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Withdrawal/Redaction Sheet
Clinton Library
DOCUMENT NO.
SUBJECT/TITLE
DATE
RESTRICTION
AND TYPE
001. memo
Theresa Loar to Wendy Sherman re: This week's highlights [partial]
12/11/1998
b(6)
(1 page)
002. memo
Theresa Loar to Wendy Sherman re: This week's highlights [partial]
12/18/1998
P3/b(3)
(1 page)
003. memo
Theresa Loar to Wendy Sherman re: This week's highlights [partial]
12/23/1998
P3/b(3)
(1 page)
COLLECTION:
Clinton Presidential Records
First Lady's Office
Melanne Verveer
OA/Box Number: 20060
FOLDER TITLE:
Women and Politics [2]
2013-0534-S
rc1709
RESTRICTION CODES
Presidential Records Act - |44 U.S.C. 2204(a)]
Freedom of Information Act - 15 U.S.C. 552(b)]
P1 National Security Classified Information [(a)(1) of the PRA]
b(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]
P2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA]
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
P3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
an agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]
P4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA]
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
P5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA]
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
of gift.
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
2201(3).
concerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA]
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
May 29, 1998
TO:
C - Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman
FROM:
G - Theresa Loar
SUBJECT: This week's highlights
Expanding Women's Political Participation
o
We had a productive meeting with ARA, FMP, and the League of
Women Voters to review the League's responsibilities as the 501c3 for Vital
Voices Latin America. They are enthusiastic about this partnership and being
linked with this mechanism for expanding women's political participation.
The League proposed a grants program for dispersal of the follow-through
funds. We would announce available funding at the Vital Voices conferences
and work with the League to create a proposal review committee.
o
With a successful "yes" vote in Northern Ireland, and strong interest
from the White House and the Irish-American community, we are moving
ahead with the Vital Voices conference and plan to do an advance trip to
Belfast next week. CG Kathy Stephens is arranging substantive meetings for
us with key players such as Mo Mowlan, the International Fund for Ireland,
and the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition. Luckily for us, former FSO
Dave Pozorsky from Senator Mitchell's peace talks team who is now based
in Munich, has agreed to provide substantive guidance on the ground in
Belfast. This is key since Kathy Stevens is rotating out in July. Dave will
meet us in Belfast next week. We will also lock in the conference planning
group that will coordinate conference logistics.
o
We met with Dr. Azir Nafisis, an Iranian professor at Johns Hopkins,
to discuss the situation for women in Iran. Dr. Nafisis believes it would be
useful to arrange a visitor program which brings Iranian youth to visit the
U.S. to provide a better picture of the current situation in Iran. The Iran desk
will follow up. Dr. Nafisis mentioned that some Muslim women were
disturbed by Catherine O'Neill's comments in an article on her trip to Iran
which implied that to Iranian women, there were some benefits to wearing the
veil. We will ask Catherine to join us for a discussion with Dr. Nafisis and
Mahnaz Afhkami to discuss their views on the article.
Violence Against Women
o
We are working with INL and INR to devise a strategy for data
collection on trafficking. INL proposed that we link intelligence on
trafficking and alien smuggling and utilize the DOJ-State Intelligence
Working Group that is already in place. INR will draft an action memo to the
Secretary asking her to sign a letter to George Tenet asking him to step up
information collection in this area.
o
Walter Sulzynsky, INL Legal Adviser in the Ukraine, came in to
discuss how to improve the coordination and training of law enforcement
personnel from the relevant U.S. departments in the region on trafficking
issues. These enforcement officials will be in Washington at the end of June
for the Gore/Kuchma meetings and we hope to meet with them to advance
this idea further. Anita and Steve will brief the Gore/Kuchma law
enforcement group at the June meeting. Walter is very engaged and will
make a significant contribution to our joint initiative with Ukraine.
o
Steve joined the DOJ/DOL Worker Exploitation Task Force meeting
today. This is the new task force Ray Fisher at Justice mentioned to us which
was created to improve the Administration's enforcement coordination and
response to worker exploitation cases, of which trafficking is one type. The
task force is led by DOL's Solicitor General and DOJ's Assistant Attorney
General for Civil Rights and looks very promising, although some of the
participants expressed narrow views of trafficking (e.g. its merely a border
issue). We will work to ensure that the increased enforcement attention by
DOL and DOJ is consistent with the Administration's broader trafficking
policy objectives. We will also suggest that DRL send a rep to the next
meeting.
