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    "ocrText": "FOIA Number: 2006-1733-F\nFOIA\nMARKER\nThis is not a textual record. This is used as an\nadministrative marker by the William J. Clinton\nPresidential Library Staff.\nCollection/Record Group:\nClinton Presidential Records\nSubgroup/Office of Origin:\nFirst Lady's Office\nSeries/Staff Member:\nSpeechwriting\nSubseries:\nLaura Schiller: HRC Speeches 6/98 - 4/99\nOA/ID Number:\n24610\nFolderID:\nFolder Title:\nHRC Speeches 9/98 - 12/98: [10/11 Women of the 21st Century]\nStack:\nRow:\nSection:\nShelf:\nPosition:\nS\n61\n2\n3\n3\n10/11 Women of the 2 21st century\nPHOTOCOPY\nPRESERVATION\nFirst Lady Hillary Clinton's Remarks at the Opening of the\nConference Women of the 21st Century: Transcending\nboundaries to Sustainable Development in Southeast Europe\nIvan Vazov National Theater\nSofia, Bulgaria\nOctober 11, 1998\nI am delighted to be here today to help open this important\nConference Women in the 21st Century Transcending\nBoundaries to Sustainable Development in Southeast Europe.\nMr. Panitza, I want to thank you for chairing this opening session and I\nwant to thank all of the women who have joined us here, at the head-\ntable, who have come from each of their countries to be part of this\nconference. I want to thank the President who opened the\nConference with his strong remarks about its importance. And of\ncourse to our hostess, who has done so much to make this Conference\nhappen.\nMrs. Stoyanova, Mrs. Kostova, Mrs. Sokolova, thank you for the\nhard work you have done making this Conference happen, working\ntirelessly to lift up the lives of women and strengthen the future of this\nregion.\n(Applause)\nI also want to thank our American Ambassador, all the Conference\norganizers, the delegates and the people of Bulgaria for giving me such\na warm welcome when I arrived here about six o'clock this morning.\nAlthough I have only been here a few short hours I already feel quite\nat home.\nOn my way here I thought back to a conference of women from\nEastern and Central and Southern Europe held in Vienna a little over\na year ago. It was there that I heard a powerful speech given by a\nBulgarian woman, who may be with us today - Julia Maleeva-\nBerberyan. She talked about how she and her daughters became\nworld-class tennis players even while the wall of communism separated\nthem from the world. How she refused to defect. How she swore to\nGod that she would help resurrect her country. Which she did. First\nas the President of the Bulgarian Women's Union and now as a\nMember of Parliament. I am pleased that she and eight other women\nfrom that Vital Voices Conference in Vienna are here today. And I\nam pleased that so many of you, from other countries in this region,\nwho have also through the years stood firm on behalf of freedom and\nsocial justice and prosperity and stability are also here with us.\nThe countries represented here may be at different points on the\npath of progress. But you have already undertaken courageous\nstruggles for freedom. You should be proud of the economic reforms\nthat are taking route and the civil society that is rising up. Proud of\nthe democracies that are being built up and the barriers between\nnations and citizens that are coming down. And proud that despite\nyour different cultures and pasts you are setting an example at this\nConference of how people can defy history to re-write it together.\nNow, clearly this road out of history toward the future is not always\nsmooth or easy. Now the old structures of communism and\nauthoritarianism are in rubble. The new economic, political and social\norganizations are just taking place.\nAnd I want you to know, every one of you, every country\nrepresented here that the American people, the American\ngovernment and the President of the United States will stand with you\nas you press ahead to meet the challenges before you. Because in this\nnew global economy people around the world, not just in Southeast\nEurope, are asking some of the same questions. How do we ensure\nthat democracy and free market economies produce better lives for all\npeople especially those people too often forgotten on the margins of\nsociety. How do we bolster civil society and encourage real\ncitizenship? How do we give women who often bear the brunt of\nchange the tools of opportunity to be full participants in building a\nstrong, stable Southeast Europe.\nNow many of the answers to these questions are right in this room, in\nthis magnificent theatre and that is why this conference comes at such\nan important time. It is appropriate that we talk about raising women's\nvoices here, in this National Theatre. I must confess that being on the\nstage here I am tempted to join the many people who've come here\nto perform. Many came to sing. However in the interest of preserving\nthe strong friendship and my welcome, I will not do that. (laughs) But\nI know that within the walls of this theatre there have been some\nbeautiful magnificent women's voices, including the Mystery of\nBulgarian Voices who have taken my country by storm. But I believe\nthat nothing can compare to the powerful voices that I hear today,\nvoices from Bulgaria and Albania, from Greece and Romania, from\nSlovenia and Turkey, Macedonia, the former Yugoslavia, leading\nvoices in education, economic development, government, the media\nand non-governmental organizations, voices tackling issues like human\nrights and violence, voices of every age, men and women, all blending\ninto a powerful chorus that is making it clear for all to hear.