Featured Blog Posts - NoLimits.org

Age 10 and Divorced

2010-03-04T23:07:37.000Z

There is a great Op-Ed in The New York Times today, it’s really worth a read. In his Op-Ed, Nicholas Kristof tells the story of a young girl, Nujood, in Yemen who was married off at age 10. When her new husband forced her to drop out
of school, and forced himself onto her, and beat her. She had heard that judges could issues divorces, so she made the risky and brave decision to leave, in search of a judge who would issue
a divorce.

She tells her brave story in her new book, “I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced”. Her book is printed in 18 languages and sold around the world. Perhaps her brave words can empower others around the globe.

We know that countries that repress women are much more likely to harbor terrorists. In linking national security with education, Kristof notes:

“The United States last month announced $150 million in military assistance for Yemen to fight extremists. In contrast, it costs just $50 to send a girl to public
school for a year — and little girls like Nujood may prove more effective than
missiles at defeating terrorists.”

Read the full article here.

Your message has been delivered!

2010-03-01T19:00:00.000Z

On February 2^nd we sent an email to our members, listing Secretary Clinton’s advancements in national security and women’s rights in just one year. We invited our members to send her notes of appreciation for focusing on issues that are important to us and we received over 2,000 notes. Last week I personally delivered them to the State Department.

Above is a photo of me at the State Department, delivering your messages. We thank our No Limits members for sending them in!

Half the Sky Film Screening

2010-02-25T18:22:00.000Z

CARE is holding film screenings of the powerful book Half the Sky across the country on March 4th, a one-night-only event.

Check here for a screening near you.

We previously posted a very positive review of this book, which shines a light on an issue impacting millions of lives, but one that gets very little coverage: The Plight of Women. Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn have spent a vast amount of time with women who face, and overcome, unimaginable obstacles. The book tells their story and offers solutions. I expect the video will be no different. If there is a screening in your area, I encourage you to attend!

The screening will feature musical performances, celebrity commentary and the world premiere of “Woineshet,” a short film by Academy Award® winner Marisa Tomei and Lisa Leone. With appearances from, India.Arie, Maria Bello, Diane Birch, Michael Franti, Dr. Helene Gayle, Angelique Kidjo, Nicholas Kristof, Marisa Tomei, Sarah, Duchess of York and others.

Finding an RX for our Health Care System

2010-02-22T17:42:40.000Z

There has been a lot of news on health care reform lately, making it clear why it’s so important. Last week, The New York Times reported that Medicaid costs were bringing states vastly over budget, forcing them to make cuts, even as enrollment increases. Across the country, Governors are forced to make tough cuts such as this one:

“Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona, a Republican, has called for eliminating Medicaid coverage for 310,000 childless adults and ending the Children’s Health Insurance Program to help close a two-year budget gap of about $4.5 billion.” Read the full article here.

In his Op-Ed last week, Nicholas Kristof examines the affordability of our current health care system. Is the status quo sustainable? He thinks not. He states: “So the question isn’t: Can we afford to reform health care? Rather: Can we afford not to?”

He points out: “But despite these problems, the population over age 65 manages to enjoy above-average health statistics — because it enjoyed health care reform back in 1965 with Medicare.”

Read his full Op-Ed here.

As you have likely heard, President Obama is holding a health care reform bi-partisan summit at the White House this Thursday. He had stated that he would bring with him a proposed plan with him.

At 10:00am this morning, the White House released President Obama’s health care reform proposal. It resembles the Senate plan much more than the House bill.

Read a quick analysis of the president’s health care proposal on the Huffington Post.

Check out the proposal on the White House website.

We anxiously await what is an unknown outcome on the health care reform front. However, the need for reform couldn’t be more clear.

Good budget news, Haiti update and more

2010-02-17T19:00:00.000Z

If you are tired, keep going. If you are scared, keep going. If you are hungry, keep going. If you want to taste freedom, keep going.
- Harriet Tubman

SOME GOOD NEWS ABOUT THE BUDGET. SERIOUSLY.

There hasn't been much good news in Washington lately - and we don't just mean the weather! But President Obama's budget, released last week, includes a lot of good news that deserves our attention:

Education: More support for expanded Pell grants, and a new American Graduation Initiative to strengthen community colleges and support working students. The budget supports legislation that has passed the House (waiting on a vote in the Senate) to reform the student loan process by lending directly to students - eliminating billions of dollars in bank subsidies.

Health Care: A major expansion of health centers to provide affordable, high quality primary and preventive care; and increased funding for Title X Family Planning programs, expanding access to contraception, health information and preventive services.

Equal Pay: Increased funding for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division to improve compliance, public education and enforcement of the Equal Pay Law.

Caregiving: More Funds for Head Start and Early Head Start, and for the Child Care and Development Fund, providing child care subsidies to 1.6 million children; establishes a State Paid Leave Fund that will provide competitive grants to states to launch paid-leave programs; and new resources to local agencies that provide critical help to seniors and caregivers.

Violence Against Women: An increase of more than twenty percent to support victims of domestic abuse as well as sexual assault; and increased funding for family violence prevention services, battered women's shelters, and for the domestic violence hotline.

Diplomacy and Development: An increase in State Department programs supporting education, economic opportunity, and global health, including investing in women and girls; efforts, that, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said, help build a more secure and safe world. One of our favorites: expansion of the Global Health Initiative, with increased efforts to reduce the mortality of mothers and children under five, avoid unintended pregnancies, and work toward the elimination of devastating tropical diseases.

See what we mean about good news? But remember: making it into the budget is just the first step. It's going to be up to us to make sure these valuable programs get the Congressional support they deserve!

For more information about the 2011 budget, check this analysis by No Limits Vice President for Policy Leecia Eve.

HAITI UPDATE

On January 12, an earthquake fractured Haiti. More than 3.7 million people, the majority women and children, saw their families ripped apart, their homes and communities crushed, and their access to food, water and medical care vanish. More than 230,000 died, including three heroes of the Haitian women's movement, Myriam Merlet, Magalie Marcelin, and Anne Marie Coriolan.

Haitian women, even before the quake, lived in the shadow of sexual violence. UNIFEM reports that more than 70% of Haitian women had been raped and 40% lived with domestic violence. The havoc inflicted by the earthquake puts Haitian women at increased risk for assault, while the quake leveled desperately needed women's clinics and shelters. (In a recent visit, President Bill Clinton met with Marjorie Michel, Minister of Women's Affairs and Women's Rights, and representatives of women's organizations to discuss ways to make women full partners in the emergency planning and reconstruction of Haiti.)

Today, despite heroic efforts, more than 2 million Haitians still do not have reliable access to food. More than 1.1 million people have no shelter at all, not even plastic sheeting for tents; and 700,000, including 63,000 pregnant women, are in desperate need of medical care.

The need is so great. Please click here to contribute to Stand with Haiti - Partners in Health, an organization that has provided health care services in Haiti for over 20 years.

Allida M Black

Chair, No Limits Human Rights Task Force

A VALENTINE WITH A MESSAGE

Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, sent an important Valentine's Day message this year on the unromantic fact that too much of our holiday candy is made with cocoa harvested by children.

More than 3.6 million children are used to produce cocoa, more than half cultivated in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. The work is dangerous; many of the children are kept out of school. Weingarten praised Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack for beginning consideration of how to reduce or eliminate the use of child labor in agricultural products imported into the United States.

"Let's ensure that the candy Americans share with loved ones on future Valentine's Days is not spoiled by the bitterness of child labor." Weingarten said. "We ask that you declare... that, next Valentine's Day, you will have a plan to assure the American people that the chocolate marketed in the U.S. has not been produced with cocoa harvested by children."

ENDING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AROUND THE WORLD

The International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) was introduced in Congress on February 4th, by Senators John Kerry and Barbara Boxer and Representatives Bill Delahunt (D-MA), Ted Poe (R-TX) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL). It is currently supported by 21 Senators and 27 Representatives, as well as hundreds of non-governmental organizations. The bipartisan bill would authorize the development of a 5-year strategy to "reduce, prevent, and respond to violence against women and girls around the globe," supporting the work of Secretary Clinton and the Obama administration on these issues.

I-VAWA would require the U.S. government to respond to outbreaks of gender-based violence in armed conflict - such as the mass rapes now occurring in the Democratic Republic of Congo - in a timely manner. It would encourage investment in local women's organizations, expanding opportunity and enabling women and girls to live healthier, safer lives. I-VAWA can strengthen our national security by promoting peace and stability abroad.

If you want to support I-VAWA: Send a Message to Congress Today!

AND ABOUT YOUR MESSAGE TO HILLARY

More than 1,800 No Limits members and friends responded to our last newsletter by sending messages to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, congratulating her on her one year anniversary. We had planned to deliver them last week, but then the snow came... If you sent Hillary a personal note, thank you. Your message will be on its way to her soon.

If you haven't sent a note yet: you get a Snow Day! Check our one year report on Hillary's accomplishments here and add your message.

HONORING BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Our opening quote is from a great American, Harriet Tubman. The best known of the "conductors" of the Underground Railroad, Harriet repeatedly risked her life by traveling from the North to the South 19 times to bring more than 300 enslaved African Americans - from infants to the elderly - to freedom.

During the Civil War, and at the request of the Union Army, Harriet served as a spy, nurse, and guide for black troops throughout South Carolina. She planned and helped lead the Combahee River attack, which enabled more than 750 African Americans gain their freedom.

After the Civil War, Harriet Tubman returned to her home in Auburn, New York and continued her work on social issues, including suffrage. She also established a home for elderly and poor African Americans, now known as the Harriet Tubman Home. She died on March 10, 1913 at the age of 93.

For more information about Harriet Tubman, visit www.harriettubman.com

THE LAST WORD

We're projecting that with this additional focus on systems investment and particularly the health care for women and children, that we'll be able to prevent...300,000 pregnancy-related deaths and three million newborn and early childhood deaths.

- Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew, on the FY 2011 State Department budget

Highlights from the Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Proposal

2010-02-16T02:50:30.000Z

President Obama’s proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2011 (which begins October 1, 2010), has many good provisions which, if enacted, will help make our communities and American families stronger while also addressing many pressing issues around the world. The Administration proposed cutting or eliminating programs it believes no longer warrant taxpayer support, especially in light of our growing budget deficit, but the Administration also called for increased funding for programs and efforts that reflect shared priorities.

Here are some budget highlights we wanted to share.

Creating Jobs – Outlines comprehensive measures designed to spur significant job creation in the short and long term, including: significantly increasing funding for research and development that focuses on energy independence, clean energy and biomedical research; creating a $4 billion National Infrastructure and Innovation and Finance Fund to invest in projects of regional or national significance; expanding broadband development, including to rural communities; and providing small businesses tax incentives that encourage additional investment and job creation.

Providing Tax Relief for the Middle Class – Extends by one year the Making Work Pay Tax Cut, first enacted last year as the largest middle-class tax cut in American history, helping 110 million families; and nearly doubles the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit for middle-class families.

Helping Families Care for Their Loved Ones

Expanding Child Care – Provides an additional $989 for Head Start and Early Head Start and an additional $1.6 billion for the Child Care and Development Fund, designed to improve the health, safety and outcomes for our children. The increased funding will enable States to provide child care subsidies to 1.6 million children, 235,000 more than would otherwise been served.
Promoting Paid Family Leave – Establishes a $50 million State Paid Leave Fund that will provide competitive grants to states to launch paid-leave programs, building upon the efforts of some states that have already established such programs.
Aiding Care Givers – Funds the Administration on Aging’s Caregiver Initiative to the tune of $103 million to provide new resources to local agencies that provide critical help to seniors and caregivers. All of these efforts are critical as more and more Americans are shouldering the burden of providing for their children and caring for an ill or elderly parent at the same time.

Ending Childhood Hunger in the U.S. – Increases funding by more than $400 million to end childhood hunger.