o
Lois and I met with representatives of Human Rights Watch and NOW
during their visit to the Department to advocate for US leadership on the
arrest of the 50 persons still at large who have been indicted for rape and
other war crimes in Bosnia. This is part of a well-orchestrated campaign that
includes a letter with 1000 signatures, urging President Clinton to exercise
leadership in NATO on the arrest of these suspected criminals. They were
also meeting with Bob Gelbard, DRL, as well as top Pentagon officials.
o
In our ongoing efforts to persuade AID to support grassroots programs
that directly benefit women in Bosnia, we put AID and PRM together with
the International Human Rights Law Group to explore possibilities for
funding projects on domestic violence and psychological counseling. We
will continue to encourage AID to pick up the very successful Bosnian
Women's Initiative programs that PRM has funded for the last two years.
Miscellaneous
o
Two summer interns started this week. Emiko, a law student at
Temple University, will focus on trafficking. Seth, an undergrad at the
University of Michigan is working on the Craig Johnstone strategic
planning/MPP project.
United States Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520
Senior Coordinator for
International Women's Issues
June 5, 1998
MEMORANDUM
TO:
C - Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman
FROM:
SUBJECT:
This G - Theresa week's Loar highlights Airgon
Expanding Women's Political Participation
o
We are having good substantive discussions in Belfast on the Vital Voices
conference. One suggestion that has emerged is that we focus the conference on
implementation of the peace agreement. Another idea is to bring women from other post-
conflict countries to talk about how they took their place in their post-conflict society.
EUR will be looking for support from you as they approach FMP for additional resources
for the conference.
o
Craig Johnstone continues to support efforts to integrate our issues into the
regional bureaus. As you know, Craig brought in a DAS from each regional bureau for a
briefing on our work. After the meeting, each bureau selected target countries where they
believe our efforts would be most necessary and effective. EAP followed-up by sending a
cable to their posts asking for input on next steps on policies and programs. The cable has
solicited some insightful responses. This week we met with Craig and new EAP DAS
Russ Deming to discuss how EAP will move forward. Craig has now directed each
regional bureau to follow EAP's example.
We are reviewing the Mission Program Plans, including those from the target
countries identified by the regional bureaus. Most of the MPPs from the NIS countries
have included programs on trafficking in women and girls and other forms of violence
against women. We are also adding women's political participation in the project area and
as a performance indicator.
o
We are working with ARA and AmEmbassy Montevideo to make the final
decisions about the hotel accommodations for Vital Voices. The Embassy is in the
process of selecting an outside conference coordinator to handle the logistics. The
coordinator will be in place before our advance trip to Montevideo which has been
postponed until July. ARA drafted the private sector solicitation memorandum and we
await M clearance.
We are following up with the National Democratic Institute, the Indonesia desk,
and DRL to ensure that women's political participation is included in programs that
support the development of a democratic society in Indonesia. We will try to tap into the
DRL Human Rights and Democracy Fund which includes $2 million for democracy
promotion in Indonesia.
Violence Against Women
o
We are talking with EAP, DRL and the White House on funding for projects for
women in China that could be announced by the First Lady during the late June visit. Post
suggested that we establish a visitor exchange program for women and we are discussing
this idea with USIS. We are also talking to DRL about using the remaining rule of law
funds for the distribution of informational books on women's legal rights. The book was
created as a pilot project through the Ford Foundation and has been well received. We
might try to link both of these projects, recognizing the Hill's skepticism about spending
USG project funds in China.
0
Lois met with an editor from the Moscow daily Nezvisimaya Gazeta, to discuss
Beijing follow-up and violence against women. The editor had heard about our plans for
the Russia conference on family violence against women and would like to be involved,
possibly to coordinate a workshop using the media to create an awareness of the problem.
o
Anita traveled to Canada to begin discussions with our Canadian counterparts to
follow up on the March agreement made by Secretary Albright and Minister Axworthy to
develop a women's human rights training model for civilian and military participants
involved in peace operations worldwide. The day-long meeting resulted in basic
agreements on objectives for training, a steering committee to provide guidance on policy
and parameters for the training modules; identification of potential participants; and a
timeline for implementation of the pilot training project by March of 1999. EUR, AID and
our Embassy in Ottawa will play a prominent role in following this initiative.