\nDemocratic progress depends upon the progress of women. Economic\nprogress depends upon the progress of women. A vibrant civil society\ndepends upon the full contributions of women. Women's rights are\nhuman rights, and human rights are women's rights.\nRecently we've been reminded again why this chorus of voices is so\nimportant. In this theatre, right now, are people who've overcome\ntremendous obstacles to be with us today. One is Sonya Leith, the\nPresident for the fund of an open society in Yugoslavia. (applause)\nShe has shown great courage in coming here today from Serbia. And\nin this room also are two courageous woman who visited with me this\nsummer at the White House. I hope they will tell you what they told\nme about their work to help the victims in Kossovo. I hope that\nAphrodita Kalmandi tells you about the media program for young\nwomen she started and the sights and sounds from Kossovo that she is\nbringing to the world as a correspondent for the Voice of America.\nAnd I hope that Dr Dabruna who is a paediatrician tells you what's it\nbeen like taking care of displaced parents and their children who line\nup to see her often more than fifty in a few hours, or what it's like\nseeing women and children coming down from the mountains, scared\nand sick with disease and malnutrition, often needing access to more\nmedicine than is available. Sometimes needing a shoulder to cry on.\nThose of us with the voice and the power to use must speak out for\nthe ethnic Albanians who are suffering in Kossovo. We must speak out\nfor the two hundred and fifty thousand people forced from their\nvillages, most of them children, with the people who are living without\nhealth care, or proper shelter, without a home they can return to or a\nschool they can attend. With winter fast approaching we must speak\nwith one voice to end what is both a humanitarian crisis and a\nviolation of humanity. And as we do so, we must not forget that we\nhave this power to speak in a democracy because of the courage of so\nmany who come before us, of so many women who came before us,\nthe wives and mothers, sisters and daughters who literally kept families\nand communities together during years of communist oppression.\nI think of women in Albania where their families couldn't afford to\nbuy a washing machine or a refrigerator, the women joined with\nfriends and neighbours to create a common fund to buy household\nequipment. Today these funds are recognized as credit unions which\nare used around the world as tools of economic empowerment. I think\nof Lina Konstantin, a Romanian woman jailed after a Stalinist-era trial\nand now in her late eighties designing children's books. In her\nmemoirs she explains how women in confinement will tap quietly on\nthe walls to communicate with one another in their jails. And she\ncalled their bonds a fine story of human solidarity, of feminine\nsolidarity. I think of a Blaga Dimitrova who is at this conference, an\nactivist, poet and former vice president of Bulgaria (applause). In one\nof her poems she writes and I want to thank her because this is such\nbeautiful description of what we are doing here today. She writes,\n\"That's why there are so many poets among women in my land, the\nmute whose speech is suddenly restored will rend the air with a moan\nor a shout centuries of silence crying to come out\".\nAll of us have heard stories about such heroic women who sacrificed\nto break these centuries of silence. Now and always it is our turn and\nour opportunity. In their name we must gather the courage to raise\nour own voices not just to further our own careers and lives, but for\nthe countless women who have no voice. It is our turn to be not only\nthe healers of families but also the builders of civil society and\ndemocracy. I have met such women building democracy all over this\nregion.\nIn Romania, at a place where women were at one time forced to have\nchildren, their privacy violated, their bodies not their own, NGOs are\nnow working to give women access to better health care, including\nfamily planning. In Macedonia, women are building democracy by\ncreating resource centers to help women win political office.\nIn Croatia, women are bringing families back together who are\nseparated by war and acting as mediators between former colleagues\nwho are trying to re-establish business ties. In Greece and Turkey,\nwomen are not only working to advance their causes at home, but\napplying those lessons to help others throughout Southeast Europe.