Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice led a group of powerful women,
including presidents and prime ministers, in calling
Thursday for a world where women's talents are used as
much as men's to make peace and fight poverty.
Rice, speaking at
a conference on women's rights, joined an international
appeal for a fairer political role for women, especially in
addressing the urgent problems of the day -- climate
change, terrorism, religious fundamentalism, and
impoverishment.
''In today's
modern world, no country can achieve lasting success and
stability and security if half of its population is sitting
on the sidelines,'' Rice said.
''We in the
international community should make sure that we hear the
voices of women and account for their concerns wherever we
seek to establish or keep the peace. If we do that, we
are actually making the job of keeping the peace
easier.''
More than 50
participants, including Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko of
Ukraine, Foreign Minister Olubanke King-Akerele of Liberia,
and Egyptian first lady Suzanne Mubarak, participated
at the talks to promote women's empowerment.
International Women's Day is Saturday.
The European
Union's external relations commissioner, Benita
Ferrero-Waldner, who hosted the conference, said
participants agreed to continue high-level talks to
ensure that expanding the roles of women stays at the
top of the international agenda.
Ferrero-Waldner
said they also agreed to push for the full implementation
of the eight-year-old U.N. resolution 1325, which calls for
the involvement of women in conflict resolution.
''Women can play a much bigger role,'' she said.
''It's not yet totally implemented; therefore we have
a lot to do.''
Many
participants, especially Israeli and Palestinian female
lawmakers, complained they have been kept out of peace
talks by their male counterparts. ''Women should be at
the table,'' said Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the
Palestinian Legislative Council.
Israeli lawmaker
Amira Dotan said she was eager to work with her
Palestinian counterparts ''to look for new initiatives, a
new way of thinking,'' to bring peace to the Middle
East.
Ana Palacio, vice
president of the World Bank, said women also should
play a key role in fighting poverty, pointing to U.N.
statistics that say 70% of the world's poor are women.
Tymoshenko said
women could offer leadership that could prevent conflict.
''It's up to women to break out of these unhealthy
traditions and dogmas and lead people down a different
path,'' she said.
Rice said it was
important to send young girls a message of hope they can
one day become whatever they want to be. She noted proudly
that the United States has not had a white male
secretary of state for 12 years.
At the United
Nations, where International Women's Day was being observed
two days early, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged nations
to invest more spending on job opportunities, health
care, nutrition, and other pressing needs of women
worldwide.
''Investing in
women helps us fight all the challenges of our time --
from poverty, hunger, and illiteracy to environmental
degradation and disease, including HIV/AIDS,'' he said
during a meeting of a U.N. commission on gender
equality and advancement of women. (AP)