“When more girls go to school, human capital increases. When more women join the labor force, economies become more sustainable and more diverse. When more women are engaged in public service, governments become literally more accountable and much more likely to meet urgent social needs.”
Secretary Kerry on empowering women and girls.
The potential for major development agreements in 2015 to advance gender equality for the next generation.
Twenty years ago, tens of thousands of people gathered in Beijing for the Fourth World Conference on Women, where 189 governments made significant commitments to advance gender equality and the empowerment of all women, everywhere. As we reflect back on the unprecedented progress to translate the Beijing Platform for Action into concrete actions, this year’s 20th anniversary and the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women offer an opportunity for us to look at how far we’ve come to advance gender equality, both here in the United States and around the world.
(Source: blogs.state.gov)
While captive, these women and children have been tortured, raped, given to ISIL thugs as “brides,” or kept as sex slaves. Some have committed suicide to avoid sexual enslavement. Others have been forced to watch as ISIL beat their children to coerce the women into converting to Islam. Some have simply been executed. Hundreds of women and girls have been taken from Iraq to ISIL camps in Syria and never heard from again.
(Source: blogs.state.gov)
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