Expanding Family Planning – Makes clear a strong commitment to family planning by increasing funding to a total of $327 million for Title X Family Planning programs, expanding access to contraception, health information and preventive services.

Enforcing Equal Pay – Increases funding for the EEOC and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to improve compliance, public education and enforcement of equal pay law as well as to research and share data on income and job disparities. This is especially important as women make up half all workers and seven out of ten families with children are made up of either two working parents or a single working parent, usually a woman.

Ending Violence Against Women – Provides $535 million, an increase of more than twenty percent, to support victims of domestic abuse as well as sexual assault. The budget also increases funding for family violence prevention services, battered women’s shelters, and for the domestic violence hotline.

Expanding Educational Opportunity – Contains a comprehensive approach to making college more affordable, including expanding Pell grants, proposing a $12 billion American Graduation Initiative to help community colleges improve their quality, partner with businesses, and transfer rates, and increase support for working students with the goal of five million more college students by 2020, making the U.S. number one in terms of the percentage of citizens who are college graduates. The budget also supports legislation that has passed the House and is pending in the Senate that would reform and make less expensive the student loan process by eliminating billions of dollars in bank subsidies and instead lending directly to students.

Preventing Disease and Expanding Access to Health Care – Supports a major expansion of health centers to provide affordable and high quality primary and preventive care to millions of Americans in underserved populations, including the uninsured. As the U.S. now spends $150 billion each year to treat obesity-related diseases – ten percent of all medical spending – the budget seeks to improve access to healthy meals and reduce childhood obesity rates by providing an additional $1 billion for school meals and other child nutrition programs.

Saving Lives Around the World Through a Commitment to Global Health – Provides $8.5 billion to expand significantly the Global Health Initiative to save lives with smart health and development investments, including increased efforts to reduce the mortality of mothers and children under five, avoid unintended pregnancies, and work toward the elimination of some neglected tropical diseases. In presenting the State Department portion of the FY 2011 Budget, Jacob Lew, Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources, said: “we’ll be able to prevent . . . 300,000 pregnancy-related death and three million newborn and early childhood deaths.”

Yes, the President proposed FY 2011 budget has much in to applaud, but we have a way to go before it becomes a reality and is enacted into law.

In the coming months, House and Senate appropriations subcommittees will consider the various portions of the proposed budget. They’ll have congressional hearings and, if they agree with the President’s budget ideas, will craft legislation that seeks to effectuate what the President has proposed. In each case, however, votes at the subcommittee and full Appropriations Committee levels will be required before the House and Senate in turn vote on what will ultimately be nearly a dozen appropriations bills.

What does all of this mean? For starters, it means we can’t take anything for granted and so we’ll do our best to keep you informed about key legislative action on many of these budget priorities. And, as always, we encourage you to speak to your congressional representatives about the specific budget priorities that matter most to you. For more information about the President’s Fiscal Year 2011 Budget, visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/.

International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA)

2010-02-09T23:30:00.000Z

Thursday I had the privilege of attending an event on Capitol Hill at which lawmakers from both sides of the aisle came together to reintroduce the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA), a grassroots piece of legislation developed and supported by a coalition of over 200 NGOs, U.N. agencies, and international women’s groups to address global violence against women and girls.

In accordance with best practices based upon their years of research on gender-based violence, I-VAWA calls for a comprehensive approach to empower women worldwide who were hailed as “peacemakers and change agents.” Secretary Clinton echoed these sentiments recently by referencing a well-known proverb in her remarks on development in the 21st century:

"'Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, but teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime’? Well, if you teach a woman to fish, she’ll feed the whole village."

Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Representatives William Delahunt (D-MA), Ted Poe (R-TX), and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) were joined at the podium by Humaira Shahid of Pakistan and Irene Safi Turner of the Democratic Republic of Congo who spoke passionately about the impact that this legislation would have on women in their home countries. Ms. Shahid, a former journalist and legislator from Pakistan, said we should invest in women in the developing world as an "untapped reservoir" that would bring real change, peace, and economic growth to their communities around the globe. She began her remarks acknowledging that hers was not an individual voice, but the voice of countless women of Pakistan and across the world demanding justice.

Anticipating a difficult road ahead, Senator Kerry urged the advocates present to continue to lift their voices to make ending violence against women and girls a U.S. foreign policy priority. He acknowledged that his colleagues in both chambers may be reluctant to authorize additional funding, but emphasized that an investment in the safety, well-being, education and economic opportunity of women is an investment in our own national security and diplomatic relations. The bipartisan panel expressed hope that with continued grassroots efforts, I-VAWA can support the work of Secretary Clinton and the Obama administration on these issues. Ms. Safi Turner of the DRC concluded with praise for I-VAWA as "an act of compassion and solidarity." Click here to find out how you can lift your voice in support of I-VAWA in solidarity with women around the world.

Important Read on the Congo

2010-02-07T17:35:21.000Z

Don't miss this Op-Ed in the Washington Post today: The World Capitol of Killing, by Nicholas Kristof.
In this article he tells the story that you rarely hear: the story of the ongoing war in The Democratic Republic of the Congo. The suffering that takes place there is unimaginable. Often called The Rape Capitol of the World, in the Congo women are violently raped and men are killed by the militia, fueled by fueled by profits from mineral exports.

This Op-Ed is one of a series that Nicholas Kristof is writing about the violence in the Congo. It is refreshing to see a journalist covering the war-torn region.

Strengthening our Next Generation

2010-02-05T04:30:00.000Z

“Talent is universal, but opportunities are not”

- Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton

Today Ann Lewis and I had the privilege of attending a mentoring event at the U.S. Department of State. The event was one of multiple luncheons that the officials at the State Department are committed to hold, with a goal of strengthening the next generation of leaders. Mentors and mentees alike, the room was filled with Ambassadors, White House and State Department officials as well as the promising youth who help support such agencies.

Secretary Clinton was the keynote speaker, remarking on the importance of mentorship here and around the world. In talking about leadership around the world, Clinton noted that unfortunately there are many bright, talented individuals who aren’t given the opportunity to reach their full potential. “Talent is universal, but opportunities are not.” No Limits strongly advocates that every individual is given the tools to reach their full potential – whether it be education, a safe environment, a micro-loan, or a number of other tools.

Ambassador Melanne Verveer spoke about a new program in the Office of Global Women’s Issues, a program that links women in the developing world to business women here in the U.S. It is an example of how mentorship can truly transform lives.

In addition to being informative and inspiring, this event underscored the appreciation the State Department has for today’s leaders, and the promise it holds for the next generation of leaders. It was truly an honor to be a part of, and promising to see our State Department support such activities.

Hillary's Leadership: A One Year Report

2010-02-03T18:14:02.000Z

Yesterday marked one year since the formal swearing-in ceremony of Hillary Rodham Clinton as Secretary of State. From the earliest Congressional hearings, where she talked of the value of "smart power" and spoke up for women's health, to last week's conferences on security in Yemen and relief for Haiti, Hillary has been a powerful advocate for issues and programs important to No Limits: rebuilding America's alliances through "smart power" to meet the new challenges we face and a human rights agenda for the 21st century.

We thought this was a good time to celebrate some of the highlights of this historic first year, in Hillary's own words - and to congratulate her on her leadership.

Click here to send Hillary a note of congratulations. Use our suggested language or add your own!

HILLARY SPEAKS ON THE NO LIMITS AGENDA AROUND THE WORLD

SMART POWER

The best way to advance America's interests in reducing global threats and seizing global opportunities is to design and implement global solutions... We must use what has been called "smart power," the full range of tools at our disposal - diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal and cultural - picking the right tool or combination of tools for each situation.
- Addressing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, January 31, 2009

WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND WOMEN'S HEALTH

I have been in African countries where 12 and 13 year old girls are bearing children. I have been in Asian countries where the denial of family planning consigns women to lives of oppression and hardship... We happen to think that family planning is an important part of women's health and reproductive heath includes access to abortion that I believe should be safe, legal, and rare.

Watch the Video.

- Congressional Hearing, April 22, 2009

WOMEN'S RIGHTS ARE INTEGRAL TO OUR FOREIGN POLICY

We simply cannot solve the global problems confronting us, from a worldwide financial crisis to the risks of climate change to chronic hunger, disease, and poverty that sap the energies and talents of hundreds of millions of people when half the world's population is left behind. The rights of women - really, of all people - are at the core of these challenges, and human rights will always be central to our foreign policy.

Read or watch the speech here.

- 2009 International Women of Courage Awards, March 11, 2009

THE FIRST GLOBAL AMBASSADOR FOR WOMEN'S ISSUES

Secretary Clinton appointed Melanne Verveer as the first-ever Ambassador on Global Women’s Issues.

Watch the Video.

PROTECTING AMERICA'S INTEREST

We believe that no country benefits more than the United States when there is greater security, democracy, and opportunity in the world. Our economy grows when our allies are strengthened and people thrive. And no country carries a heavier burden when things go badly. Every year, we spend hundreds of billions of dollars dealing with the consequences of war, disease, violent ideologies, and vile dictatorships... I believe if we follow our plans and our principles, we will succeed. We can lead the world in creating a century that we and our children will be proud to own, a century of progress and prosperity for the whole world, but especially for our beloved country.

- Remarks to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, April 22, 2009

REBUILDING ALLIANCES: IN AFRICA - WITH DANCING!

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton got down with local residents of Africa, as part of an 11-day tour of the continent.
- Kenya, August 9, 2009

WOMEN'S RIGHTS AS HUMAN RIGHTS: ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

Women and girls in particular have been victimized on an unimaginable scale, as sexual and gender-based violence has become a tactic of war and has reached epidemic proportions. Some 1,100 rapes are reported each month, with an average of 36 women and girls raped every day...
I came to Goma to send a clear message: The United States condemns these attacks and all those who commit them and abet them. They are crimes against humanity.
- Op-Ed, People.com, August 21, 2009

AND CHAIRING THE FIRST EVER UN SECURITY COUNCIL TO ADDRESS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Under the UN Charter, the 15 members of this Council bear primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. Now, satisfying that responsibility includes... the lives and physical security of all people, including the women who comprise half the planet's population.

Watch the Video.

- United Nations Headquarters, September 30, 2009

THE NO LIMITS CONFERENCE AND DEMOCRACY

And everywhere I go, I will be thinking about how we translate the slogan "No Limits" into opportunities, how we give people the sense that they too, if they will be committed to democracy, if they will care about their neighbor, if they will make investments in their people and their children, they too can have a better life.

Read or watch the speech here.

- Washington, D.C., November 6, 2009

A HUMAN RIGHTS AGENDA IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Our human rights agenda for the 21st century is to make human rights a human reality, and the first step is to see human rights in a broad context. ...To fulfill their potential, people must be free to choose laws and leaders; to share and access information, to speak, criticize, and debate. They must be free to worship, associate, and to love in the way that they choose. And they must be free to pursue the dignity that comes with self-improvement and self-reliance, to build their minds and their skills, to bring their goods to the marketplace, and participate in the process of innovation.

...INCLUDING LGBT RIGHTS

Over this past year, we have elevated into our human rights dialogues and our public statements a very clear message about protecting the rights of the LGBT community worldwide. And we are particularly concerned about some of the specific cases that have come to our attention around the world... including legislation in Uganda which would not only criminalize homosexuality but attach the death penalty to it. We have expressed our concerns directly, indirectly, and we will continue to do so. And we view it as a very serious potential violation of human rights.

Watch the Video.

- Georgetown, Washington, D.C., December 14, 2009

NEW CHALLENGES: THE CLIMATE CHANGE IMPERATIVE

We know what the consequences will be for the farmer in Bangladesh or the herder in Africa or the family being battered by hurricanes in Central America. Without that accord, there won't be the kind of joint global action from all of the major economies we all want to see, and the effects in the developing world could be catastrophic. We know what will happen. Rising seas, lost farmland, drought and so much else.