\nIn Slovenia the first NGO-run shelter for domestic violence victims\nwas open a year ago. Women are building democracy throughout the\nregion. Again in Albania, a net work of more that 8000 rural women\nare learning about dairy farming and business and enjoying not only\nbetter salaries, but higher status. And women are building democracy\nright here in Bulgaria. Later this afternoon I will meet with a group of\nNGOs who are safeguarding the rights of the disabled, protecting the\nenvironment, and guaranteeing freedom of the press. All of these\nwomen and countless others who could not fit into this theatre are\npart of a movement of women who are building democracy and civil\nsociety all over our globe. I've met such women in countries on every\ncontinent.\nIn South Americ and in Asia, in Africa and Europe and in Australia,\nand certainly in North America and in my own country. I also met\nthem at the United Nations conference in Beijing where I remember\nvery clearly the banners that were created by women from all over the\nworld. Woven into those banner were the dreams of women who\npractised different religions, dressed in different clothing and talked in\ndifferent languages. But they spoke the same mother tongue, the\nlanguage of freedom and justice and dignity. What better time to\nrecommit ourselves to these basic rights than in this year of the fiftieth\nanniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Now many\nof the women I have met around the world know nothing of this\ndeclaration and its promises that women be treated with dignity at\nhome and at work, in parliament and school. But women know, they\nknow in their hearts and souls in spite of everything they may be told\nby culture, custom and tradition, that they too are endowed with God\ngiven rights as surely as they were born into the human family. And\nthe reason women want these rights is not merely to make a\nstatement, not just to be part of a political movement but because\nwomen want our dignity respected as members of families and\ncountries and because we want to help build a stable, prosperous,\ndemocratic world. There is a lot of progress being made. I will be\nmeeting with a group of women here tomorrow who with a little\nassistance and a lot of dreams and determination have started their\nown businesses. One of the best ways we can help women is to\nprovide them with credit so that they can have incomes that will\nenable them to participate in the economy and add to the well-being\nof their families. Many women are also taking their rightful seats in\ngovernment, from Romania's chief adviser to the president to the\nMacedonia's Minister of Education. And we know that women are\nexcelling in every part of life today. Think of your own woman here in\nBulgaria who touched the world when she brought home the gold for\nBulgaria in the high jump during the 1996 Olympics.\n(Applause)\nI will never be able to jump, even a little bit off the floor, but I know\nthat what went into her victory was the same kind of determination,\nhope, skill and hard work that it takes to meet any goal. And that is\nwhat I hope this Conference will focus on. If this were a Conference\nwhere we just came together and shared ideas, it would be a step\nforward, but not enough.\nIf we are going to fulfill the promise of democracy, then we have to\ndo more than just meet and talk together. We have to ensure that\nmen and women have equal access to the tools of economic growth.\nWe have to be sure that they are given the opportunity with their\neducation and access to health-care to be able to make their own\ncontributions. And we have to be sure that economists and\ngovernment officials start recognizing the economic contributions that\nwomen make to every economy. Much of the work of women, both\nin the home and in the informal economy is not counted in a\ncountry's Gross Domestic Product.\nI remember once being in Africa and talking to an economist there, a\nmale economist, who said to me: \"Well, you know, women have no\nreal economic role to play in the African economies that are\nemerging.\" And I replied: \"Well, you know, I have only spent a few\ndays in Africa, but everywhere I looked I saw women working. I saw\nwomen in the fields, I saw women carrying water, I saw women in the\nmarkets, I saw women building their own homes. Now, tell me\nexactly what they were doing if they were not contributing to the\neconomic well-being of their country?\"\n(Applause)\nSo we have a lot of work to do on the economic front. Both to\nrespect and value the work women have always done and to open up\nthe formal economy to accept the contributions of even more\nwomen. We also have more work to do in politics. Women through\nNGOs and political parties, through the ballot box and the soapbox,\nand in every single level of the political process must be heard. And\nmore women must be encouraged and given the assistance they need\nto take the courageous step of being active in the political process.\nWe also have to ensure that women are safe from violence. You know\nit does not matter if a woman is harmed by a stranger or a husband.