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| Diverse Women of the world |
Sustainable development will come when essential public services … for education, health care,
water, sanitation, energy and social protection are accessible to everyone says Michelle Bachelet
Editing, re-reporting by
Carolyn Bennett
International Women’s Day
The United Nations has observed International Women’s Day on
March 8 since 1975.
In that year's International Women’s Year, the United
Nations began the March 8 celebration of International Women’s Day. In December
of 1977, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United
Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace to be observed on any
day of the year by Member States, in accordance with their historical and
national traditions.
Michelle Bachelet’s thoughts in a Kapuscinski Lecture two years ago ─ “The century of inclusion and women’s full
participation” ─ seem apt for this
year’s observance.
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| Dr. Michelle Bachelet |
“While women constitute over half of humanity,” the Under-Secretary-General
and Executive Director of UN Women said, “they are far from enjoying equal
rights, equal opportunities and equal participation and leadership with men. Women’s
contributions to peace and democratization, she said, “typically do not
translate into leadership roles in decision-making institutions.”
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| Women of Congo End Violence against women |
End the status quo
Launch new, diverse, woman-quality leadership
“The 21st century must be the century of inclusion,”
Bachelet said. That means women’s equal leadership and participation.
The nature of leadership can no longer be “by control and command,” she said. “It is about listening and leveraging a response.
Leadership has to strive for
inclusion. The castles are burning down. The fortresses and moats are no longer
tenable. Now is the time for openness and participation.
Leadership is not a singular or
insular endeavor.
Leadership is about consultation
and collaboration. Government derives its just powers from the consent of the
governed.
True leadership is about
participation and engagement.
Leadership pursues equality. We can
no longer pursue public policies that, in effect, save the best for the best;
and the rest for the rest.
Leadership embraces diversity and
integrative societies.
True leaders strive to value and
understand people.
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| Women Strike for Peace |
Quality leadership requires humility, respect for self and others, a strong belief in the possible.
“Democracy is rooted in solidarity, peace and justice; and
democratic reform requires leadership with conviction. It requires equality and
inclusion.
“We need to advance universal values with universal
coverage. Education and healthcare, safe water and sanitation, housing and
energy, decent work ─ these are not charitable contributions or government
handouts; they are rights to which every human being is entitled.”
“‘Progress’ redefined” ─ UN Women
“I took the position of founding Executive Director of UN
Women out of a deep conviction that the progress we need to see in inclusion
will have to push vigorously ─ and with conviction ─ for women’s empowerment and gender equality. …” Bachelet
said.
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| Forgotten women caught in men's tyranny |
“I hold the position that we need to redefine what is progress”
─ progress as the measure of “how well we promote inclusion and reduce
inequalities.”
“We [at UN Women] are pushing for governments to agree on, then
take measures so that women can access opportunities as leaders and as full
participants in decision making related to policies, social and economic
issues, and the environment.
“We are pushing for women’s equal opportunities in economies
and this demands a series of measures which include
Providing childcare and work-life
policies;
Ending violence and discrimination;
Removing barriers women face to
owning land and accessing credit.
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| Hon. Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria |
Attributed to Michelle Bachelet in separate contexts, she says:
I am a woman, a socialist, separated and agnostic, all the sins together …
Who could have thought twenty, ten, or five years ago ─ that Chile would elect a woman to be president!
Sources and notes
“The century of inclusion and women’s full participation” Kapuscinski
Lecture: Michelle Bachelet, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and
Executive Director of UN Women, at Dublin, Ireland. February 21, 2013, http://www.unwomen.org/2013/02/the-century-of-inclusion-and-womens-full-participation/
UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet
Former Chilean Minister of Defense, Minister of Health and
President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet is the first Under-Secretary-General and
Executive Director of UN Women.
UN Women was established on July 2, 2010, by the United
Nations General Assembly. The organization leads, supports and coordinates work
on gender equality and empowerment of women globally and at regional and
country levels.
Before taking on the leadership of UN Women, Bachelet ─ a
long-time champion of women’s rights advocating for gender equality and women’s
empowerment throughout her career ─ had most recently served as President of
Chile (2006-2010).
