![]() Wasn’t it, after all, after the women’s conference in Nairobi 10 years ago that the world focused for the first time on the crisis of domestic violence?Įarlier today, I participated in a World Health Organization forum. ![]() It is conferences like this that compel governments and peoples everywhere to listen, look, and face the world’s most pressing problems. Let them look at the women gathered here and at Huairou, the homemakers and nurses, the teachers and lawyers, the policy makers and women who run their own businesses. There are some who wonder whether the lives of women and girls matter to economic and political progress around the globe. Hillary Clinton: How far have women come? Let them listen to the voices of women in their homes, neighborhoods, and workplaces. There are some who question the reason for this conference. And we are here to find common ground so that we may help bring new dignity and respect to women and girls all over the world-and in so doing, bring new strength and stability to families as well.īy gathering in Beijing, we are focusing world attention on issues that matter most in our lives, the lives of women and their families: access to education, health care, jobs, and credit, the chance to enjoy basic legal and human rights and participate fully in the political life of our countries. However different we may appear, there is far more that unites us than divides us. And time and again, our talk turns to our children and our families. Whether it is while playing with our children in the park or washing clothes in a river or taking a break at the office watercooler, we come together and talk about our aspirations and concerns. We come together in fields and factories. It is also a coming together, much the way women come together every day in every country. This is truly a celebration-a celebration of the contributions women make in every aspect of life: in the home, on the job, in the community, as mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, learners, workers, citizens, and leaders. Distinguished delegates and guests, I would like to thank the secretary-general for inviting me to be part of this important United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. Thank you very much, Gertrude Mongella, for your dedicated work that has brought us to this point. You can read her reflections about this speech upon its 25th anniversary here.īelow, the full text of Clinton’s speech as delivered. Then the first lady of the United States, Clinton famously declared that “women’s rights are human rights,” while criticizing the Chinese government’s coercive family-planning policy and the hardships faced by women around the world. ![]() Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered the following address to the United Nations’ Fourth World Conference on Women, in Beijing, 25 years ago.
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