o
At Steve Sestanovich's invitation, Anita attend the S/NIS Chiefs of Mission
Conference in Istanbul last weekend to discuss the issue of trafficking throughout the
former Soviet Union. Armed with maps, statistics, and talking points (enhanced greatly by
INR and CIA unclassified data), Anita's discussion was well received. She stressed the
point that trafficking in human beings was a cross-cutting global issue, involving human
rights, health, migration, crime, corruption, and economics (i.e., if the economy is bad,
victims fall prey; given the high profits to be made, traffickers flourish). Unfortunately,
the general discussion of global issues was not as productive. Despite your memorandum
of April 6 to S/NIS regarding G Priorities and Follow-up, and repeated attempts by
Ambassador Gnehm and Pat Kennedy at the conference to outline the Department's global
priorities, the actual integration of global issues into S/NIS mainstream policies and
programs appears to remain incomplete. As the sole G representative, Anita offered
examples of Global Bureaus' issues and areas of expertise that could strengthen S/NIS
programs if integrated into the policy and planning process, including the MPP.
The President's Interagency Council on Women
June 5, 1998
MEMORANDUM
TO:
C - Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman
FROM:
S/PICW - Theresa Loar Abfor
SUBJECT: Weekly highlights from the Interagency Council on Women
o
Women in Prisons - The Council Working Group chaired by Bonnie Campbell
had a good meeting with the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women before she
left Washington for her prison visits across the U.S. The Special Rapporteur gave us an
overview of her work in various countries and explained her interest in studying sexual
violence against women in U.S. prisons. Bonnie addressed some of the Rapporteur's
major concerns including heavy sentences for women who use weapons for self-defense,
children born to women in prisons, and the U.S. anti-discrimination law. This U.S. law
contradicts the UN standard that women prisoners be guarded only by women. I will meet
with the Special Rapporteur when she returns to Washington in mid-June. The Special
Rapporteur came away from her meeting with you with a clear understanding of U.S.
support for her agenda.
o
Seneca Falls - We continue working with PA on the Secretary's participation in
the Seneca Falls events. I learned that the National Women's Hall of Fame has the
impression the Secretary will attend the reception and induction ceremony on July 10-11;
however, we have not been able to confirm this with the Secretary's staff due to their
travel schedule. We have learned that the rules state that if the inductee or a suitable
representative cannot accept the award, the invitation may be deferred. I have also put
out feelers for a headliner for the international day and closing ceremony and,
unfortunately, it does not look like Mary Robinson is available.
o
Rural Women - We are still looking for financial assistance for international
delegates and are exploring the possibility of USIS missions funding some participants.
Mrs. Gore has agreed to speak at the conference. We are working with PA on a message
from the Secretary in the conference program.
U.S. Department of State
2201 C St., NW
Room 2906
Washington, D.C. 20520
Telephone (202)647-6227
Fax (202)647-5337
o
Trafficking in Women and Girls - Our ambassador to Bangladesh, John
Holzman, came in to discuss trafficking in South Asia. We talked about our directive to
conduct an international conference on this issue. Steve has been considering a series of
regional meetings rather than one large international conference in Washington and
wanted an opinion from the field. John believes this issue is best approached with a
regional focus and was enthusiastic about having the SA gathering in Bangladesh. We are
working with SA to explore ways to include this type of regional trafficking meeting in the
possible November visit of the President and the First Lady. We are also working with
AID, USIA, and Labor to get a handle on all of the players and resources available for this
initiative in the region.
United States Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520
Senior Coordinator for
International Women's Issues
June 12, 1998
MEMORANDUM
TO:
C - Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman
FROM:
G - Theresa Loar
SUBJECT:
This week's highlights
Expanding Women's Political Participation
o
The latest word from the WH on dates for Vital Voices Belfast is somewhere
between Sept. 10 - 18. We have initiated weekly conference calls with the State
coordinating team in Belfast and London and the WH. We are still talking with EUR's
Tony Wayne about an EUR point person for conference coordination and follow-through.
o
We met several times with M, FMP, L, and ARA to finalize the solicitation memo
for private sector support for Vital Voices Montevideo. We also met again with the
League of Women Voters who may serve as the 501(c)3 for private sector funds. The
Department's guidelines seem to change every week. We need to get some agreement
soon on how to proceed so that we can raise the necessary funds. If we do not get a
green light soon, the Department will have to identify funds to support this conference.
o
We continue to review MPP's and give our input at the regional bureau's review
meetings. The regional bureaus have been receptive to our comments and Craig
Johnstone's office has been helpful in ensuring that we are included in this process.
o
Despite a complete lack of interest from EAP, Dani has been working closely with
S/RPP and USIA to identify funding and program ideas for additional international visitor
exchange programs in China. We would like the First Lady to be able to announce
expanded visitor programs specifically for women, including lawyers, local political
leaders, youth, and rural women. According to USIA, the Hill's concerns re funding for
programs in China does not apply to their programs. We will also check with H on this.