Read or watch the speech here.

- Copenhagen Conference, December 17, 2009

HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE 21ST CENTURY: INTERNET FREEDOM

I'm proud that the State Department is already working in more than 40 countries to help individuals silenced by oppressive governments... We are also supporting the development of new tools that enable citizens to exercise their rights of free expression by circumventing politically motivated censorship. We are providing funds to groups around the world to make sure that those tools get to the people who need them in local languages, and with the training they need to access the Internet safely. ... Both the American people and nations that censor the Internet should understand that our government is committed to helping promote Internet freedom.

Read or watch the speech here.

- Newseum, Washington D.C., January 21, 2010

One year: 198,934 miles and 49 countries traveled.

THESE ARE SOME OF OUR FAVORITE HIGHLIGHTS OF LAST YEAR - WHAT ARE YOURS?

Smart power, human rights and women's rights around world - these are our international priorities at No Limits. We're so proud that Secretary of State Clinton is leading the way in advocating new policies that protect America's national interest and our values around the world. Let's tell Hillary how proud we are - send a note by clicking here!

COMING SOON

Coming soon at No Limits: News about congressional action on the economy, an important announcement about State Department work in the next year, and our new web site. Stay tuned!

Sign up for No Limits updates!

Thank you for taking action!

2010-01-27T23:01:39.000Z

We have received such a great response from our Help Haiti call for action last week. Many of you wrote to us to let us know that you donated as well as shared other activities you have participated in since the earthquake struck the island nation. Several people also sent in suggestions for other organizations to highlight.

Roberta from New York sent the list of organizations rated as very efficient that she found when researching someone to donate to during the 2004 Tsunami disaster. The top three organizations were Doctors without Borders, Save the Children (CT), and AmeriCares.

I recently had the privilege of being at an event that benefitted Doctors without Borders and learned about the work they are doing in Haiti. And, it turns out that Save the Children and AmeriCares have teamed up to help with the Haitian relief efforts so donating to either would benefit both at this time. You can read the press release here.

Another organization that has been recommended by Ann in Maryland is Partners in Health and their Stand with Haiti project. The group has been on the ground in Haiti for over 20 years. Partners in Health provides medical care to the community and has been assisting since the beginning of the aftermath.

If you can give and haven't given yet, we hope that you will consider these mentioned organizations. Remember the Text Haiti campaign is still in effect as well. Texting "HAITI" to "20222" will make a $10 donation to the Clinton Foundation.

We are so proud to have such generous members. Thank you for all that you do.

Take Action!

2010-01-22T21:37:26.000Z

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), Letter from Birmingham City Jail

PLEASE ACT NOW: HELP THE PEOPLE OF HAITI

If you have not yet sent a contribution to help the people of Haiti - or if you have, and want to do more:

RED CROSS: Text "HAITI" to "90999" and $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross, charged to your cell phone bill, or make an online donation at the Red Cross website: www.redcross.org.

CLINTON FOUNDATION: Text "HAITI" to "20222" and $10 will be given to the Clinton Foundation's Haiti Relief Fund, charged to your cell phone bill, or make an online contribution: www.clintonfoundation.org.

UNICEF: http://www.supportunicef.org: accepting online contributions

www.ClintonBushHaitiFund.org: accepting online contributions

"The critical needs in Haiti are great, but they are also simple: food, water, shelter, and first-aid supplies. The best way concerned citizens can help is to donate funds that will go directly to supplying these material needs."
- Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush

WHAT'S NEXT FOR HEALTH CARE?
NATIONAL LOBBY DAY JANUARY 20

The Stop Stupak coalition had a great lobby day on January 20th. Liz writes about it here. As you know, Congress is now in the process of making final decisions about the future of the health care bill. Anti-choice forces have demanded inclusion of the "Stupak-Pitts" amendment, which would make it impossible for women using the health care exchange to use their own money to pay for abortion coverage.

January 22 is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision which made clear that the right to choose is a constitutional right. Today, we are fighting to prevent the greatest reversal of that right in 37 years. We stopped Stupak in the Senate; now we need to take action to stop Stupak again!

If you cannot attend the action day in D.C., please contact your representatives. Call 202-559-1164 to tell your member of Congress that the Stupak amendment is outrageous and unacceptable.

CONNECTING IN TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES

Assessing the recession's impact on families, the Census Bureau said Friday that unemployment rates for couples with children under the age of 18 had doubled from 2007 to 2009.
- New York Times, January 17, 2010 (emphasis added)

The economic strain of unemployment is tough enough, but too often there is also a feeling of isolation or helplessness. No Limits is proud to join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) in its ground-breaking empowerment program called "Ur Union of Unemployed" or "UCubed".

UCubed will serve as an online community, enabling people who are unemployed or underemployed, wherever they live, to connect through a linked network. As IAM President Tom Buffenbarger said, "[w]e hope that UCubed will provide a measure of relief and an end to the isolation, frustration and depression that so many unemployed workers experience. Working together, they can build a network of mutual support and help each other to get through the next few years."

UCubed members will also have the opportunity to speak on critical policy issues directly affecting the jobless, including unemployment benefits, food stamps, COBRA benefits and JOBS NOW!, the IAM effort to draw attention to the need for a national industrial policy.

Please check out the UCubed website and share it with everyone you know. With partners like IAM, there are No Limits to what we can do when we work together to make a difference.

UGANDAN PARLIAMENT CONSIDERS CRIMINALIZING HOMOSEXUALITY

"Uganda is a country where the human rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) community have been stripped away by anti-gay legislation already on the books. The country's LGBT community has a history of being harassed and silenced by the government and the Ugandan police."
- Amnesty International

Now the Ugandan Parliament is considering the Anti-Homosexual Bill 2009, which would sentence gays and lesbians to life in prison, even, in one version, death. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has condemned this legislation as a "very serious potential violation of human rights."

In a major human rights speech last month, Secretary Clinton spoke of the "many instances where there is a very serious assault on the physical safety" of gays and lesbians and why it is important for the United States "to stand against that and enlist others in doing so." Johnnie Carson, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, has since met with the Human Rights Campaign and more than thirty other advocacy organizations to discuss the bill and make clear the U.S. government's opposition to it.

On January 21, Representative Tammy Baldwin will chair a congressional hearing, under the auspices of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, about the proposed Ugandan legislation. Let your representatives know you expect them to stand up, on behalf of the American people, against this vicious, anti-human rights legislation.

WOMEN'S HEALTH AROUND THE WORLD

Speaking at the State Department on January 8, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reaffirmed the United States commitment to improving health care for women and girls around the world -including reproductive health. She talked about too high numbers of maternal mortality, with one woman dying every minute of every day of pregnancy and childbirth related causes, while millions more are badly injured.

Hillary praised the United Nations Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994, when nations around the world agreed to a program of increased support for reproductive health care, including improvements in maternal wellbeing. There has been some since then: better neonatal care, increases in child survival, and greater access to contraception; but there have been disappointments as well, as an anti-choice administration denied United States support for essential reproductive health care programs for eight years.

Today, as the Secretary of State made clear, the United States is back: back to supporting reproductive health care, and committed to working with the United Nations and with organizations working around the world to meet the Cairo goals. "Investing in the health of women, adolescents, and girls is not only the right thing to do; it is also the smart thing to do." Hillary said.

For the complete text of Hillary's important speech, click here.

Watch the video by clicking here.

THE LAST WORD

"For if we believe that human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights, then we cannot accept the ongoing marginalization of half the world's population. We cannot accept it morally, politically, socially, or economically."
- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, January 8, 2010

What does the internet mean to you?

2010-01-21T21:00:00.000Z

I attended a speech today on Internet Freedom by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She started out by telling a success story from Haiti: A seven-year-old girl and two women who were pulled from the rubble of a collapsed supermarket after they sent a text message asking for assistance. American respondents were able to find them, thankfully. The President of Port-au-Prince had made communication a top priority, and the tech community set up interactive maps to assist the rescue efforts in Haiti.

This is one example of how technology can assist a community. There are many other examples: from women obtaining microloans in Kenya to citizens documenting unfair elections in Iran; internet empowers us.

Secretary Clinton mentioned that we can gain a significant yield from minimal input. Case and point: The “text HAITI campaign” has raised $25 million. A service was set up where you could send a text message to donate $10, having it added to your phone bill, and Americans responded, at an astounding rate. Small input, significant yield.

Secretary Clinton introduced the State Department’s initiative, 21st Century Statecraft, which includes a commitment to internet freedom in the 21st century as well as interesting, innovative programs like the one she speaks about below:

“Let me give you one example. Let’s say I want to create a mobile phone application that would allow people to rate government ministries, including ours, on their responsiveness and efficiency and also to ferret out and report corruption. The hardware required to make this idea work is already in the hands of billions of potential users. And the software involved would be relatively inexpensive to develop and deploy. If people took advantage of this tool, it would help us target our foreign assistance spending, improve lives, and encourage foreign investment in countries with responsible governments.”

This was a speech rich with information and inspiration. I really recommend watching or reading it.
View and watch the full speech here: http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/01/135519.htm

STOP STUPAK: Again, and again, and again

2010-01-20T20:16:31.000Z

“Once you give away a woman’s right to choose – you never get it back.”
- Representative DeGette

Heightened by yesterday’s election in Massachusetts, there are a lot of discussions going on in D.C. about health care reform. This morning, I attended an important briefing as part of the Stop Stupak Lobby Day. Leaders of women’s organizations and members of congress spoke on how health care reform impacts women’s reproductive health care.

Representative DeGette (D-CO), one of our strongest advocates, spoke to what has been accomplished:

- Within 30 minutes after the health care bill passed in the House of Representatives, over 40 congresspeople signed a letter that stated they would not support a final health care bill that included the Stupak amendment.
- Just days after the passage of the health care bill in the House, 1,600 activists came to D.C. and lobbied their members of congress to wipe the health care bill clean of such restrictive language.
- Senator Reid ensured that the Senate health care bill would not contain the Stupak amendment.

Indeed, we must recognize the difference we have made.

Representative Schakowsky (D-IL) also spoke, pointing out that the Nelson amendment in the Senate health care bill also goes too far. In mandating that separate payments are made for abortion services, it goes beyond current law, harasses the policy holder, and adds expensive and time-consuming bureaucracy and paperwork to the plan. The bottom line: insurance companies would rather not cover abortion services than take on expensive, time-consuming paperwork.

We don't know today what the next steps are for health care reform. We do know that both existing plans limit women’s right to choose, going far above current law. Please call your congressperson and tell him/her that restrictions on women’s health do not belong in health care reform. Simply dial 202-559-1164 and you will be transferred to your representative’s office.

THE CRISIS IN HAITI: YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

2010-01-14T18:35:10.000Z

There is so much that we are all learning, literally minute by minute, about the unimaginable devastation and death in Haiti caused by the worst earthquake in that country in more than 200 years. It is almost incomprehensible the effort that will be required to rescue those whose lives can still be saved, locate and bury the dead, and support the Haitian people when they begin a long road to recovery.

But there is something each of us can do to help right now.

RED CROSS: You can text "HAITI" to "90999" and $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross, charged to your cell phone bill, or you can make an online donation at the Red Cross website at www.redcross.org.

CLINTON FOUNDATION:. Text “HAITI” to "20222" and $10 will be given to the Clinton Foundation's Haiti Relief Fund, charged to your cell phone bill, or make an online contribution www.clintonfoundation.org.

STATE DEPARTMENT: Those trying to locate U.S. citizen family members in Haiti should call 1-888-407-4747. For updates, visit the State Department website at www.state.gov or Inter Action, at www.interaction.org, for information about other organizations to which you can contribute.

However you choose to help - our help is desperateley needed!

The Hillary Effect: An Increase in Women Ambassadors

2010-01-11T20:20:26.000Z

Today, the Washington Post cited Hillary Clinton's presence as Secretary State a core reason for the drastic increase in women ambassadors from around the world.

