Remarks at Techwomen Conference

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State

San Francisco, CA

February 13, 2012

America’s high-tech leaders are at the heart of what makes this country great. Your products change the way we live, work, and play. Now, I’m asking for your help on a new diplomatic priority: mentoring women entrepreneurs who are ready to help transform their societies.

This program helps women – in the United States and throughout the world – to create connections that inspire ideas and innovation.

Last year, the Department of State connected dozens of women from the Middle East and North Africa with mentors from U.S.-based technology companies to teach them valuable skills. Thanks to the generous support of these companies, TechWomen from Algiers to Amman saw firsthand how American women drive innovation as they mapped out a path to create opportunities in their own communities back home.

Now we’re expanding this network to more countries. This year, TechWomen will include women from Tunisia and Yemen. We also need more mentors from American tech companies – and that’s where all of you come in.

If you’re not already a TechWomen mentor, I hope you’ll consider signing up. You’ll have fun. You might learn something yourself. And you can help a woman who already has a great idea, but just needs that extra bit of guidance or encouragement, to launch a new app or start a new business. Ultimately, that could mean more jobs and more stable societies – and that’s good for all of us.

Thank you.

International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State

Washington, DC

February 6, 2012

Today, we mark the ninth annual International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C). It is estimated that 100 to 140 million women around the world have undergone this brutal procedure and three million girls are at risk every year. We must continue to act to end this affront to women’s equality and the rights and dignity of women and girls.

No religion mandates this procedure, though it occurs across cultures, religions, and continents. It is performed on girls in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Even in the United States we are fighting this practice. FGM/C became a federal crime in the United States in 1997, but the procedure persists in some communities. The U.S. Government is working with practitioners in the health and legal community to educate groups about the negative consequences of FGM/C.

Over the years, community advocates have found that when men come to understand the physical and psychological trauma FGM/C causes, they often become effective activists for eradication, including fathers who refuse to allow their daughters to be subject to the procedure. Communities must act collectively to abandon the practice, so that girls and their families who opt out do not become social outcasts. This approach has led around 8,000 communities across Africa to abandon the practice, usually through a public declaration. Communities working together can ensure stronger, healthier futures for girls and young women.

Every government has an obligation to protect its citizens from such abuse. As we commemorate International Day of Zero Tolerance and remember those who have been harmed, we reaffirm our commitment to overturning deeply entrenched social norms and abolishing this practice. All women and girls, no matter where they are born or what culture they are raised in, deserve the opportunity to realize their potential.

Remarks at Women's Breakfast

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State

Prinz Carl Palais

Munich, Germany

February 5, 2012

SECRETARY CLINTON: (Applause.) Well, thank you so much. Thanks to the Bavarian State Chancellery, which is hosting us, especially to Minister Merk, for organizing this breakfast, and to all of you for getting up so early on a Sunday morning in the cold to come out to show solidarity and support for women in international security. I wanted to make just a few brief comments and then if anyone has something they want to say or ask before I have to go to Bulgaria, I would be very pleased to respond.

I wanted to just focus our attention on an area that is of critical importance in which we are making some, but not enough, progress. And that was the passage of the historic UN Security Council Resolution 1325. We recognize that when we think about peacemaking, which is, after all, one of the critical tasks of any of us in international security, that something is missing. And that is women. There are not enough women at the table, not enough women's voices being heard. And when the Security Council passed Resolution 1325, we tried to make a very clear statement, that women are still largely shut out of the negotiations that seek to end conflicts, even though women and children are the primary victims of 21st century conflict.

And this is not just a faraway problem. Where I was sitting up on the stage at the Munich conference, I was trying to count what looked to be the heads of women. And there were not enough, I have to tell you. (Applause.)

PARTICIPANT: Thirty-seven.

SECRETARY CLINTON: I don't know. Thirty-seven? Thirty-seven. Well, I didn't get that high a number, but I take your word for it.

And in the last two decades, dozens of conflicts have persisted because peace efforts were unsuccessful. Talks broke down, agreements were broken, parties found it easier to fight than to negotiate. And far too often in these failed efforts women were marginalized, making up, by one estimate, just eight percent of all peace negotiators. And when you look around the world, as a number of us are privileged to do in the positions that we hold now, or that we have held in the past, you see how hard it is to make peace under any circumstance. But the exclusion of women, I argue, makes it even harder.

Because there is a great story about an effort to try to resolve aspects of the conflict in Darfur a few years ago. And the men had been arguing and arguing for days about authority over a particular riverbed. And finally, a woman heard about this and just made herself walk in and say, "But that river dried up. There is no water in that river." Or think about the wonderful documentary, "Pray the Devil Back to Hell," about the women in Liberia. But for them, who knows whether that conflict would have ended?

And so that is why, in December, finally, the United States, under President Obama, launched the first-ever U.S. national action plan on women, peace, and security. We worked very hard on this, and we did it jointly, between the State Department and the Defense Department. Because, from our perspective, it was essential that we have a comprehensive road map for accelerating and institutionalizing efforts across the United States Government to advance women's participation in making and keeping peace.