\nWe cannot allow either kind of violence to occur. We cannot allow\ndomestic violence to be dismissed as cultural or explained away as a\nfamily matter. It is a crime. And throughout the world it should be\npunished with the full force of the law. Domestic violence holds back\ncountless numbers of women. It destroys their spirits, it tells them\nthey are worthless, and it does not give them the courage to be the\nfull people they should become. We must also work for the day when\nwomen are no longer trafficked like drugs and sold into modern-day\nslavery. You know that that happens throughout our world. And just\nas we have worked hard to rid the world of the drug trade, we must\nalso work hard to stop those who would trade human beings. I want\nto congratulate the Bulgarian government and its people for\nrecognizing the horrors of trafficking and enacting a law to stop it.\nIf we are to fulfill the promises of democratic, and economic, and\npolitical progress, then we have to work together regionally and\ninternationally. Just as we are doing today. I am pleased that my\ngovernment has contributed more that 30 million dollars in the last\nyear alone to strengthen democracy in southeast Europe by building\ncivil society, decreasing ethnic tensions, supporting schools and\nNGOs, and promoting an independent media. In fact, in the\naudience today are the president, educators and students from the\nAmerican University of Bulgaria, which in its short life has attracted\nyoung people from most of the countries represented here today.\nBecause of the progress that is being made, I am pleased to announce\ntoday that as part of the United States' Democracy Network Program\nat the United States Agency for International Development, I wish to\nannounce a fifteen million dollar grant in new funds to foster civil\nsociety in this region, including six million dollars to support NGOs in\nBulgaria alone.\n(Applause)\nI am also pleased to announce today a new mentoring and training\nprogram in which women-leaders like yourselves will be invited to\ncome to the United States to learn more about business management\nand networking among leaders. We will help create business\nassociations in this region to follow up on this Conference with action\nto help meet its goals.\nNow, all of our dreams about what can come from a conference and\nfrom this kind of cooperation require a great deal of hard work. My\nown country has learned over many years that democracy is hard\nwork. It is a never ending struggle. And its success ultimately\ndepends not just on laws and governments and institutions, but on\nattitudes and values. And getting along with people with who we\nhave profound differences, and the lessons we teach our children\nabout other people, about their religions, their races, their ethnic\nidentities as we talk them into bed at night, or as we teach them in\nour classrooms. Democracy puts demands on each and every one of\nus. And if we are to take advantage of extraordinary opportunity we\nhave at this point in history, then we have to promise ourselves that\nwe will not be discouraged. We will not lose heart. This struggle for\ndemocracy, for freedom and its fruits, is one that will always be with\nus. But the progress that has been made in this region is a beacon of\nhope and inspiration to people all over the world.\nThe voices raised here must be joined by those from communities\neverywhere. And we must reach out of course to men as well as\nwomen, to young leaders -- boys and girls, to make sure they\nunderstand the struggles that led to this point and the history that can\nnever be permitted to be repeated.\nA few years ago in Bosnia I met a group of women who in the\naftermath of that war had come together to rebuild they lives, their\nfamilies and their communities. One of them gave me a sculpture of a\nwoman. It's about this tall. And like many women she is standing\nvery proudly. But embedded in her knee are pieces of shrapnel. Real\nshrapnel that had been collected off the streets and out of the fields of\nthat conflict. They are tangible symbols of the war and the pain she\nhas endured. But on her heart is her hand. And on her hand is a\ndove. And on her face is a confident smile. And I look at that\nwoman with that smile and that shrapnel. And I think if she could\ntalk, if that small statue could just have a voice, she would say\nsomething like \"Despite the past, I will dream and work for my\nchildren to live in peace.\"\nI keep that sculpture in my office. I look at it whenever I want to be\nreminded of the great price so many women have paid to bring\njustice, peace, freedom and democracy to themselves, their families\nand to all of us. And I look at that woman whenever I want to be\ninspired. Inspired as I am today. By what women can accomplish\nwhen we have the courage to put aside our differences, the differences\nthat history has given us, not that we have made ourselves.\nAnd if we share a commitment to create a world where all of our\nchildren can live free from violence, full of hope for the future, with\nthe opportunity to reach their own God-given potential, and this will\nbe a world we are proud to call our own. That is what I hope for all\nof us. That is what I hope for this Conference and all of you who\nhave come here to be part of this. With leaders such as yourselves,\nleading the way into that new future, I know it is possible. And there\nare countless women, and men, and children, who are hoping you do\nnot lose heart, but persevere, because together we can make this a\nmore hopeful brighter future for all of us.