Currently, 25 of the 182 ambassadors in Washington are women, a strong shift from the 1990's when only 5 were women.

From the article:

A key reason is the increase in the number of top U.S. diplomats who are women, what some call the "Hillary effect." "Hillary Clinton is so visible as secretary of state", said Amelia Matos Sumbana, who just arrived as ambassador from Mozambique. "She makes it easier for presidents to pick a woman for Washington."

Women ambassadors not only bring a different perspective than their male counterparts, they also tend to focus on issues such as poverty and education for girls.

Click here for the full article.

A Tireless Advocate for Women and Girls

2010-01-08T23:42:51.000Z

I just returned from powerful speech by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on global reproductive health issues.

Today marks the 15th Anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development, and a commitment to providing universal education; reducing infant, child and maternal mortality; and ensuring access to reproductive health care, assisted childbirth and prevention of sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was introduced by Ambassador at Large for Global Women’s Issues, Melanne Verveer, who described Hillary as being a “tireless advocate for women and girls”.

Secretary Clinton shared grim statistics on women’s reproductive health around the world. Indeed, there is much progress to be made.

She states:
“If we believe that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights, then we cannot accept the ongoing marginalization of half of the world’s population. We cannot accept it morally, politically, socially or economically.”

Secretary Clinton also stated the commitment that the State Department has to empowering girls and women, and recognizing that opportunity for girls and women is a critical part of national security.

She states:
“Investing in the health of women, adolescents and girls is not only the right thing to do; it is also the smart thing to do. That’s why we are integrating women’s issues as key elements of our foreign policy agenda.”

To watch the full speech, click here.

"I Am For Sale"

2010-01-07T04:00:00.000Z

We’re lucky here in America. We’re surrounded by fairy tale stories with happy endings. If a pretty princess is forced to marry a scary beast, the beast is transformed into a handsome prince when some spell is lifted. If she’s in danger, she’s rescued. No more scary beast.

Not so for girls and young women in many other parts of the world. No one’s coming to rescue them from their scary beast. Hundreds of thousands face that beast in an older man intent on buying them as a wife for a price. In Afghanistan, 80% of young women are faced with forced marriages - married off by their families for thousands – sometimes tens of thousands of dollars. Her family gets the money and she’s held as a virtual prisoner in her new home – there only to cook, clean, tend the animals and pop out babies.

A writer for the LA Times tells the story of one young woman who faces a forced marriage to a much older cousin. She can’t run away and she won’t go through with it. That leaves few options and sadly, many young women choose death over such a life.

'I am for sale'
"During the Taliban's black government . . . my father bought me school supplies, and told me: 'Be patient. One day you will finish your studies.' He was right. I waited five years, but after that, I could go to school. . . .
But then, as she was finishing high school, her father died. "When I lost him, I lost my shadow," she wrote. In keeping with Afghan cultural practices, her three Taliban-influenced brothers became responsible for her. …

[N]ow they've decided -- over her strong objections -- to marry her off to a first cousin, a man of about 40. This situation is not uncommon. According to the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, up to 80% of all women in the country face forced marriages. In February, she is to be engaged in return for a $20,000 dowry that will go to her brothers. "This money," she writes, "might possibly keep my family alive." …

"I told my mom: 'Please give me a chance. I don't like this man. I can't marry him. If you want to sell me, then I am ready to buy myself. I have a plan for my life. Please give me a chance, please, please.' She didn't reply, but cried silently with me. . . . Running away is not an option, because girls who run away here are raped by men and spend years in jail, and I am not such a girl. I can't leave my mom because my brothers believe anything 'wrong' I do is the fault of my mother, and they will kill her. . . . I am like a piece of cloth. I cost little. Who will buy me?"

I can’t imagine the heartbreak of her mother, knowing she can’t do anything to prevent her daughter’s marriage without risking her own life. One generation watching helplessly as the next suffers the same fate. To watch her sons sell her daughter off as if she were livestock...

The article closes with a simple statement – if she can’t avoid this marriage, she “won’t stay in this world”. Not an idle threat by an overdramatic young woman – many groups such as Human Rights Watch and the UN Development Fund for Women have documented a disturbing increase in suicide among young Afghani women and girls.

Something has got to be done for these women and girls. I don’t think war is the answer - there has to be a way to bring freedom to the enslaved. Women and girls who are bought and sold as if they were cattle in Afghanistan and many other parts of the world. They deserve better and if anyone can find a solution, I'm certain that Sec. Clinton and her team at the state department will figure out the way forward.

2010: Health care challenges and HRC-TV

2010-01-05T19:59:27.000Z

ALMOST ONE YEAR OLD - AND GROWING!
The New Year celebrations may be over, but here at No Limits, we're getting ready for our first birthday, and we have some exciting plans. Thanks to all of you for your interest, your support and your suggestions. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at our policy conference this fall: "There must be no limits on human potential, and it is up to us to continue to make that a core value of who we are as Americans and what we hope for others around the world."

Now on to 2010 - and the challenges we face - at home and around the world:

HEALTH CARE; GOING FORWARD - AND BACK

The good news is that in 2009, both the House and Senate passed major health reform bills. Debra Ness of the National Partnership for Women and Families said of the Senate bill, it would "cover 31 million more people, prohibit insurance practices that undermine meaningful, affordable coverage, help contain costs, and put us on track to improve the quality and coordination of care."

Both bills would end discrimination in insurance, like the current practice of charging women more; and end refusing insurance to people with preexisting conditions. There are big differences, however, especially the fact that the House bill includes a public option that would serve to control costs; the Senate bill does not.

But both bills would also restrict access to women's health. The House bill includes the Stupak-Pitts amendment which would make it impossible for women using the public exchange to use their own money to purchase reproductive health care. The Senate bill would require a separate check for reproductive health care, while allowing states to opt out of offering reproductive health coverage entirely.

No Limits was proud to be part of the Stop Stupak coalition, which at least won a vote in the Senate turning down a Stupak-Pitts-type restriction. We continue to work with our friends to insist that real health care reform must include women's health.

BUILDING A SAFER WORLD

The failed Christmas Day terrorist attack demonstrated once again that we have work to do every day: improving security at home; building and strengthening international coalitions, so that we have more allies working with us; and supporting a diplomatic and development agenda that reduces the conditions in which terrorism flourishes.

That means continued support for measures we know help build safer societies, like support for human rights and education for women and girls. "Some security experts noted that countries that nurture terrorists are disproportionately those where women are marginalized" say Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn in their book, Half the Sky, speaking of the value of projects like supporting girls' education. "We would never argue that the empowerment of women is a silver bullet, but it is an approach that offers a range of rewards that go far beyond simple justice."

FOCUSING ON JOBS

With millions of Americans still unemployed or underemployed, the Administration and other leaders have promised to make job growth a top priority this year. In December, the House of Representatives passed the Jobs for Main Street Act of 2010 with targeted investments in a number of areas, including: critical infrastructure, such as highways and transit; school renovation; hiring teachers, police, and fire fighters; job training; and affordable housing. The legislation also contained provisions to spur lending for small businesses and extend unemployment benefits, now set to expire in February, through June. The Senate is expected to begin work on similar legislation early this year.

We're working with our friends in the labor and civil rights communities to help keep the focus on this issue; we'll keep you posted.

HILLARY SPEAKS ON WOMEN'S HEALTH THIS FRIDAY, JANUARY 8: TUNE IN!

Every minute a woman dies from complications related to childbirth, pregnancy, or unsafe abortion. Nearly all - 99 percent - of these deaths occur in developing countries. And for every woman who dies in childbirth another 20 to 50 survive, but suffer from devastating injuries such as obstetric fistula.
- EngenderHealth

Hillary will speak about women's health, and what we can do to reduce maternal mortality and save women's lives this Friday, January 8th. Her speech marks the 15th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development, which adopted international goals for increased access to education, especially for girls; reductions in infant, child and maternal mortality; and support for reproductive health care. What are we doing to reach these goals - and what more can be done?

Watch Hillary's speech live from the State Department at about 2:30 pm EST on Friday! It will be streamed live or posted afterwards here.

THE LAST WORD

"The equivalent of five jumbo jets worth of women die in labor each day, but the issue is almost never covered."
- Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Half the Sky

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-21T17:30:00.000Z

Happy Holidays and a Good New Year

To All Our Friends

Our Very Best Wishes for You and Your Family

- The No Limits Team

House Passes Historic Legislation to Reform Wall Street And Protect Consumers

2009-12-15T19:27:21.000Z

Under the leadership of House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, last Friday the U.S. House of Representatives passed The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (H.R. 4173), described as the most comprehensive and ambitious restructuring of federal financial regulations since the New Deal. The legislation, almost 1300 pages long, is the culmination of months of extensive committee consideration as well as lengthy House floor debate. It addresses many of the issues that led to one of the greatest financial crises in our nation's history and covers a wide variety financial instruments and transactions, from pay day loans, car loans, home mortgages and credit cards to complex financial transactions. Among the highlights, the Act:

*Increases consumer protections, in part through the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), a new, independent federal agency solely devoted to protecting Americans from unfair and abusive financial products and services;

*Protects future homeowners by including comprehensive mortgage reform and anti-predatory lending measures;

*Reins in irresponsible compensation packages, giving shareholders of public companies an annual non-binding "say on pay" vote on compensation packages for top executives;

*Ends taxpayer bailouts and "too big to fail" by providing greater oversight of large and complex financial institutions while providing a mechanism to hold Wall Street, rather then the taxpayer, accountable for the costs of dismantling large, failing firms; and

*Safeguards investors through various means, including enhancing the enforcement powers of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), creating a whistleblower bounty program with incentives to identify wrongdoing in our securities markets, and filling a regulatory hole that allows hedge funds to escape regulation by now requiring almost all advisors to private pools of capital to register with the SEC.

Driving his passion behind the need for this legislation, Chairman Frank has talked about how the financial collapse "led to a steep and painful recession and placed extraordinary burdens on working families." In response, he wanted to craft legislation that contained a number of measures, including ones that make sure that "taxpayers never again have to take responsibility for reckless and irresponsible business decisions."

We were so pleased that Chairman Frank was able to address No Limits Foundation members on the economy at our first ever public policy conference, which was held on November 6th, and we congratulate Chairman Frank on the House passage of this historic legislation. The Senate is working on similar legislation and we expect action on it some time next year. We'll keep you posted!

Secretary Clinton's Human Rights Speech at Georgetown

2009-12-15T01:12:29.000Z

Here is the transcript:

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you. It is wonderful being back here at Georgetown in this magnificent Gaston Hall, and to give you something to do during exam week. (Laughter.) It’s one of those quasi-legitimate reasons for taking a break – (laughter) – which I’m very happy to have provided.

I want to thank Jas for his introductory remarks, and clearly, those of you who are in the Foreign Service School heard reflections of the extraordinary opportunity you’ve been given to study here as he spoke about the culture of human rights. It is also a real honor for me to be delivering this speech at Georgetown, because there is no better place than this university to talk about human rights. And President DeGioia, the administration, and the faculty embody the university’s long tradition of supporting free expression and free inquiry and the cause of human rights around the world.

I know that President DeGioia himself has taught a course on human rights, as well as on the ethics of international development with one of my longtime colleagues, Carol Lancaster, the acting dean of the School of Foreign Service. And I want to commend the faculty here who are helping to shape our thinking on human rights, on conflict resolution, on development and related subjects. It is important to be at this university because the students here, the faculty, every single year add to the interreligious dialogue. You give voice to many advocates and activists who are working on the front lines of the global human rights movement, through the Human Rights Institute here at the law school and other programs. And the opportunities that you provide your students to work in an international women’s rights clinic are especially close to my heart.

