International Women's Day: Celebrating Women Who Forge Democracy In Liberia

There are 192 countries that are recognized members of the United Nations. Women are heads of state in only 19 of them. Most of us know that women make up more than half of the world's population. So does something feel off balance to you?

Today is the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day. One hundred years ago, women could vote in only two countries (Australia and New Zealand). Today they can vote in all but three (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Brunei Darussalam). So we could say we've come a long way in 100 years -- and we have -- but we also must recognize that we've got a ways to go.

To mark this 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile and current Executive Director of UN Women, joined Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf - the first democratically elected woman President in Africa -- in Liberia to highlight the importance of women's leadership in forging strong democracies, economies and re-building societies after conflict.

"I am very pleased to celebrate this milestone in Liberia, a country where women's influence in forging peace and recovery offers lessons for all countries committed to advancing gender equality and women's human rights," said Ms. Bachelet in a press briefing.

Female United Nations peacekeepers yesterday with Kathy Calvin, CEO U.N. Foundation, left, and Executive Director of U.N. Women and former President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet after visiting a Peace Hut, a forum for community justice, in rural Liberia. Photo credit: Stuart Ramson/Insider Images for the United Nations Foundation

Liberia is not only the first country in Africa to democratically elect a woman as president, but the home to one of the first female peacekeeping units. "This is a country that has stood up and has been able to build a stable democracy for five years after more than 10 years of conflict," said Ms. Bachelet. "I believe women are essential agents of peace. They are always trying to find the consensus."

It turns out that today women make up less than 8 percent of peace teams around the world, and of those eight percent, no women are at the head. Property ownership is even less. Women today own one percent of the world's property.

Teen girls meet with the United Nations Foundation's Girl Up Campaign over the weekend to talk about the challenges women face in post-conflict Liberia. The girls are part of a special program at the THINK empowerment center in Liberia's capital Monrovia. Photo credit: Stuart Ramson/Insider Images for the United Nations Foundation

It can seem like we have come so far in 100 years, and we have. But it's also obvious that there is so much more work to do.

Today let's celebrate being women and give thanks to the courageous women before us who have spoken out for women's rights and risked their lives for the sake of all women. Let's honor the women in Liberia who have been confronted with devastating violence and are re-building their country and boldly setting an example of what is possible with women as agents of peace.

Let's continue to celebrate how far we've come, and with this, deepen our commitment to speaking up for ourselves and for the rights and respect of all women and girls around the world. I am convinced this will be a win-win for everyone.

 

Follow Tabby Biddle on Twitter: www.twitter.com/tabbybiddle

Comments

[Mary OGarbiadd]

08:57 PM on 03/13/2011

Women peacekeepers are so important..some countries ask for them because they are very effective and there are fewer problems concerning local females and male soldiers, which sometimes happen. I hope this liberation spreads. mg

[Tabby Biddle]

11:12 PM on 03/30/2011

Thanks for sharing your voice on this matter Mary. I too hope this liberation spreads. We can make it happen!

[lasublime]

09:43 AM on 03/09/2011

I am so proud of Liberiaa and what is happening there.

[Tabby Biddle]

02:11 PM on 03/14/2011

Me too!

[LALC]

11:16 PM on 03/08/2011

Great story. Wish Huffpo would have had an article notifying/reminding women of IWD. I completely forgot. Also, a reminder that March is National Women's History Month. It's be great if Huffpo would feature various living or deceased women, women/girls organizations, women’s' events & even vacation ideas thruout the month as well as other women’s' & girls' issues.

I personally know of a local woman, Mary Hultman, that was a 2009 honoree thru National Women's History Project. She was in good company that year with Hillary Clinton, Jane Goodall, Amy Goodman & a whole host of other women. Mary’s link is below for 2009.
https://rjscafe.wordpress.com/2009/03/21/natl-womens-history-proj/
http://www.nwhp.org/resourcecenter/biographycenter.php

National Women's History Project
http://www.nwhp.org/

National Women's Hall of Fame
http://www.greatwomen.org/

BTW, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Brunei ironically have national healthcare!

[Tabby Biddle]

05:03 PM on 03/09/2011

I absolutely agree. Thank you for bringing this up. I would like to see HuffPost have a section to feature all the things you mentioned: women (living or deceased), women & girls organization's, women's events, women & girl's issues, and maybe some other topics too. I'm working on getting this going, and need more voices like yours to make this request to Arianna. I recommend writing to her on her blog. She wrote a blog yesterday or Int'l Women's Day. Here is the link if you haven't read it yet: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/international-womens-day-_7_b_832691.html

Thanks for sharing your wisdom and resources!

[LALC]

02:53 PM on 03/12/2011

Tabby,
I made my case to Arianna.

Here’s my two cents:
Elizabeth Cady Stanton! I think she was a huge catalyst in the Women's Rights Movement, an unsung hero to me. She had the knowledge, money, family support & plain old spunk, not to mention being a wife & mother of numerous children. Sojourner Truth’s is another great story & esp her “Ain’t I a Women” speech.

Seneca Falls, NY would be a great vacation spot given the National Women's Rights Museum & National History Park. And it's also the location of the First Women's Rights Convention. Besides, you’d be in the Finger Lakes region (wine country) & close to Cornell, Watkins Glenn, Corning, etc.

Living Legacy is another website highly recommended for reading, if you already haven’t. Definitely start with “History of the Movement”.

Living the Legacy: The Women's Rights Movement 1848 – 1998 http://www.legacy98.org

Good luck with your endeavors & I look forward to future articles.