, the
$10-million Iraqi Women’s Democracy Initiative provides
education and training in leadership, political
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