All of these efforts reflect the deep commitment of the Georgetown administration, faculty, and students to this cause. So first and foremost, I am here to say thank you. Thank you for keeping human rights front and center. Thank you for training the next generation of human rights advocates, and more generally, introducing students who may never be an activist, may never work for Amnesty International or any other organization specifically devoted to human rights, but who will leave this university with it imbued in their hearts and minds. So thank you, President DeGioia, for all that you do and all that Georgetown has done. (Applause.)

Today, I want to speak to you about the Obama Administration’s human rights agenda for the 21st century. It is a subject on the minds of many people who are eager to hear our approach, and understandably so, because it is a critical issue that warrants our energy and our attention. My comments today will provide an overview of our thinking on human rights and democracy and how they fit into our broader foreign policy, as well as the principles and policies that guide our approach.

But let me also say that what this is not. It could not be a comprehensive accounting of abuses or nations with whom we have raised human rights concerns. It could not be and is not a checklist or a scorecard. We issue a Human Rights Report every year and that goes into great detail on the concerns we have for many countries. But I hope that we can use this opportunity to look at this important issue in a broader light and appreciate its full complexity, moral weight, and urgency. And with that, let me turn to the business at hand.

In his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize last week, President Obama said that while war is never welcome or good, it will sometimes be right and necessary, because, in his words, “Only a just peace based upon the inherent rights and dignity of every individual can be truly lasting.” Throughout history and in our own time, there have been those who violently deny that truth. Our mission is to embrace it, to work for lasting peace through a principled human rights agenda, and a practical strategy to implement it.

President Obama’s speech also reminded us that our basic values, the ones enshrined in our Declaration of Independence – the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – are not only the source of our strength and endurance; they are the birthright of every woman, man, and child on earth. That is also the promise of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the prerequisite for building a world in which every person has the opportunity to live up to his or her God-given potential, and the power behind every movement for freedom, every campaign for democracy, every effort to foster development, and every struggle against oppression.

The potential within every person to learn, discover and embrace the world around them, the potential to join freely with others to shape their communities and their societies so that every person can find fulfillment and self-sufficiency, the potential to share life’s beauties and tragedies, laughter and tears with the people we love – that potential is sacred. That, however, is a dangerous belief to many who hold power and who construct their position against an “other” – another tribe or religion or race or gender or political party. Standing up against that false sense of identity and expanding the circle of rights and opportunities to all people – advancing their freedoms and possibilities – is why we do what we do.

This week we observe Human Rights Week. At the State Department, though, every week is Human Rights Week. Sixty-one years ago this month, the world’s leaders proclaimed a new framework of rights, laws, and institutions that could fulfill the vow of “never again.” They affirmed the universality of human rights through the Universal Declaration and legal agreements including those aimed at combating genocide, war crimes and torture, and challenging discrimination against women and racial and religious minorities. Burgeoning civil society movements and nongovernmental organizations became essential partners in advancing the principle that every person counts, and in exposing those who violate that standard.

As we celebrate that progress, though, our focus must be on the work that remains to be done. The preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights encourages us to use it as a, quote, “standard of achievement.” And so we should. But we cannot deny the gap that remains between its eloquent promises and the life experiences of so many of our fellow human beings. Now, we must finish the job.

Our human rights agenda for the 21st century is to make human rights a human reality, and the first step is to see human rights in a broad context. Of course, people must be free from the oppression of tyranny, from torture, from discrimination, from the fear of leaders who will imprison or “disappear” them. But they also must be free from the oppression of want – want of food, want of health, want of education, and want of equality in law and in fact.

To fulfill their potential, people must be free to choose laws and leaders; to share and access information, to speak, criticize, and debate. They must be free to worship, associate, and to love in the way that they choose. And they must be free to pursue the dignity that comes with self-improvement and self-reliance, to build their minds and their skills, to bring their goods to the marketplace, and participate in the process of innovation. Human rights have both negative and positive requirements. People should be free from tyranny in whatever form, and they should also be free to seize the opportunities of a full life. That is why supporting democracy and fostering development are cornerstones of our 21st century human rights agenda.

This Administration, like others before us, will promote, support, and defend democracy. We will relinquish neither the word nor the idea to those who have used it too narrowly, or to justify unwise policies. We stand for democracy not because we want other countries to be like us, but because we want all people to enjoy the consistent protection of the rights that are naturally theirs, whether they were born in Tallahassee or Tehran. Democracy has proven the best political system for making human rights a human reality over the long term.

But it is crucial that we clarify what we mean when we talk about democracy, because democracy means not only elections to choose leaders, but also active citizens and a free press and an independent judiciary and transparent and responsive institutions that are accountable to all citizens and protect their rights equally and fairly. In democracies, respecting rights isn’t a choice leaders make day by day; it is the reason they govern. Democracies protect and respect citizens every day, not just on Election Day. And democracies demonstrate their greatness not by insisting they are perfect, but by using their institutions and their principles to make themselves and their union more perfect, just as our country continues to do after 233 years.

At the same time, human development must also be part of our human rights agenda. Because basic levels of well-being – food, shelter, health, and education – and of public common goods like environmental sustainability, protection against pandemic disease, provisions for refugees – are necessary for people to exercise their rights, and because human development and democracy are mutually reinforcing. Democratic governments are not likely to survive long if their citizens do not have the basic necessities of life. The desperation caused by poverty and disease often leads to violence that further imperils the rights of people and threatens the stability of governments. Democracies that deliver on rights, opportunities, and development for their people are stable, strong, and most likely to enable people to live up to their potential.

So human rights, democracy, and development are not three separate goals with three separate agendas. That view doesn’t reflect the reality we face. To make a real and long-term difference in people’s lives, we have to tackle all three simultaneously with a commitment that is smart, strategic, determined, and long-term. We should measure our success by asking this question: Are more people in more places better able to exercise their universal rights and live up to their potential because of our actions?

Our principles are our North Star, but our tools and tactics must be flexible and reflect the reality on the ground wherever we are trying to have a positive impact. Now, in some cases, governments are willing but unable without support to establish strong institutions and protections for citizens – for example, the nascent democracies in Africa. And we can extend our hand as a partner to help them try to achieve authority and build the progress they desire. In other cases, like Cuba or Nigeria, governments are able but unwilling to make the changes their citizens deserve. There, we must vigorously press leaders to end repression, while supporting those within societies who are working for change. And in cases where governments are both unwilling and unable – places like the eastern Congo – we have to support those courageous individuals and organizations who try to protect people and who battle against the odds to plant seeds for a more hopeful future.

Now, I don’t need to tell you that challenges we face are diverse and complicated. And there is not one approach or formula, doctrine or theory that can be easily applied to every situation. But I want to outline four elements of the Obama Administration’s approach to putting our principles into action, and share with you some of the challenges we face in doing so.

First, a commitment to human rights starts with universal standards and with holding everyone accountable to those standards, including ourselves. On his second full day in office, President Obama issued an executive order prohibiting the use of torture or official cruelty by any U.S. official and ordered the closure of Guantanamo Bay. Next year, we will report on human trafficking, as we do every year, but this time, not only just on other countries, but also on our own. And we will participate through the United Nations in the Universal Periodic Review of our own human rights record, just as we encourage other nations to do.

By holding ourselves accountable, we reinforce our moral authority to demand that all governments adhere to obligations under international law; among them, not to torture, arbitrarily detain and persecute dissenters, or engage in political killings. Our government and the international community must counter the pretensions of those who deny or abdicate their responsibilities and hold violators to account.

Sometimes, we will have the most impact by publicly denouncing a government action, like the coup in Honduras or violence in Guinea. Other times, we will be more likely to help the oppressed by engaging in tough negotiations behind closed doors, like pressing China and Russia as part of our broader agenda. In every instance, our aim will be to make a difference, not to prove a point.

Calling for accountability doesn’t start or stop, however, at naming offenders. Our goal is to encourage – even demand – that governments must also take responsibility by putting human rights into law and embedding them in government institutions; by building strong, independent courts, competent and disciplined police and law enforcement. And once rights are established, governments should be expected to resist the temptation to restrict freedom of expression when criticism arises, and to be vigilant in preventing law from becoming an instrument of oppression, as bills like the one under consideration in Uganda would do to criminalize homosexuality.

We know that all governments and all leaders sometimes fall short. So there have to be internal mechanisms of accountability when rights are violated. Often the toughest test for governments, which is essential to the protection of human rights, is absorbing and accepting criticism. And here too, we should lead by example. In the last six decades we have done this – imperfectly at times but with significant outcomes – from making amends for the internment of our own Japanese American citizens in World War II, to establishing legal recourse for victims of discrimination in the Jim Crow South, to passing hate crimes legislation to include attacks against gays and lesbians. When injustice anywhere is ignored, justice everywhere is denied. Acknowledging and remedying mistakes does not make us weaker, it reaffirms the strength of our principles and institutions.

Second, we must be pragmatic and agile in pursuit of our human rights agenda – not compromising on our principles, but doing what is most likely to make them real. And we will use all the tools at our disposal, and when we run up against a wall, we will not retreat with resignation or recriminations, or repeatedly run up against the same well, but respond with strategic resolve to find another way to effect change and improve people’s lives.

We acknowledge that one size does not fit all. And when old approaches aren’t working, we won’t be afraid to attempt new ones, as we have this year by ending the stalemate of isolation and instead pursuing measured engagement with Burma. In Iran, we have offered to negotiate directly with the government on nuclear issues, but have at the same time expressed solidarity with those inside Iran struggling for democratic change. As President Obama said in his Nobel speech, “They have us on their side.”

And we will hold governments accountable for their actions, as we have just recently by terminating Millennium Challenge Corporation grants this year for Madagascar and Niger in the wake of government behavior. As the President said last week, “we must try as best we can to balance isolation and engagement; pressure and incentives, so that human rights and dignity are advanced over time.”

We are also working for positive change within multilateral institutions. They are valuable tools that, when in their best, leverage the efforts of many countries around a common purpose. So we have rejoined the UN Human Rights Council not because we don’t see its flaws, but because we think that participating gives us the best chance to be a constructive influence.

In our first session, we cosponsored the successful resolution on Freedom of Expression, a forceful declaration of principle at a time when that freedom is jeopardized by new efforts to constrain religious practice, including recently in Switzerland, and by efforts to criminalize the defamation of religion – a false solution which exchanges one wrong for another. And in the United Nations Security Council, I was privileged to chair the September session where we passed a resolution mandating protections against sexual violence in armed conflict.

Principled pragmatism informs our approach on human rights with all countries, but particularly with key countries like China and Russia. Cooperation with each of those is critical to the health of the global economy and the nonproliferation agenda we seek, also to managing security issues like North Korea and Iran, and addressing global problems like climate change.

The United States seeks positive relationships with China and Russia, and that means candid discussions of divergent views. In China, we call for protection of rights of minorities in Tibet and Xinxiang; for the rights to express oneself and worship freely; and for civil society and religious organizations to advocate their positions within a framework of the rule of law. And we believe strongly that those who advocate peacefully for reform within the constitution, such as Charter 2008 signatories, should not be prosecuted.

With Russia, we deplore the murders of journalists and activists and support the courageous individuals who advocate at great peril for democracy. With China, Russia, and others, we are engaging on issues of mutual interest while also engaging societal actors in these same countries who are working to advance human rights and democracy. The assumption that we must either pursue human rights or our “national interests” is wrong. The assumption that only coercion and isolation are effective tools for advancing democratic change is also wrong.

Across our diplomacy and development efforts, we keep striving for innovative ways to achieve results. That’s why I commissioned the first-ever Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review to develop a forward-looking strategy built on analysis of our objectives, our challenges, our tools, and our capacities to achieve America’s foreign policy and national security objectives. And make no mistake, issues of Democracy and Governance – D&G as they are called at USAID – are central to this review.

The third element of our approach is that we support change driven by citizens and their communities. The project of making human rights a human reality cannot be just one for governments. It requires cooperation among individuals and organizations within communities and across borders. It means that we work with others who share our commitment to securing lives of dignity for all who share the bonds of humanity.