\nThank you very much.\n(Applause)\nFirst Lady Hillary Clinton's Remarks at the Opening of the\nConference Women of the 21st Century: Transcending\nboundaries to Sustainable Development in Southeast Europe\nIvan Vazov National Theater\nSofia, Bulgaria\nOctober 11, 1998\nI am delighted to be here today to help open this important\nConference Women in the 21st Century Transcending\nBoundaries to Sustainable Development in Southeast Europe.\nMr. Panitza, I want to thank you for chairing this opening session and I\nwant to thank all of the women who have joined us here, at the head-\ntable, who have come from each of their countries to be part of this\nconference. I want to thank the President who opened the\nConference with his strong remarks about its importance. And of\ncourse to our hostess, who has done so much to make this Conference\nhappen.\nMrs. Stoyanova, Mrs. Kostova, Mrs. Sokolova, thank you for the\nhard work you have done making this Conference happen, working\ntirelessly to lift up the lives of women and strengthen the future of this\nregion.\n(Applause)\nI also want to thank our American Ambassador, all the Conference\norganizers, the delegates and the people of Bulgaria for giving me such\na warm welcome when I arrived here about six 'clock this morning.\nAlthough I have only been here a few short hours I already feel quite\nat home.\nOn my way here I thought back to a conference of women from\nEastern and Central and Southern Europe held in Vienna a little over\na year ago. It was there that I heard a powerful speech given by a\nBulgarian woman, who may be with us today - Julia Maleeva-\nBerberyan. She talked about how she and her daughters became\nworld-class tennis players even while the wall of communism separated\nthem from the world. How she refused to defect. How she swore to\nGod that she would help resurrect her country. Which she did. First\nas the President of the Bulgarian Women's Union and now as a\nMember of Parliament. I am pleased that she and eight other women\nfrom that Vital Voices Conference in Vienna are here today. And I\nam pleased that so many of you, from other countries in this region,\nwho have also through the years stood firm on behalf of freedom and\nsocial justice and prosperity and stability are also here with us.\nThe countries represented here may be at different points on the\npath of progress. But you have already undertaken courageous\nstruggles for freedom. You should be proud of the economic reforms\nthat are taking route and the civil society that is rising up. Proud of\nthe democracies that are being built up and the barriers between\nnations and citizens that are coming down. And proud that despite\nyour different cultures and pasts you are setting an example at this\nConference of how people can defy history to re-write it together.\nNow, clearly this road out of history toward the future is not always\nsmooth or easy. Now the old structures of communism and\nauthoritarianism are in rubble. The new economic, political and social\norganizations are just taking place.\nAnd I want you to know, every one of you, every country\nrepresented here that the American people, the American\ngovernment and the President of the United States will stand with you\nas you press ahead to meet the challenges before you. Because in this\nnew global economy people around the world, not just in Southeast\nEurope, are asking some of the same questions. How do we ensure\nthat democracy and free market economies produce better lives for all\npeople especially those people too often forgotten on the margins of\nsociety. How do we bolster civil society and encourage real\ncitizenship? How do we give women who often bear the brunt of\nchange the tools of opportunity to be full participants in building a\nstrong, stable Southeast Europe.\nNow many of the answers to these questions are right in this room, in\nthis magnificent theatre and that is why this conference comes at such\nan important time. It is appropriate that we talk about raising women's\nvoices here, in this National Theatre. I must confess that being on the\nstage here I am tempted to join the many people who've come here\nto perform. Many came to sing. However in the interest of preserving\nthe strong friendship and my welcome, I will not do that. (laughs) But\nI know that within the walls of this theatre there have been some\nbeautiful magnificent women's voices, including the Mystery of\nBulgarian Voices who have taken my country by storm. But I believe\nthat nothing can compare to the powerful voices that I hear today,\nvoices from Bulgaria and Albania, from Greece and Romania, from\nSlovenia and Turkey, Macedonia, the former Yugoslavia, leading\nvoices in education, economic development, government, the media\nand non-governmental organizations, voices tackling issues like human\nrights and violence, voices of every age, men and women, all blending\ninto a powerful chorus that is making it clear for all to hear.