Violence Against Women
o
As a follow up to the May 15 Geneva UN and NGO roundtable discussion chaired
by the First Lady, Lois contacted one of the participants from the Inter-African Committee
(IAC) on Traditional Practices about how to collaborate on our efforts on FGM. The IAC
president indicated that a letter from the First Lady would be most effective in
encouraging adoption by the OAU (meeting this week in Burkina Faso) of the Addis
Ababa Declaration on Violence against Women, which includes female genital mutilation.
Lois worked with AF and the First Lady's office to get a letter to the IAC supporting their
work.
o
Building on your meeting with Ambassadors Collins, Morningstar and
Sestanovich, we pulled together colleagues from INL, AID, S/NIS, and Embassy Moscow
to move forward on the US- Russia Family Violence Against Women Conference
scheduled for late October in Moscow. The Embassy has come alive on this project, no
doubt as a result of your meeting. We are working to harmonize all USG efforts on
violence against women in Russia and, with S/NIS on board, will push to get it on the
policy track.
o
As follow-up to the ASEAN deliverables meeting, Steve and I will coordinate the
Department's work to identify an appropriate package for you to announce on trafficking.
We will be working with INL, PRM and DRL to combine law enforcement and protection
elements.
Outreach
o
I did a radio interview with April Ryan, White House correspondent for American
Urban Radio, on USG efforts on FGM, including our collaborative efforts with NGOs.
Her program will also include a segment on the First Lady's meeting with villagers in
Senegal who have banned the practice.
The President's Interagency Council on Women
June -12, 1998
MEMORANDUM
TO:
C - Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman
FROM:
S/PICW - Theresa Loaf
SUBJECT:
Weekly highlights from the Interagency Council on Women
o
Women in Prisons - The Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women is
visiting prisons across the U.S. Upon her return to Washington, June 18, the Special
Rapporteur will debrief a group from State and Justice. I will also meet with her
separately on trafficking
o
Seneca Falls - On Monday Ann Lewis will debrief us on her recent visit to Seneca
Falls. Following this meeting I will forward a recommendation to the Secretary regarding
her participation. We are leaning towards recommending that the Secretary accept the
nomination for induction into the Hall of Fame and attend the induction ceremony (Friday,
July 10 reception, July 11 induction). We are also keeping in mind the possibility of your
participation in the international day celebration cum closing ceremony, Sunday, July 19.
o
Rural Women - Jill Long Thompson is doing an amazing job putting together this
enormous undertaking (1000 delegates from 40+ countries). Our repeated intervention
and encouragement of member agencies has paid off: AID is funding some African
delegates; CIA printing services; HHS travel assistance, exhibit space, and break-out
sessions; USIA staff to help with foreign press; Transportation, a break-out session;
Energy, a break-out session and travel funding; and State's commitment to provide
interpreter services. Many other agencies are offering volunteers for the week of the
Conference. The Secretary's greeting to the Conference and her photo will be featured
prominently in the Conference program. The First Lady is sending video greetings and
Mrs. Gore will be speaking to the gathering.
o
Trafficking in Women and Girls - EUR's Jim Gadsden and I met with the Italian
Anti-Mafia Parliamentary Commission to describe the Administration's commitment to
combat trafficking of women and girls and the Council's coordinating role. The
delegation was very engaged and the discussion emphasized and reinforced our desire to
U.S. Department of State
2201 C St., NW
Room 2906
Washington, D.C. 20520
Telephone (202)647-6227
Fax (202)647-5337
continue working closely on this issue in a number of areas including information-sharing.
The Commission will also discuss trafficking issues when it meets with the Attorney
General and the FBI Director.
o
Steve met with representatives from the Departments of Labor and HHS to discuss
their involvement in the Administration's trafficking work. We are exploring possible
funding support -- particularly for a South Asian trafficking meeting -- from the DOL's
offices addressing international labor issues. The President's 1999 budget proposal
contains $30 million for DOL's child labor and exploitation projects which may be used
for activities involving trafficking of women and children. Steve attended the Department
of Justice's intra-agency working group and encouraged DOJ's on-going implemention of
trafficking initiatives after the July report to the Attorney General.