Six weeks ago, in Morocco, I met with civil society activists from across the Middle East and North Africa. They exemplify how lasting change comes from within and how it depends on activists who create the space in which engaged citizens and civil society can build the foundations for rights-respecting development and democracy. Outside governments and global civil society cannot impose change, but we can promote and bolster it and defend it. We can encourage and provide support for local grassroots leaders, providing a lifeline of protection to human rights and democracy activists when they get in trouble, as they often do, for raising sensitive issues and voicing dissent. This means using tools like our Global Human Rights Defenders Fund, which in the last year has provided targeted legal and relocation assistance to 170 human rights defenders around the world.

And we can stand with these defenders publicly, as we have by sending a high-level diplomatic mission to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, and as I have done around the world, from Guatemala to Kenya to Egypt, speaking out for civil society and political leaders who are working to try to change their societies from within, and also working through the backchannels for the safety of dissidents and protecting them from persecution.

We can amplify the voices of activists and advocates working on these issues by shining a spotlight on their progress. They often pursue their mission in isolation, often so marginalized within their own societies. And we can endorse the legitimacy of their efforts. We recognize these with honors like the Women of Courage awards that First Lady Michelle Obama and I presented earlier this year and the Human Rights Defenders award I will present next month, and we can applaud others like Vital Voices, the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights, and the Lantos Foundation, that do the same.

We can give them access to public forums that lend visibility to their ideas, and continue to press for a role for nongovernmental organizations in multilateral institutions like the United Nations and the OSCE. And we can enlist other allies like international labor unions who were instrumental in the Solidarity movement in Poland or religious organizations who are championing the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS in Africa.

We can help change agents, gain access to and share information through the internet and mobile phones so that they can communicate and organize. With camera phones and Facebook pages, thousands of protestors in Iran have broadcast their demands for rights denied, creating a record for all the world, including Iran’s leaders, to see. I’ve established a special unit inside the State Department to use technology for 21st century statecraft.

In virtually every country I visit – from Indonesia to Iraq, from South Korea to the Dominican Republic – I conduct a town hall or roundtable discussion with groups outside of government to learn from them, and to provide a platform for their voices, ideas, and opinions. When I was recently in Russia, I visited an independent radio station to give an interview, and express through word and deed our support for independent media at a time when free expression is under threat.

On my visits to China, I have made a point of meeting with women activists. The UN Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 inspired a generation of women civil society leaders who have become rights defenders for today’s China. In 1998, I met with a small group of lawyers in a crowded apartment on the fifth floor of a walk-up building. They described for me their efforts to win rights for women to own property, have a say in marriage and divorce, and be treated as equal citizens.

When I visited China again earlier this year, I met with some of the same women, but this group had grown and expanded its scope. Now there were women working not just for legal rights, but for environmental, health, and economic rights as well.

Yet one of them, Dr. Gao Yaojie, has been harassed for speaking out about AIDS in China. She should instead be applauded by her government for helping to confront the crisis. NGOs and civil society leaders need the financial, technical and political support we provide. Many repressive regimes have tried to limit the independence and effectiveness of activists and NGOs by restricting their activities, including more than 25 governments that have recently adopted new restrictions. But our funding and support can give a foothold to local organizations, training programs, and independent media. And of course, one of the most important ways that we and others in the international community can lay the foundation for change from the bottom up is through targeted assistance to those in need, and through partnerships that foster broad-based economic development.

To build success for the long run, our development assistance needs to be as effective as possible at delivering results and paving the way for broad-based growth and long-term self-reliance. Beyond giving people the capacity to meet their material needs for today, economic empowerment should give them a stake in securing their own futures, in seeing their societies become the kind of democracies that protect rights and govern fairly. So we will pursue a rights-respecting approach to development – consulting with local communities, ensuring transparency, midwife-ing accountable institutions – so our development activities act in concert with our efforts to support democratic governance. That is the pressing challenge we face in Afghanistan and Pakistan today.

The fourth element of our approach is that we will widen our focus. We will not forget that positive change must be reinforced and strengthened where hope is on the rise, and we will not ignore or overlook places of seemingly intractable tragedy and despair. Where human lives hang in the balance, we must do what we can to tilt that balance toward a better future.

Our efforts to support those working for human rights, economic empowerment, and democratic governance are driven by commitment, not convenience. But they have to be sustained. They cannot be subject to the whims or the wins of political change in our own country. Democratic progress is urgent but it is not quick, and we should never take for granted its permanence. Backsliding is always a threat, as we’ve learned in places like Kenya where the perpetrators of post-election violence have thus far escaped justice; and in the Americas where we are worried about leaders who have seized property, trampled rights, and abused justice to enhance personal rule.

And when democratic change occurs, we cannot afford to become complacent. Instead, we have to continue reinforcing NGOs and the fledgling institutions of democracy. Young democracies like Liberia, East Timor, Moldova and Kosovo need our help to secure improvements in health, education and welfare. We must stay engaged to nurture democratic development in places like Ukraine and Georgia, which experienced democratic breakthroughs earlier this decade but have struggled to consolidate their democratic gains because of both internal and external factors.

So we stand ready – both in our bilateral relationships and through international institutions – to help governments that have committed to improving themselves by assisting them in fighting corruption and helping train police forces and public servants. And we will support regional organizations and institutions like the Organization of American States, the African Union, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, where they take their own steps to defend democratic principles and institutions.

Success stories deserve our attention so they continue to make progress and also serve as a model for others. And even as we reinforce the successes, conscience demands that we are not cowed by the overwhelming difficulty of making inroads against misery in the hard places like Sudan, Congo, North Korea, Zimbabwe, or on the hard issues like ending gender inequality and discrimination against gays and lesbians, from the Middle East to Latin America, Africa to Asia.

Now, we have to continue to press for solutions in Sudan where ongoing tensions threaten to add to the devastation wrought by genocide in Darfur and an overwhelming refugee crisis. We will work to identify ways that we and our partners can enhance human security, while at the same time focusing greater attention on efforts to prevent genocide elsewhere.

And of course, we have to remain focused on women – women’s rights, women’s roles, and women’s responsibilities. As I said in Beijing in 1995, “human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights,” but oh, I wish it could be so easily translated into action and changes. That ideal is far from being realized in so many places around our world, but there is no place that so epitomizes the very difficult, tragic circumstances confronting women than in eastern Congo.

I was in Goma last August, the epicenter of one of the most violent and chaotic regions on earth. And when I was there, I met with victims of horrific gender and sexual violence, and I met with refugees driven from their homes by the many military forces operating there. I heard from those working to end the conflicts and to protect the victims in such dire circumstances. I saw the best and the worst of humanity in a single day, the unspeakable acts of violence that have left women physically and emotionally brutalized, and the heroism of the women and men themselves, of the doctors, nurses and volunteers working to repair bodies and spirits.

They are on the front lines of the struggle for human rights. Seeing firsthand their courage and tenacity of they and the Congolese people and the internal fortitude that keeps them going is not only humbling, but inspires me every day to keep working.

So those four aspects of our approach – accountability, principled pragmatism, partnering from the bottom up, keeping a wide focus where rights are at stake – will help build a foundation that enables people to stand and rise above poverty, hunger, and disease and that secures their rights under democratic governance. We must lift the ceiling of oppression, corruption, and violence.

And we must light a fire of human potential through access to education and economic opportunity. Build the foundation, lift the ceiling, and light the fire all together, all at once. Because when a person has food and education but not the freedom to discuss and debate with fellow citizens, he is denied the life he deserves. And when a person is too hungry or sick to work or vote or worship, she is denied a life she deserves. Freedom doesn’t come in half measures, and partial remedies cannot redress the whole problem.

But we know that the champions of human potential have never had it easy. We may call rights inalienable, but making them so has always been hard work. And no matter how clearly we see our ideals, taking action to make them real requires tough choices. Even if everyone agrees that we should do whatever is most likely to improve the lives of people on the ground, we will not always agree on what course of action fits that description in every case. That is the nature of governing. We all know examples of good intentions that did not produce results, some that even produced unintended consequences that led to greater violations of human rights. And we can learn from the instances in which we have fallen short in the past, because those past difficulties are proof of how difficult progress is, but we do not accept the argument by some that progress in certain places is impossible, because we know progress happens.

Ghana emerged from an era of coups to one of stable democratic governance. Indonesia moved from repressive rule to a dynamic democracy that is Islamic and secular. Chile exchanged dictatorship for democracy and an open economy. Mongolia’s constitutional reforms successfully ushered in multiparty democracy without violence. And there is no better example than the progress made in Central and Eastern Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago, an event I was privileged to help celebrate last month at the Brandenburg Gate.

While the work in front of us is daunting and vast, we face the future together with partners on every continent, partners in faith-based organizations, NGOs, and socially responsible corporations, and partners in governments. From India, the world’s largest democracy, and one that continues to use democratic processes and principles to perfect its union of 1.1 billion people, to Botswana where the new president in Africa’s oldest democracy has promised to govern according to what he calls the “5 Ds” – democracy, dignity, development, discipline, and delivery – providing a recipe for responsible governance that contrasts starkly with the unnecessary and manmade tragedy in neighboring Zimbabwe.

In the end, this isn’t just about what we do; it is about who we are. And we cannot be the people we are – people who believe in human rights – if we opt out of this fight. Believing in human rights means committing ourselves to action, and when we sign up for the promise of rights that apply everywhere, to everyone, that rights will be able to protect and enable human dignity, we also sign up for the hard work of making that promise a reality.

Those of you here at this great university spend time studying the cases of what we’ve tried to do in human rights, or as Jas said, the culture of human rights. You see the shortcomings and the shortfalls. You see the fact that, as Mario Cuomo famously said about politics here in the United States, we campaign in poetry and we govern in prose. Well, that’s true internationally as well. But we need your ideas, we need your criticism, we need your support, we need your intelligent analysis of how together we can slowly, steadily expand that circle of opportunity and rights to every single person.

It is work that we take so seriously. It is work that we know we don’t have all the answers for. But it is the work that America signed up to do. And we will continue, day by day, inch by inch, to try to make whatever progress is humanly possible. Thank you all very much. (Applause.)

MODERATOR: Thank you, Secretary Clinton, for an inspiring, comprehensive, and wonderful speech. It made me proud to be an American.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you so much.

MODERATOR: And proud to be at Georgetown, too. (Laughter.)

The Secretary has time for three questions, and we thought because so many of you have abandoned your final papers to be here – the students, that is – that we would take those questions from our students. So let me ask you – we have several people along the sides with microphones. Let – okay, here’s somebody with a microphone. Have we got one more? Okay.

So let’s have a first question from a student. That doesn't look like a student. (Laughter.) Let’s get – here, let’s get a young person here. We’re not discriminating. We just want a calm approach to things.

QUESTION: Hello, Secretary Clinton. Thank you so much for speaking to us today. You spoke about the situation in Uganda. Could you please talk to us a little bit more about how the United States can protect the rights of LGBT people in areas where those rights are not respected?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Yes. And first let me say that over this past year, we have elevated into our human rights dialogues and our public statements a very clear message about protecting the rights of the LGBT community worldwide. And we are particularly concerned about some of the specific cases that have come to our attention around the world. There have been organized efforts to kill and maim gays and lesbians in some countries that we have spoken out about, and also conveyed our very strong concerns about to their governments – not that they were governmentally implemented or even that the government was aware of them, but that the governments need to pay much greater attention to the kinds of abuses that we’ve seen in Iraq, for example.

We are deeply concerned about some of the stories coming out of Iran. In large measure, in reaction, we think, to the response to the elections back in June, there have been abuses committed within the detention facilities and elsewhere that we are deeply concerned about. And then the example that I used of a piece of legislation in Uganda which would not only criminalize homosexuality but attach the death penalty to it. We have expressed our concerns directly, indirectly, and we will continue to do so. The bill has not gone through the Ugandan legislature, but it has a lot of public support by various groups, including religious leaders in Uganda. And we view it as a very serious potential violation of human rights.