\nDemocratic progress depends upon the progress of women. Economic\nprogress depends upon the progress of women. A vibrant civil society\ndepends upon the full contributions of women. Women's rights are\nhuman rights, and human rights are women's rights.\nRecently we've been reminded again why this chorus of voices is so\nimportant. In this theatre, right now, are people who've overcome\ntremendous obstacles to be with us today. One is Sonya Leith, the\nPresident for the fund of an open society in Yugoslavia. (applause)\nShe has shown great courage in coming here today from Serbia. And\nin this room also are two courageous woman who visited with me this\nsummer at the White House. I hope they will tell you what they told\nme about their work to help the victims in Kossovo. I hope that\nAphrodita Kalmandi tells you about the media program for young\nwomen she started and the sights and sounds from Kossovo that she is\nbringing to the world as a correspondent for the Voice of America.\nAnd I hope that Dr Dabruna who is a paediatrician tells you what's it\nbeen like taking care of displaced parents and their children who line\nup to see her often more than fifty in a few hours, or what it's like\nseeing women and children coming down from the mountains, scared\nand sick with disease and malnutrition, often needing access to more\nmedicine than is available. Sometimes needing a shoulder to cry on.\nThose of us with the voice and the power to use must speak out for\nthe ethnic Albanians who are suffering in Kossovo. We must speak out\nfor the two hundred and fifty thousand people forced from their\nvillages, most of them children, with the people who are living without\nhealth care, or proper shelter, without a home they can return to or a\nschool they can attend. With winter fast approaching we must speak\nwith one voice to end what is both a humanitarian crisis and a\nviolation of humanity. And as we do so, we must not forget that we\nhave this power to speak in a democracy because of the courage of so\nmany who come before us, of so many women who came before us,\nthe wives and mothers, sisters and daughters who literally kept families\nand communities together during years of communist oppression.\nI think of women in Albania where their families couldn't afford to\nbuy a washing machine or a refrigerator, the women joined with\nfriends and neighbours to create a common fund to buy household\nequipment. Today these funds are recognized as credit unions which\nare used around the world as tools of economic empowerment. I think\nof Lina Konstantin, a Romanian woman jailed after a Stalinist-era trial\nand now in her. late eighties designing children's books. In her\nmemoirs she explains how women in confinement will tap quietly on\nthe walls to communicate with one another in their jails. And she\ncalled their bonds a fine story of human solidarity, of feminine\nsolidarity. I think of a Blaga Dimitrova who is at this conference, an\nactivist, poet and former vice president of Bulgaria (applause). In one\nof her poems she writes and I want to thank her because this is such\nbeautiful description of what we are doing here today. She writes,\n\"That's why there are so many poets among women in my land, the\nmute whose speech is suddenly restored will rend the air with a moan\nor a shout centuries of silence crying to come out\".\nAll of us have heard stories about such heroic women who sacrificed\nto break these centuries of silence. Now and always it is our turn and\nour opportunity. In their name we must gather the courage to raise\nour own voices not just to further our own careers and lives, but for\nthe countless women who have no voice. It is our turn to be not only\nthe healers of families but also the builders of civil society and\ndemocracy. I have met such women building democracy all over this\nregion.\nIn Romania, at a place where women were at one time forced to have\nchildren, their privacy violated, their bodies not their own, NGOs are\nnow working to give women access to better health care, including\nfamily planning. In Macedonia, women are building democracy by\ncreating resource centers to help women win political office.\nIn Croatia, women are bringing families back together who are\nseparated by war and acting as mediators between former colleagues\nwho are trying to re-establish business ties. In Greece and Turkey,\nwomen are not only working to advance their causes at home, but\napplying those lessons to help others throughout Southeast Europe.\nIn Slovenia the first NGO-run shelter for domestic violence victims\nwas open a year ago. Women are building democracy throughout the\nregion. Again in Albania, a net work of more that 8000 rural women\nare learning about dairy farming and business and enjoying not only\nbetter salaries, but higher status. And women are building democracy\nright here in Bulgaria. Later this afternoon I will meet with a group of\nNGOs who are safeguarding the rights of the disabled, protecting the\nenvironment, and guaranteeing freedom of the press. All of these\nwomen and countless others who could not fit into this theatre are\npart of a movement of women who are building democracy and civil\nsociety all over our globe. I've met such women in countries on every\ncontinent.