And the national action plan represents a fundamentally different way for the United States to do business. It is really trying to lay out a new approach in our diplomatic, military, and development support to women in areas of conflict, and to ensure that their perspectives and that considerations of gender are always part of how the United States approaches peace processes, conflict prevention, the protection of civilians, humanitarian assistance.

Now, more than 30 countries, many of them represented here, have had similar national action plans developed. And we think the United Nations really deserves our support in making sure that we continue this progress. NATO itself has a robust effort, increasingly factoring women and their needs into key planning processes and training courses, and stationing experts throughout operational headquarters.

Now, I am well aware that whenever I talk about these issues, as opposed to who we are going to strike next and what kind of tough position we are going to take, it is often dismissed as soft or relegated to the margins of the real conversation. Well, we just completely reject that. And the evidence is so clear that rejecting it is the right decision. So if you look at what we did with the Department of State, Department of Defense, USAID, others across our government, it incorporates the lessons that our military has learned over, frankly, 10 years of war about the links between the security of women and the stability and peace of nations.

For example, the Department of State works closely with the Department of Defense on the Global Peace Operations Initiative, which has facilitated the training of more than 2,000 female peacekeepers worldwide, many from African countries, where persistent conflict is so devastating to women and children.

In Afghanistan we have tried to increase the role of women, no easy task. We sent our own teams of female soldiers, as did other NATO-ISAF countries, to curb violence against women, honor killings, female immolation, as well as pursue certain security functions such as inspections and personal examinations. And in 2010, 10 percent of the Afghan military academy's class will be women. And by 2014, we expect to field 5,000 women Afghan national police officers. That is a tough job. And I want all of us to support that, because part of what we have to do as we try to test whether peace is possible in Afghanistan, is to make it very clear that peace will not come at the expense of women's rights and roles. They have suffered too much for too long. (Applause.)

So, I would be eager to hear thoughts and perspectives. I look around this room and I see great colleagues, colleagues from the United States Senate -- Susan Collins, who is here, I don't know if we have anyone else from the -- anybody else from the -- oh, Loretta Sanchez, who is from the House, and then other colleagues of mine in government, colleagues from the EU, from NATO, from other parts of our work together. So I would be delighted. And, of course, I am always pleased to be with the President of Kosovo, who has been such a great representative for her country. (Applause.)

United States-Brazil MOU on the Advancement of Women Focus Area: Advancing Women and Girls in STEM

Washington, DC

February 2, 2012

"I always hear stories about how we can’t find enough engineers, we can’t find enough computer programmers…And that’s why we’re emphasizing math and science. That’s why we’re emphasizing teaching girls math and science. We’ve got to lift our game up when it comes to technology and math and science. That’s, hopefully, one of the most important legacies that I can have as President of the United States." --President Barack Obama, April 2011

Under the Memorandum of Understanding on the Advancement of Women that Secretary Clinton and former Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim signed in March 2010, the United States and Brazil focus on recruiting, retaining, and advancing women and girls in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. Jointly, the two countries have conducted numerous professional and educational exchange programs and events to advance the issue. We are seeking to institutionalize these exchanges, even as we build on their success through the development of mentoring and network-building programs.

Educational Exchanges

• Expansion of exchanges between high school girls in STEM – We hope to work with science and technology high schools in Washington, D.C., and New York City; these exchanges (including virtual exchanges) focus on retaining the interest of girls in STEM areas. Two Brazilian girls were selected to attend the annual global “National Youth Science Camp” in West Virginia in summer 2011, cosponsored by the Department of State.
• Expansion of exchanges for teacher and administrators in STEM – We identify ongoing opportunities for these exchanges (including virtual exchanges), such as a recent partnership between the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia and The Boeing Company to sponsor the travel of two female elementary school science teachers to a NASA Space Camp in July 2011.

Professional Exchange Programs

• Eight Brazilian women scientists traveled to the United States on a Voluntary Visitor Program to exchange and showcase best practices for engaging and retaining women in science. The scientists visited U.S. universities and scientific organizations that have progressive programs for women scientists. They also attended the 55^th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the theme of which was empowering women and girls through science and technology.
• Eight American women scientists traveled to Brazil, where they visited research institutions and scientific organizations. The scientists also attended Brazil’s Third National Conference on Women at the invitation of the Brazilian Women’s Ministry (SPM). The scientists participated as roundtable panelists at the opening of Embassy Brasilia's Science Corner at CNPq (National Council of Technological and Scientific Development). 

Meetings

• UN Commission on the Status of Women Side Event – Co-sponsored by the United States and Brazil, this side event, titled "Changing Mindsets to Promote Women and Girls in Science," showcased best practices in Brazil, India, and the United States from institutions that enhance opportunities for women and girls in science.
• "Changing Mindsets to Promote Women and Girls in Science" Symposium – Held at the Department of State, this symposium examined policies and programs that attract girls to STEM areas, keep them involved through college, and provide concrete tools for women to advance at every level of their careers. Partners included the National Science Foundation, NASA, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Academy of Sciences.