So it is clear that across the world this is a new frontier in the minds of many people about how we protect the LGBT community, but it is at the top of our list because we see many instances where there is a very serious assault on the physical safety and an increasing effort to marginalize people. And we think it’s important for the United States to stand against that and to enlist others to join us in doing so.

MODERATOR: Right here.

QUESTION: Good morning, Secretary Clinton. Thank you so much for being here at Georgetown. You brought up Iran today, and I really appreciate that as an Iranian American. I’m a graduate student here and had the pleasure of being in Iran this summer for my first trip, and to witness really what happened after the election was an incredible moment in history.

Now that six months has passed after the election, what can the United States do to balance our support of the human rights activists and demonstrators in the streets of Iran with our agenda regarding the broader international security issues with Iran’s proposed nuclear program? So how do we balance those two issues?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Right. Well, it is a balancing act. But the more important balancing act is to make sure that our very strong opposition to what is going on inside Iran doesn't in any way undermine the legitimacy of the protest movement that has taken hold. Now, this is one of those very good examples of a hard call. After the election and the reaction that began almost immediately by people who felt that the election was invalid, put us in a position of seriously considering what is the best way we can support those who are putting their lives on the line by going into the streets. We wanted to convey clear support, but we didn’t want the attention shifted from the legitimate concerns to the United States, because we had nothing to do with the spontaneous reaction that grew up in response to the behavior of the Iranian Government.

So it’s been a delicate walk, but I think that the activists inside Iran know that we support them. We have certainly encouraged their continuing communication of what’s going on inside Iran. One of the calls that we made shortly after the election in the midst of the demonstrations is this unit of these very tech-savvy young people that we’ve created inside the State Department knew that there was a lot of communication going on about demonstrations and sharing information on Twitter, and that totally unconnected to what was going on in Iran, Twitter had planned some kind of lapse in service to do something on their system – you can tell I have no idea what they were doing. (Laughter.) I mean, you know, I don’t know Twitter from Tweeter, so – (laughter) – to be honest with you.

So these young tech people in the State Department called Twitter and said don’t take Twitter down right now. Whatever you’re going to do to reboot or whatever it is – (laughter) – don’t take Twitter down because people in Iran are dependent upon Twitter. So we have done that careful balancing.

Now, clearly, we think that pursuing an agenda of nonproliferation is a human rights issue. I mean, what would be worse than nuclear material or even a nuclear weapon being in the hands of either a state or a non-state actor that would be used to intimidate and threaten and even, in the worst-case scenario, destroy?

So we see a continuum. So pursuing what we think is in the national security interest not only of the United States but countries in Europe and in the Middle East is also a human rights issue. So we do not want to be in an either/or position: Are we going to pursue nonproliferation with Iran or are we going to support the demonstrators inside Iran? We’re going to do both to the best of our ability to get a result that will further the cause we are seeking to support.

MODERATOR: One final question in the back. Right there, with the red. Right. Christmas red.

QUESTION: Thank you. I am wondering what you see the role of artists doing in helping to promote human rights. I had the privilege earlier this summer to hear the playwright Lynn Nottage speak in one of the Senate buildings after she advocated for women’s rights in the Congo, and I wonder how you see creative practice accompanying and amplifying policy.

SECRETARY CLINTON: That is a wonderful question because I think the arts and artists are one of our most effective tools in reaching beyond and through repressive regimes, in giving hope to people. It was a very effective tool during the Cold War. I’ve had so many Eastern Europeans tell me that it was American music, it was American literature, it was American poetry that kept them going. I remember when Vaclav Havel came to the White House during my husband’s administration, and we were having a state dinner for him. And I said, “Well, who would you like to entertain at the state dinner?” And I didn’t know what he was going to say. And he said, “Lou Reed.” (Laughter.) “It was his music that was just so important for us – in prison, out of prison.”

Well, you could name many other American artists who have traveled. We’re going to try to increase the number of artistic exchanges we do so that we can get people into settings where they will be able to directly communicate. Now, with communication being what it is today, you can download them and all the rest, but there’s something about the American Government sending somebody to make that case which I think is very important to our commitment.

Also, artists can bright to light in a gripping, dramatic way some of the challenges we face. You mentioned the play about women in the Congo. I remember some years ago seeing a play about women in Bosnia during the conflict there. It was so gripping. I still see the faces of those women who were pulled from their homes, separated from their husbands, often raped and left just as garbage on the side of the road. So I think that artists both individually and through their works can illustrate better than any speech I can give or any government policy we can promulgate that the spirit that lives within each of us, the right to think and dream and expand our boundaries, is not confined, no matter how hard they try, by any regime anywhere in the world. There is no way that you can deprive people from feeling those stirrings inside their soul. And artists can give voice to that. They can give shape and movement to it. And it is so important in places where people feel forgotten and marginalized and depressed and hopeless to have that glimmer that there is a better future, that there is a better way that they just have to hold onto.

So I’m going to do what I can to continue to increase and enhance our artistic outreach, but this is also a great area for private foundations, for NGOs, for artists themselves, for universities like Georgetown to be engaged in. It’s interesting, in today’s world we are deluged with so much information. I mean, we are living in information overload time. And so we need ways of cutting through all of that. We’re also living in an on-the-one-hand-this and on-another-hand-that sort of media environment. I always joke that if a television station or a newspaper interviews somebody who is claiming that the earth is round, they have to put on somebody from the Flat Earth Society because that’s balance, fair and balanced coverage. (Laughter and applause.)

And so part of what we have to do is look for those ways of breaking through all of that. And I think that the power of the arts to do that is so enormous, and we can’t ever forget about the role that it must play in giving life to the aspirations of people around the world.

Thank you all very much. (Applause.)

Celebrate Human Rights Day with Hillary!

2009-12-09T19:35:50.000Z

Thursday, December 10 is Human Rights Day, commemorating the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948.

When then First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton told the world in 1995 that "women's rights are human rights, and human rights are women's rights," she sent a message of hope and aspiration that continues to resonate today, from kitchen tables in American cities to small villages in countries around the globe.

As Secretary of State, Hillary has continued her strong commitment to human rights and women's rights. In the last year, she has appointed the first ever Ambassador for Global Women's Issues, and chaired the first UN Security Council session on violence against women. Traveling to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, she announced a $17 million program of medical help for survivors of rape and sexual assault, and more police officers and better communications to protect vulnerable women and girls.

As she travels around the world, Hillary has addressed the importance of religious freedom and diversity in Kazakh; LGBT rights in town halls from Washington, D.C. to Moldova; and increased access to technology for grassroots advocates fighting to be heard in Iran. She's condemned the murder of journalists in Russia, and called on China to release those still imprisoned for their actions during the protests in Tiananmen Square two decades ago.

"I hope you believe, as I do, that foreign policy matters", Hillary said at our policy conference last month, "[and] that what we're doing can be explained and understood by the small business owner in Colorado or the homemaker in California...because it is important to our society and it's important to who we are as a nation, what we stand for in pursuit of our interests and in accordance with our values. I believe that...but we have to make the case to the rest of our country as well."

Let's celebrate Human Rights Day by helping Hillary make the case. Because we are all better off when America is once again working in coalitions with our allies; helping to build a safer world by enabling girls to go to school, and stronger communities where women have the chance to provide for their families, and every person can live with respect and dignity.

SAVE HEALTH CARE - STOP STUPAK

The United States Senate is now considering a Stupak-like amendment, offered by Senators Ben Nelson and Orrin Hatch; and our friends are gearing up to defeat it. But even if they succeed, and this amendment goes down, we have much more to do: after the Senate acts on a complete bill, the Senate and House versions will go to conference committee, which will be responsible for the final language.

As members of the Stop Stupak Coalition, No Limits members joined more than a thousand pro-choice advocates at Lobby Day in Washington on December 2. Click here to see photos. We have a simple message: Women cannot be worse off with the adoption of health care reform. The Stupak-Pitts amendment would prevent millions of women from using their own money to purchase full reproductive health insurance - a right they now have.

Universal health care cannot begin by leaving women out. If you haven't yet spoken with your Senators and Representatives - now is the time. If you have - call again!!

GOOD NEWS FOR WOMENS HEALTH - AND WELCOME WORD ABOUT MAMMOGRAMS

Here's something to cheer: The very first amendment to the health care bill adopted by the Senate was a measure to guarantee women access to preventive health care screenings and care at no cost, co-sponsored by Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME).

"For many insurance companies, simply being a woman is a pre-existing condition," Senator Mikulski said. "Women pay more and get less. My amendment guarantees access to preventive screenings for the number one killers of women - heart disease, cancers and chronic conditions like diabetes - to save lives and save money."

Services covered under the amendment are based on guidelines supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Centers for Disease Control, like cervical cancer screenings; annual mammograms for women under 50; pregnancy and postpartum depression screenings; screenings for domestic violence; and annual women's health screenings, which would include testing for diseases that are leading causes of death for women, such as heart disease and diabetes.

And Barbara Mikulski made clear the importance of mammograms: "My amendment guarantees screening for breast cancer - yes, mammograms," she said. "We don't mandate that you have a mammogram at age 40. What we say is discuss this with your doctor, but if your doctor says you need one, my amendment says you are going to get one."

MORE AMERICANS NEED JOBS

The good news is that the unemployment rate in November dropped from 10.2 percent - a twenty-six year high - to 10 percent and about 11,000 Americans lost their jobs in November, rather than 160,000, which is what many economists thought might happen. In addition, job loss numbers for earlier months were revised downward, showing that the rate of job losses has started to decline.

The stimulus is helping: the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that in the third quarter of this year, the stimulus made a difference for 600,000 to 1.6 million Americans who had jobs that they otherwise would not have had.

Still, far too many Americans who want to find a job can't find one, no matter how hard they try. Unemployment among young people ages 16 to 24 is 19.1 percent, and among young African American women and men, it's 26.5 and 34.5 percent, respectively, described as levels not seen since the Great Depression.

President Obama hosted a Jobs Summit last week, and will be calling for a new jobs program today. Congress is expected to take action quickly. We'll keep you posted on the legislative initiative, and what all of us can do to help.

HOLIDAY SHOPPING SUGGESTIONS

Drawing up your holiday list? Here are some gift ideas that that will bring joy at home and around the world:

Women for Women International

Heifer International

Vital Voices

AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO US ALL

Happy holidays to all our friends: The holiday season begins this week with the lighting of the first Hanukah candle and putting up Christmas lights. However you celebrate, with Hanukah candles or Christmas trees or the festival that means the most to you: may your home be lit with happiness.

THE LAST WORD

"I think it demonizes women,... Why don't you just paint a scarlet 'A' on your forehead. Hawthorne lives on in the Nelson amendment."
- Sen. Barbara Mikulski speaking against the Nelson amendment

What is Fair Trade?

2009-12-08T07:01:35.000Z

When you are at a festival, market, museum store or boutique admiring handmade crafts from exotic, faraway lands, have you ever stopped to think about the items labeled “Fair Trade”? What is fair trade? Why should you buy these over the non-fair trade items on the next shelf? Who are the people that made them? What is involved to get the fair trade goods to that location?

To begin, according to the Fair Trade Federation, "fair trade is a system of exchange that seeks to create equity and partnership in the international trading system. Through fair trade, people producing a product are treated fairly, paid fairly and are being fair to the environment. In other words, they are paid fairly by the people buying their products instead of just being labor and someone else getting the money or someone buying the items for well less than they are worth.

The process of getting these fair trade products from the point of origin to you, the buyer, is not as simple as it is for items that are mass produced. The craft items are made and marketed by the local crafters. Crafters that up until recently never even considered selling their handicrafts globally, at least not themselves. Remember, these are artisans, not graduates of the Wharton School. In order to do well, they need guidance from someone that won’t take advantage of them, someone that is looking out for their best interest.