\nIn South Americ and in Asia, in Africa and Europe and in Australia,\nand certainly in North America and in my own country. I also met\nthem at the United Nations conference in Beijing where I remember\nvery clearly the banners that were created by women from all over the\nworld. Woven into those banner were the dreams of women who\npractised different religions, dressed in different clothing and talked in\ndifferent languages. But they spoke the same mother tongue, the\nlanguage of freedom and justice and dignity. What better time to\nrecommit ourselves to these basic rights than in this year of the fiftieth\nanniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Now many\nof the women I have met around the world know nothing of this\ndeclaration and its promises that women be treated with dignity at\nhome and at work, in parliament and school. But women know, they\nknow in their hearts and souls in spite of everything they may be told\nby culture, custom and tradition, that they too are endowed with God\ngiven rights as surely as they were born into the human family. And\nthe reason women want these rights is not merely to make a\nstatement, not just to be part of a political movement but because\nwomen want our dignity respected as members of families and\ncountries and because we want to help build a stable, prosperous,\ndemocratic world. There is a lot of progress being made. I will be\nmeeting with a group of women here tomorrow who with a little\nassistance and a lot of dreams and determination have started their\nown businesses. One of the best ways we can help women is to\nprovide them with credit so that they can have incomes that will\nenable them to participate in the economy and add to the well-being\nof their families. Many women are also taking their rightful seats in\ngovernment, from Romania's chief adviser to the president to the\nMacedonia's Minister of Education. And we know that women are\nexcelling in every part of life today. Think of your own woman here in\nBulgaria who touched the world when she brought home the gold for\nBulgaria in the high jump during the 1996 Olympics.\n(Applause)\nI will never be able to jump, even a little bit off the floor, but I know\nthat what went into her victory was the same kind of determination,\nhope, skill and hard work that it takes to meet any goal. And that is\nwhat I hope this Conference will focus on. If this were a Conference\nwhere we just came together and shared ideas, it would be a step\nforward, but not enough.\nIf we are going to fulfill the promise of democracy, then we have to\ndo more than just meet and talk together. We have to ensure that\nmen and women have equal access to the tools of economic growth.\nWe have to be sure that they are given the opportunity with their\neducation and access to health-care to be able to make their own\ncontributions. And we have to be sure that economists and\ngovernment officials start recognizing the economic contributions that\nwomen make to every economy. Much of the work of women, both\nin the home and in the informal economy is not counted in a\ncountry's Gross Domestic Product.\nI remember once being in Africa and talking to an economist there, a\nmale economist, who said to me: \"Well, you know, women have no\nreal economic role to play in the African economies that are\nemerging.\" And I replied: \"Well, you know, I have only spent a few\ndays in Africa, but everywhere I looked I saw women working. I saw\nwomen in the fields, I saw women carrying water, I saw women in the\nmarkets, I saw women building their own homes. Now, tell me\nexactly what they were doing if they were not contributing to the\neconomic well-being of their country?\"\n(Applause)\nSo we have a lot of work to do on the economic front. Both to\nrespect and value the work women have always done and to open up\nthe formal economy to accept the contributions of even more\nwomen. We also have more work to do in politics. Women through\nNGOs and political parties, through the ballot box and the soapbox,\nand in every single level of the political process must be heard. And\nmore women must be encouraged and given the assistance they need\nto take the courageous step of being active in the political process.\nWe also have to ensure that women are safe from violence. You know\nit does not matter if a woman is harmed by a stranger or a husband.\nWe cannot allow either kind of violence to occur. We cannot allow\ndomestic violence to be dismissed as cultural or explained away as a\nfamily matter. It is a crime. And throughout the world it should be\npunished with the full force of the law. Domestic violence holds back\ncountless numbers of women. It destroys their spirits, it tells them\nthey are worthless, and it does not give them the courage to be the\nfull people they should become. We must also work for the day when\nwomen are no longer trafficked like drugs and sold into modern-day\nslavery. You know that that happens throughout our world. And just\nas we have worked hard to rid the world of the drug trade, we must\nalso work hard to stop those who would trade human beings. I want\nto congratulate the Bulgarian government and its people for\nrecognizing the horrors of trafficking and enacting a law to stop it.