United States Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520
June 19, 1998
MEMORANDUM
TO:
C - Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman
FROM:
G - Theresa Loar Bor
SUBJECT: This week's highlights
Expanding Women's Political Participation
o
We are moving along with plans for Vital Voices of the Americas. L has asked us
to get clearance from USAID, including their legal people, and we are hopeful that this
unexpected hoop will not slow down the process too much. ARA began approaching
proposed participants for the honorary steering committee. We will follow-up with letters
to these invitees and they can be co-signed by you and ARA. We would like to send the
message that there is high level support for this initiative.
o
We met with USAID and USIA to discuss the Vital Voices pre-conference hands-
on political and media training day scheduled for Montevideo. USAID and USIA will
take the lead on this event. We have proposed the names of some trainers that did
excellent work in Vienna and we will maintain close contact to ensure that day is taking
shape. ARA is also arranging a meeting with the Inter-American Development Bank next
week to discuss their role as co-sponsor of the conference.
o
Ambassador Ashby has invited ARA, Dani, and I to come to Montevideo during
July 6-10 to visit the conference site, brief the Embassy coordinating team and meet with
Uruguay government officials about the conference. We have asked ARA to cover the
cost of our travel and may need your support with both ARA and FMP.
o
We pulled together an interagency working group to aid in preparations for Vital
Voices of Northern Ireland, including representatives from Jim Lyons' office, the Desk,
the NSC, the First Lady's Office, Labor, Commerce, USTR, USIA, USAID, the U.K. and
Irish Embassies and NDI. The working group which will meet every two weeks until the
conference and then be involved in follow-up will inventory USG and other governments'
programs and aid the substance of the conference program. Larry Butler at the NSC will
lead the next working group meeting in my absence.
o
We have arranged for Susan Sullivan to take my place and advise the First
Lady's team on the trip to China. Susan coordinates China issues for DRL and served on
our UN-CSW delegation this past March. I have been working very closely with Susan
and Kelly Clements to pull this all together and to strengthen the briefing papers for the
Secretary's participation in several events with the First Lady. Susan's participation in the
trip will ensure effective follow-through.
We have been working with Craig Johnstone on funding for additional USIA
international visitor programs for women in China. We proposed five exchanges bringing
women lawyers, legal aid workers, young leaders, local government elected officials, and
small business owners. We will work with the First Lady's Office to include an
announcement in the major speech in Shanghai.
We continue to review MPPs and to work with the regional bureaus to ensure our
comments are integrated.
Violence Against Women
Last week we reported that Lois worked with AF to get a letter from the First
Lady supporting the work of the Inter-African Committee (IAC) to eliminate female
genital mutilation (FGM). The President of the IAC had indicated that a letter from the
First Lady would be most effective in encouraging adoption by the OAU of the Addis
Ababa Declaration on Violence against Women, which calls for the eradication of FGM as
a harmful health practice. We are happy to report that the OAU meeting last week, in
Burkina Faso, adopted the Addis Ababa Declaration. This is a major victory for the anti-
FGM forces. The next step will be setting up a working group of the OAU, IAC and
other interested organizations, to draft an African Charter incorporating this Declaration.
We will be following these developments closely.
o
The latest in Afghanistan is not good. The Taliban religious army abruptly ordered
the closing of more than 100 private schools in Kabul that had been educating girls in
defiance of the ban on girls' education. These include home based schools run by female
teachers who had lost their jobs because of the ban on women working, as well as
vocational training schools, some being run by international aid groups. Under the rules,
schools will not be allowed to teach girls older than eight and will be limited to lessons
about the Koran only. We are working with SA, PRM and IO to determine a response.
Outreach
o
Barbara Crossette from the Italian New York Times called me to clear up some
misinformation about the Special Rapporteur's visit and about our work in general. We
will be sure to keep her up-to-date on our work.
o
I spoke to fifty journalist for PA's Regional and Specialty Media Conference on
Tuesday about our work. We will be following up with calls to some of the more relevant
media organizations next week.
0
Glamour magazine requested a quote from me about Dorothy Thomas, former
Director of the Women's Rights Project for Human Rights Watch. They are profiling
Dorothy as a recipient of the MacArthur Gems Award. My interview stressed the value of
NGO's working in partnership with the government and what a great advocate Dorothy is
on international women's human rights.
Trafficking in Women and Girls
o
We held a meeting to coordinate the Department's development of trafficking
initiatives to announce at the ASEAN conference in July. Meeting participants included
G, S/P, INL & AID. Our objective is to craft a balanced package of prevention,
protection, and enforcement projects. Because the ASEAN countries are major source,
transit and destination countries for trafficking, this is a big regional issue. During the
meeting the participants agreed that a cable should be sent to the EAP post to identify
how participating countries can reinforce these efforts with complimentary initiatives. We
envision these projects serving as an initial step leading to discussion and implementation
of long-term cooperative efforts in the region including convening a regional conference
on trafficking.