One of her major successes as Chile’s President was her
decision to save billions of dollars in revenues to spend on issues such as
pension reform, social protection programs for women and children, and research
and development. Under her leadership, the number of free early child-care centers
for low-income families tripled and some 3,500 child-care centers were
completed around the country.
Michelle Bachelet’s ministerial portfolios in the Chilean
Government include Minister of Defense in which position she introduced gender
policies intended to improve the conditions of women in the military and police
forces; and Minister of Health in which she implemented health care reform and
improved attention to primary care facilities with the aim of ensuring better
and faster health care response for families. http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/directorate/executive-director/
Multi-lingual in her native Spanish and with varying levels
of fluency in English, German, Portuguese and French, Bachelet is a
pediatrician and epidemiologist with studies in military strategy.
Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (b. September 29, 1951), politically
a Social Democrat, was the first woman president of her country. UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed her in 2010 to head UN Women [Wikipedia
note].
See also Bachelet in:
Bennett, Carolyn LaDelle. Women’s Work and Words altering World Order
International
Women’s Day
The United Nations has observed International Women’s Day on
March 8 since 1975.
In 1975, during International Women’s Year, the United
Nations began its March 8 celebration of International Women’s Day. In December
of 1977, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United
Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace to be observed on any
day of the year by Member States, in accordance with their historical and
national traditions.
UN System Observances for International Women’s Day 2013 ─ Official
United Nations theme for International Women’s Day 2013: “A promise is a promise: Time for
action to end violence against women.”
Events: International Women’s Day 2013: Official UN
Observance
10:00-12:00, Eastern Standard Time, March 8, Conference Room
2, North Lawn Building, United Nations Headquarters, New York, webcast live at
http://webtv.un.org/
Related UN-system IWD Events Worldwide
Monday, March 4: 57th Session of the Commission on the
Status of Women, United Nations Headquarters, New York: The 57th session of the
Commission on the Status of Women extends March 4 to March 15 at United Nations
headquarters. The priority theme focuses on the elimination and prevention of
all forms of violence against women and girls.
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/feature/iwd/
Ryszard
Kapuściński
Censored
The American edition of Ryszard Kapuściński’s Shah of Shahs, issued in the United
States in 1985 by the San Diego publishers, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, in the
translation of William R. Brand (b. 1953) and Katarzyna Mroczkowska-Brand, was
censored—by having references to CIA involvement in the 1953 overthrow of Iran’s
prime minister Mossadegh (or about 15 pages) excised.
The censorship of the American
edition, ironic in a book that deals in part with the terror of pervasive
censorship unleashed on the people of Iran by the Shah’s security agency, the
SAVAK, has never been satisfactorily explained…
Respected Polish journalist Monika
Olejnik (b. 1956) attributes this instance of censorship to Kapuściński himself
─ who was allegedly motivated by his own scruples.
Some of Ryszard Kapuściński’s works available in English
Shah of Shahs (Szachinszach) (1982)
Imperium (Imperium)
(1993)
The Shadow of the Sun
(2001)
Our Responsibilities
in a Multicultural World (2002)
Encountering the Other: The Challenge for the Twenty-first
Century—The Inaugural Lecture of the Thirty-six[th] Annual School of Polish
Language and Culture (Jagiellonian University, July 5, 2005)
I Wrote Stone: The Selected Poetry of Ryszard Kapuściński
(2007)
The Cobra's Heart
(extract from The Shadow of the Sun) (2007)
The Other (Ten Inny)
(2008) – A collection of the author's lectures
Briefly
Ryszard Kapuściński (b. into poverty in Pińsk—now in
Belarus—in the Kresy Wschodnie or eastern borderlands of the second Polish
Republic, March 4, 1932 - d. January 23, 2007) was a Polish journalist and
writer whose dispatches in book form brought him global reputation. He was also
a photographer and poet.
He is reported to have said that he “felt at home in Africa
as ‘food was scarce there too and everyone was also barefoot.’”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryszard_Kapu%C5%9Bci%C5%84ski
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Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy
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