There are many organizations that offer this support. These organizations cultivate partnerships with the workers and contribute to the development of their communities. This is a large part of what fair trade is all about. By providing fair wages and helping small producers of goods become part of the profit cycle, the workers can achieve a better quality of life and receive more profits that can then be reinvested into their communities for various things such as healthcare services and educational opportunities.

Vital Voices is one such organization, but specific to women. They provide women with the management, business development, marketing, and communications skills needed to enter the global marketplace. Organizations like Vital Voices help the artisans understand the ins and outs of selling their wares broadly as well as teaching them how to use resources wisely. For example, if the community understands that the leaves of the palm frond can be used to make baskets and other sellable items, they are not likely to cut down the palm tree. The organizations also teach how to reinvest the money into their communities. The women that are helped by Vital Voices gain self-confidence and independence by making and selling their products.

This just touches on the surface of fair trade. Fair trade helps people all over the world to use their talent, skills, and trades to provide for their families, create jobs in their communities, and protect the environment. It also gives them a way to maintain their traditional lifestyles. By buying fair trade, even in these tough economic times, we are supporting the workers, their community, and the environment and guaranteeing its continuation into the future.

For more information, please visit DCMakeTradeFair and the Fair Trade Federation.

Photos Up - Stop Stupak Rally

2009-12-07T15:25:26.000Z

Last week over 1,200 activists from across the country attended a rally to urge our Members of Congress to pass health care reform, while maintaining women's access to reproductive health care.

I brought my own hand-made sign with me. There were many different signs, with their own unique messages, but the theme rang through: Universal health care cannot begin by leaving women out.

Click here to see more photos from the rally.

Thank you to Ed Kimmel, for the photos!

Stop Stupak Rally – A Success!

2009-12-03T21:41:42.000Z

“Congress needs to know – women are not the problem, they are the solution.”
That phrase still rings in my ears, spoken by Loretta Ross, National Coordinator of SisterSong, to an erupting crowd of pro-choice activists.

Yesterday we came together in support of health care reform, and against the Stupak amendment. Over 500 people came together for the rally to send the powerful and urgent message to Congress to pass health care reform and stop the restriction on women's reproductive care.

(A group of pro-choice activists gather at the rally - more photos below.)

Advocates from across the country – Montana to Ohio, Georgia to Pennsylvania traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with their Senators and House Representatives. Women, men, students, seniors. In fact, a bus full of pro-choice advocates from Maine left at 9PM Tuesday and traveled through the night, arriving at 5AM on Wednesday to join in this day of action. That is how important this is.

Among the many elected officials who joined us and lent their voices in this important call to action were our long-time advocates Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), as well as our newest member of Congress and advocate, Judy Chu (D-CA).

As many of you know, the legislation that was recently voted on in the House contained language that would deny women who participate in the new insurance exchange the ability to choose full reproductive health coverage even with their own money. And the legislation is now before the Senate.

So here’s what I learned:

Sen. Nelson (D-NE) is said to be introducing a Stupak-like amendment to the Senate health care bill, an amendment that will further restrict women’s right to choose. We hope that this will get voted down, and we know many Senators who are committed to doing just that. Instead, we believe that an appropriate compromise will be made – one that respects the rights of women and protects their access to reproductive health care.

The Senate will debate the details and vote on their version of the health care bill. If that passes, then the Conference Committee, consisting of members of the House and Senate, will combine the two bills into a conference report, that will be sent to the House and the Senate for a final up or down vote. It is imperative that the conference report (a compromise of the Senate and House bills) does not contain a restriction on women’s rights (like the Stupak amendment) and it is imperative that it passes both the House and Senate so that the President can finally sign into law much needed health care reform.

I know this has been a long process and the Senate may be debating the bill for a few more weeks, but we have an opportunity for health care reform now that we may never have again, and so we urge you to contact your Senators and House Representative and express your support for health care reform, but not for a plan that limits the rights of women and sets us back decades.

A group of activists joined us from New York

Students from Syracuse University

Medical Students from Boston University

Today: World AIDS Day

2009-12-01T13:20:07.000Z

December 1st marks World AIDS Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection.

PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, an program started under President Bush has provided lifesaving antiretroviral treatment to over 2 million men, women, and children worldwide, through partnerships with other governments and NGOs.

In a statement, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “Later this week, Ambassador Goosby will present the five-year strategy for the future of PEPFAR outlining the important role that PEPFAR will play in transitioning from emergency response to sustainable health systems that help meet the broad medical needs of people with HIV and the communities in which they live. In its next phase, PEPFAR programs will support a comprehensive, whole-of-government approach in many countries to increase awareness, reduce stigma, and get services to people at earlier stages.”

“We will also redouble our efforts to address the needs of women and girls who are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS in many parts of the world. Promoting the health of women strengthens families and communities and has positive spillover effects in areas like poverty reduction and education.”

“On World AIDS Day, let us renew our commitment to ensuring that those infected and affected by HIV—the woman on treatment who is supporting her family, the child who dropped out of school to care for sick parents, the doctors and nurses without adequate resources— that all those who have joined together to fight this pandemic will someday live in a world where HIV/AIDS can be prevented and treated as a disease of the past.”

Showing a commitment, and strengthening PEPFAR is a major step forward in the fight against AIDS. I am happy to see they will focus on the most affected, women and girls, because we know that their health and well-being affects their family and their community.

Click here for the full remarks.

Hillary: Elimination of Violence Against Women

2009-11-27T16:00:00.000Z

Statement from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: "Elimination of Violence Against Women" Day
- November 25, 2009

"Today, a woman somewhere in the United States will be physically assaulted by her husband. In a remote village on the other side of the world, traffickers will lure a young girl away from her family and sell her into sexual slavery. In towns in every region of the globe, groups of men will harass young women as they attempt to go to school. And in a conflict-ravaged land, armed men will brutally rape a mother and her daughter, part of a deliberate strategy of war. Today and every day, women and girls all over the world will face violence simply because they are female. This gender-based violence not only harms the victims and their families, it shreds the fabric that weaves us together as human beings.

"Violence against women cannot be accepted as 'cultural' - it is criminal. Today, as we mark Elimination of Violence Against Women Day, let us recommit ourselves – men and women in every country – to work together to end these atrocities, to hold those who commit them accountable, and to support the survivors. No woman or girl anywhere in the world should have to walk in fear or live under the threat of violence.

"When women are accorded their rights and afforded equal opportunities in education, health care, employment, and political participation, they drive social and economic progress. They lift up themselves, their communities, and their nations. But none of these benefits is possible unless girls are able to learn without fear and women are able to have autonomy and decision-making over their own lives, and those are the very things that violence and the fear of violence take away.

"The United States will continue to stand with women around the world to ensure that their rights are protected and respected, and that they have the opportunity to pursue an education, find a good job, live in safety and fulfill their own God-given potential."

Showing her dedication to women and girls around the world, Secretary Clinton has made many important moves to help end the violence. She has appointed Melanne Verveer to be the first ever Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, she has visited the Democratic Republic of Congo (one of the most dangerous countries for women). And in September, she chaired a United Nations Security Council session that passed a resolution to prevent sexual violence in armed conflict.

Today: International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

2009-11-25T20:24:18.000Z

STATEMENT BY VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN ON THE 10th ANNIVERSARY OF THE INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN - November 25, 2009

“Violence against women is found in every culture around the world. It is one of our most pervasive global problems, yet it is preventable. When gang rape is a weapon of war, when women are beaten behind closed doors, or when young girls are trafficked in brothels and fields - we all suffer. This violence robs women and girls of their full potential, causes untold human suffering, and has great social and economic costs. On this 10th anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, I urge all Americans to join with the international community in calling for an end to these abuses.”

A leader, past and present, we applaud Vice President Joe Biden's commitment to ending violence against women.

Save Health Care Reform, Stop Stupak; Hillary in Vogue!

2009-11-24T18:32:30.000Z

Watch the No Limits Conference Highlights Video

Exciting news for No Limits members on our new Charter membership - more information below. But first, an update on health care reform and women's health:

SAVE HEALTH CARE REFORM - STOP STUPAK

NATIONAL LOBBY DAY DECEMBER 2

Click here for information on how you can be part of this important day!!

We've seen big steps forward for health care reform in Congress this month, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid moving legislation to increase access to health insurance, end discrimination by insurance companies and provide a public option, with a compromise on abortion funding that continues the present system in which federal funds are not used. In fact, on Saturday the Senate voted to begin major debate on their version of the health care bill.

But the House bill, which includes the Stupak-Pitts anti-choice amendment, raises serious problems for women's health. According to a study by The George Washington University School of Public Health:

"In view of how the health benefit services industry operates and how insurance product design responds to broad regulatory intervention aimed at reshaping product content, we conclude that the treatment exclusions required under the Stupak/Pitts Amendment will have an industry-wide effect, eliminating coverage of medically indicated abortions over time for all women, not only those whose coverage is derived through a health insurance exchange..."

- GWU School of Public Health study, released November 17, 2009

"What the findings show are that women who want to purchase policies with their own money - with their own premiums - will not be able to buy insurance policies.... that's frankly the intention of the anti-choice movement now." Congresswoman Diana DeGette, who has organized more than 40 pro-choice members to sign a letter confirming they will not vote for a health care bill that includes the Stupak amendment, on final passage.

"The truth is that under the Stupak amendment, millions of women would lose benefits that they currently have and millions more would be prohibited from getting the kind of private sector health care coverage that most women have today."

- Planned Parenthood Federation of America, November 10, 2009

JOIN THE STOP STUPAK LOBBY DAY IN WASHINGTON DECEMBER 2

OUR NEW CHARTER MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM

We heard from so many of our members who could not come to the first policy conference in Washington on November 6th. You want a way to participate in No Limits wherever you are -- and we agree!

We are now working on a new program that will enable No Limits Charter Members to view conference videos, including Hillary's speech and other presentations; join regular conference calls with policy makers on the issues we care about, and other premium features. Keep watching for more information on how you can become a Charter Member.

ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Ten years ago, the United Nations General Assembly designated November 25th as International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, a day of worldwide activities to raise public awareness of the problem of violence against women. The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women also marks the first day of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign.

On November 25th, consider contributing to an organization that is working on the ground to stop violence, whether in your community or in one thousands of miles away. If you have a few hours, volunteer at a local shelter or for another organization that is doing good work. And if you have just a few minutes, take the time to learn something new about this issue that is all too often ignored, and share that information with as many people as you can. A good source of information is UNIFEM's global advocacy initiative, "Say NO - UNiTE to End Violence Against Women" (Click here).

HILLARY AT WORK AND IN VOGUE

"So many women feel like I'm on their side...I somehow, through my life or their perception of me, give them courage to do things. And I think it's also that, whether I am meant to or not, I challenge assumptions about women. I do make some people uncomfortable, which I'm well aware of, but that's just part of coming to grips with what I believe is still one of the most important pieces of unfinished business in human history - empowering women to be able to stand up for themselves."

- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Her Brilliant Career, Vogue

Hillary continues her trailblazing leadership as Secretary of State, with her latest trip to Singapore (where she taped Meet the Press and Face the Nation last week), the Philippines, China and Afghanistan - we're just trying to keep up! For a fascinating view of Hillary on the road, at the UN, and in her State Department office, you won't want to miss this profile in Vogue Magazine:

Hillary Clinton: Her Brilliant Career

You'll also enjoy this interview with Hillary's friend and America's first Ambassador for Global Women's Issues, Melanne Verveer:

Women: Interview with Lois Romano of the Washington Post

THE LAST WORD

"We are outraged by the Stupak amendment to the Affordable Health Care for American Act. Health care reform must not come at the expense of women."

- Coalition of Labor Union Women, November 12, 2009