The President's Interagency Council on Women
June 19, 1998
MEMORANDUM
TO:
C - Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman
FROM:
S/PICW - Theresa Loar( Assor
SUBJECT:
Weekly highlights from the Interagency Council on Women
o
Seneca Falls - The decision memo regarding the Secretary's participation will go
forward today. We are recommending that the Secretary accept induction into the Hall of
Fame at the ceremony on July 11. The Secretary would make brief personal remarks
when she receives her medal. The ceremony is sold out (1200 guests) and will be filmed
by PBS and the major networks for viewing at a later time. The organizers are also
hoping to have live coverage over the internet. The luncheon following the ceremony
would provide an excellent forum for the Secretary to make a major address on women's
issues. The organizers at the Park Service and the Hall of Fame are very enthusiastic
about this idea. This speaking opportunity would fit well with other Administration
participants, the First Lady on July 17, Secretary Shalala and Secretary Herman on July
18, and (tentatively) the Attorney General, on a date TBD.
o
Rural Women - We are working on lining up an appropriate official from State to
represent the Secretary and speak at the Agriculture Conference, June 28-July 2. Neither
Bonnie Cohen nor Melinda Kimble is available; you are on leave. Julia Taft may be
available. We would welcome your thoughts on contacting Strobe Talbott or Stu
Eizenstadt about this.
o
Trafficking in Women and Girls - Steve brought together most of the U.S.
delegation to the Ukraine US/EU trafficking meeting (July 8-9) to discuss how to sustain
and expand the present effort there. Steve also emphasized to AID our view that it is vital
that AID focus on economic alternative prevention initiatives as part of the USG
comprehensive effort. Trafficking will be addressed in a Gore-Kutchma joint law
enforcement statement and that will be another good opportunity to emphasize a balanced
approach to this issue.
U.S. Department of State
2201 C St., NW
Room 2906
Washington, D.C. 20520
Telephone (202)647-6227
Fax (202)647-5337
o
We took advantage of the visit of the UN Special Rapporteur Radhika
Coomaraswamy to discuss the Administration's coordinated effort to address trafficking.
During this very good discussion, she stressed that we should work as closely as possible
with the EU, UN and NGOs on this issue, not only on law enforcement and legal systems
reform, but also protection of the victims. She also recommended that we give attention
to Nepal, which faces a terrible health problem from AIDS connected with trafficked
women and children. Responding to the ALDAC on trafficking, AmEmbassy Kathmandu
provided an excellent cable last month that highlighted the AIDS problem due to
trafficking and some excellent projects that have been undertaken to protect trafficking
victims. We think that this bodes well for working positively in this region since our
embassy in Bangladesh also has expressed a strong desire to work with us on this issue.
o
Personnel - PER confirmed that Lidia will get an offer today to start on July 6.
We are delighted.
The President's Interagency Council on Women
July 2, 1998
MEMORANDUM
TO:
C - Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman
FROM:
S/PICW - Theresa Loar Hefor
SUBJECT: Weekly highlights from the Interagency Council on Women
o
Seneca Falls - - We assume that the Secretary will accept induction into the Hall of
Fame and deliver a major address on women's issues at the induction luncheon. We have
provided background material to Bill Woodward for her remarks. Carol Bellamy has
agreed to deliver the keynote speech for the closing ceremony/international day
celebration. Ann Lewis was delighted with your suggestion. A group of young women
will draft their own Declaration of Sentiments at Seneca Falls and will present it to Carol
Bellamy. Hafsat Abiola, the 24-year-old daughter of Nigeria's last democratically elected
president, will also speak at the closing.
o
Rural Women - The Second International Conference on Women in Agriculture
was reported to be a tremendous success despite the negative comments by Al Kamen.
Over 1000 ambitious women from fifty nations participated in the five day event. The First
Lady welcomed the participants via video and Mrs. Gore gave the keynote address at the
conference opening. Numerous breakout sessions proved to be informative as they
covered a wide range of topics from Soil Management to Biotechnology, Intellectual
Property & Rural Women. Sharon and Seth attended to coordinate the translation
services and greet the VIP's.
o
Trafficking in Women and Girls - Steve leaves for the US-EU trafficking
conference in Ukraine on Tuesday. He will speak about the future directions for USG
efforts to combat trafficking. Steve will continue on to Italy to meet with our Embassy
and the Italians to follow-up on our trafficking initiatives.