\nIf we are to fulfill the promises of democratic, and economic, and\npolitical progress, then we have to work together regionally and\ninternationally. Just as we are doing today. I am pleased that my\ngovernment has contributed more that 30 million dollars in the last\nyear alone to strengthen democracy in southeast Europe by building\ncivil society, decreasing ethnic tensions, supporting schools and\nNGOs, and promoting an independent media. In fact, in the\naudience today are the president, educators and students from the\nAmerican University of Bulgaria, which in its short life has attracted\nyoung people from most of the countries represented here today.\nBecause of the progress that is being made, I am pleased to announce\ntoday that as part of the United States' Democracy Network Program\nat the United States Agency for International Development, I wish to\nannounce a fifteen million dollar grant in new funds to foster civil\nsociety in this region, including six million dollars to support NGOs in\nBulgaria alone.\n(Applause)\nI am also pleased to announce today a new mentoring and training\nprogram in which women-leaders like yourselves will be invited to\ncome to the United States to learn more about business management\nand networking among leaders. We will help create business\nassociations in this region to follow up on this Conference with action\nto help meet its goals.\nNow, all of our dreams about what can come from a conference and\nfrom this kind of cooperation require a great deal of hard work. My\nown country has learned over many years that democracy is hard\nwork. It is a never ending struggle. And its success ultimately\ndepends not just on laws and governments and institutions, but on\nattitudes and values. And getting along with people with who we\nhave profound differences, and the lessons we teach our children\nabout other people, about their religions, their races, their ethnic\nidentities as we talk them into bed at night, or as we teach them in\nour classrooms. Democracy puts demands on each and every one of\nus. And if we are to take advantage of extraordinary opportunity we\nhave at this point in history, then we have to promise ourselves that\nwe will not be discouraged. We will not lose heart. This struggle for\ndemocracy, for freedom and its fruits, is one that will always be with\nus. But the progress that has been made in this region is a beacon of\nhope and inspiration to people all over the world.\nThe voices raised here must be joined by those from communities\neverywhere. And we must reach out of course to men as well as\nwomen, to young leaders -- boys and girls, to make sure they\nunderstand the struggles that led to this point and the history that can\nnever be permitted to be repeated.\nA few years ago in Bosnia I met a group of women who in the\naftermath of that war had come together to rebuild they lives, their\nfamilies and their communities. One of them gave me a sculpture of a\nwoman. It's about this tall. And like many women she is standing\nvery proudly. But embedded in her knee are pieces of shrapnel. Real\nshrapnel that had been collected off the streets and out of the fields of\nthat conflict. They are tangible symbols of the war and the pain she\nhas endured. But on her heart is her hand. And on her hand is a\ndove. And on her face is a confident smile. And I look at that\nwoman with that smile and that shrapnel. And I think if she could\ntalk, if that small statue could just have a voice, she would say\nsomething like \"Despite the past, I will dream and work for my\nchildren to live in peace.\"\nI keep that sculpture in my office. I look at it whenever I want to be\nreminded of the great price so many women have paid to bring\njustice, peace, freedom and democracy to themselves, their families\nand to all of us. And I look at that woman whenever I want to be\ninspired. Inspired as I am today. By what women can accomplish\nwhen we have the courage to put aside our differences, the differences\nthat history has given us, not that we have made ourselves.\nAnd if we share a commitment to create a world where all of our\nchildren can live free from violence, full of hope for the future, with\nthe opportunity to reach their own God-given potential, and this will\nbe a world we are proud to call our own. That is what I hope for all\nof us. That is what I hope for this Conference and all of you who\nhave come here to be part of this. With leaders such as yourselves,\nleading the way into that new future, I know it is possible. And there\nare countless women, and men, and children, who are hoping you do\nnot lose heart, but persevere, because together we can make this a\nmore hopeful brighter future for all of us.\nThank you very much.\n(Applause)"
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