U.S. Department of State
2201 C St., NW
Room 2906
Washington, D.C. 20520
Telephone (202)647-6227
Fax (202)647-5337
United States Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520
July 2, 1998
MEMORANDUM
TO:
C - Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman
FROM:
G - Anita Botti
HS
SUBJECT:
This week's highlights
Expanding Women's Political Participation
o
Theresa and John Hamilton will see you Monday to discuss Vital Voices of the
Americas. On Monday, we will also meet with the coordinating team including, the Inter-
American Development Bank, ARA, L, M, FMP, USIA, and AID, to discuss next steps in
the conference plans. ARA and L will send the revised solicitation memorandum back to
Bonnie Cohen for approval. On Monday evening, Theresa and Dani leave for the advance
trip to Montevideo on ARA funded travel orders.
o
Dani and DRL met with Dr. Ludmila Gryaznova, a Belarusian woman who
participated in the Vital Voices Vienna Conference. She said Vital Voices was the best
conference she ever attended, it taught her skills she could bring back and use in her
country. Dr. Gryaznova explained that she was one of the sixteen wives and mothers of
political prisoners in Belarus who wrote an appeal to the First Lady urging her to
intervene on their behalf. Lois worked with the First Lady's office to draft a response
which Dr. Gryaznova said left an enduring impression. She also said the First Lady speaks
about human rights on a family level and in language that people understand.
Violence Against Women
o
Lois attended a briefing on the situation of women in Afghanistan by Linda
Thomas-Greenfield, our person on the ground in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The situation
gets worse for women. Medical treatment for women in hospitals is almost a farce. She
described her visit to a locked "women's ward" of one hospital and the fear of those with
her that someone would see them enter the ward. Her opinion is that we could just as
well leave Afghanistan since the Taliban is preventing us from carrying out any programs
anyway. However, that is what the Taliban want us to do. Therefore we have to stay.
I was invited by S/NIS to provide an overview and summary of USG efforts to
combat trafficking to the Gore-Kutchma law enforcement working group. The session
which was co-chaired by S/NIS and INL included a USG request for agreement to
additional steps by Ukraine and several proposals for future cooperative efforts. We will
continue to work with S/NIS and our interagency partners to support the law enforcement
initiatives.
Even more gloom in Afghanistan. Another edict was just issued by the Taliban
requiring all international NGOs (such as Save the Children and CARE) in Kabul to move
their offices and residences to a single isolated compound. The NGOs have challenged
this saying they will leave the country if this edict is enforced. The UN dispatched a
delegation to Kabul on June 30 to discuss the worsening conditions for the humanitarian
assistance community in Kabul.
Outreach
o
We were asked by IO/UNP to clear on a diplomatic note concerning the difficulty
some divorced spouses of international organization employees were having obtaining
court-ordered child and spouse support payments. These organizations have asserted
immunity from jurisdiction of the courts and have not taken voluntary steps to ensure
support payments are made by their employees. The diplomatic note requests these
organizations to take voluntary steps to provide court-ordered information on salary and
benefits of an employee involved in divorce and family law proceedings and to enforce
court-ordered payments. Hardship (often extreme) on spouses and dependents would be
averted.
o
Alyse conducted two brainstorming meetings for Vital Voices of Northern Ireland
with NGOs that work with women's organizations and democracy building programs in
the region. She also attended a victory party for the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition,
to spread the word about the conference. In the election, the Coalition won two seats in
the new Assembly and women over all took 14 of the 108 seats. These numbers, although
rather low, are significantly higher than the predictions we heard when we were in Belfast.
o
Our Vital Voices of Northern Ireland Interagency Working Group is moving
along. Next Monday each agency will report back on ways their agency can be involved
in the conference and follow through. USIA has already agreed to conduct outreach to
the press in the region and run a press center at the conference. Meanwhile, our Vital
Voices team in Belfast, is spreading the word all over Ireland.
United States Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520
Senior Coordinator for
International Women's Issues
July 10, 1998
MEMORANDUM
TO:
C - Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman
FROM:
G - Anita Botti, Acting AB
SUBJECT:
This week's highlights
Expanding Women's Political Participation
o
Despite the recent flare up of fighting in Northern Ireland, plans for the Vital
Voices conference in Belfast are moving forward. The conference may be held the first
week in September and tied to the President and First Lady's trip to Moscow.
o
Planning is also on track for the hemisphere wide Vital Voices conference to be
held in Montevideo October 1 - 3. Theresa, John Hamilton, Jim Thessin, and Jim O'Brien
will meet with Bonnie Cohen on Monday, July 13 to review the role of the private sector
in the conference. Theresa plans to brief you sometime in the afternoon.
Violence Against Women
o
We continue to hold weekly conference calls with Embassy Moscow to plan for
the Family Violence Against Women conference scheduled for fall '98. Unfortunately
USAID seems reluctant to participate fully. They continue to review a technical report on
Gender Violence which was written last year; this report is critical to the planning group
since it will help delineate the final areas to be covered in the conference and also help
DOJ decide on appropriate speakers for the conference. S/NIS folks are working closely
with us to ensure that Ambassador Collins is involved in all aspects of this process.
o
Human Rights NGO Felice Gaer, called today upset about what is happening at the
ICC negotiations in Rome. According to her, the Vatican and a group of Arab states are
pulling out all references to "gender" in the statute. NGOs are concerned that this will
undo all of the Beijing achievements. Congresswoman Slaughter's office also called about
the same matter. We are trying to follow-up with the delegation on these issues.
Outreach
o
Lois was contacted by Georgina Wright (wife of British Embassy's DCM and
former foreign service officer in her own right) for a briefing on the work of our office.
Lois also put her in touch with Gretchen Welch in the DG's office on the issue of
promoting and appointing more women to senior positions in the foreign service, including
ambassadorships. This is timely, since the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State of the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Baroness Symons, is in town next week. She has
been trying to attract more women, minorities and people with disabilities to the British
diplomatic service. She will be discussing these issues, particularly about women, at a
dinner hosted by the British Ambassador at his residence on Monday, July 13. We
understand that you may be on the guest list and have attached a copy of Baroness
Symons bio for your information.
Interagency Council on Women
o
We reviewed the final schedule for Seneca Falls yesterday at a meeting chaired by
Ann Lewis at the White House. Everyone is delighted that the Secretary has agreed to
accept the invitation for induction into the Hall of Fame. The Secretary's advance team
has determined that the induction ceremony will be a better venue for her speech than the
luncheon; consequently, the Secretary's time on site will be shorter. The Secretary's
participation in this anniversary celebration is a solid beginning to a week long celebration
which includes the First Lady's keynote address on July 16, followed by Secretaries
Herman and Shalala on July 17.
o
We worked closely with Bill Woodward on the Secretary's Hall of Fame speech.
The speech is outstanding and we will work with PA to see if it can get wide circulation,
and possibly placed in the State magazine.
United States Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520
Senior Coordinator for
International Women's Issues
July 17, 1998
MEMORANDUM
TO:
C - Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman
FROM:
G - Theresa Loar
SUBJECT:
This week's highlights
Expanding Women's Political Participation
The White House will likely announce Vital Voices Belfast next week. It will be
follow-on to the President and First Lady's visit to Russia and will overlap with the
President's visit to Belfast. We have been asked to go out to Belfast again next week to
accelerate the conference process. This timing of the conference will be a huge
undertaking but the event is very important for implementation of the peace process. We
have continued to hold program brainstorming meetings with NGO and private sector
experts on Ireland issues. Our Interagency working group is expanding and we are
working hard to get all agencies (i.e. Commerce, Labor, SBA, Justice) to identify follow-
up commitments.
o
Dani and I had a productive trip to Montevideo last week. The Embassy needed
some motivation from Washington. The conference facilities are great. ARA/EX is in the
process of hiring a Montevideo based conference coordinator to handle all of the logistical
arrangements. As you already know, my meeting with M went well and the solicitation
memorandum was approved. Our calls to the private sector are underway.
We are working closely with ARA to include materials on Vital Voices of the
Americas into the President Sanganetti's visit to Washington next week. The First Lady
will drop by a White House meeting to discuss the Vital Voices conference.
Melissa completed the first stage of the S/NIS/C inventory of women's projects.
This report summarizes all USIA, AID, and INL programs targeted to women. We will
continue to work with S/NIS/C to conduct a needs assessment to determine what
additional programs should be developed.
Violence Against Women
o
Anita met with S/NIS to involve them in the upcoming visit of a delegation of
women from Ukraine on the issue of trafficking in women and girls to and from their
country. Anita and S/NIS will meet this group while they are in town and will ensure the
appropriate meetings are arranged.
o
We attended an ASEAN planning meeting and advocated for a deliverable for the
Secretary on trafficking. S/P supports including this topic in the discussions. We are also
preparing talking points for the Secretary's speech in Sydney at the end of her ASEAN
trip.
o
The Moscow conference on family violence against women is moving on the fast
track. We are working closely with S/NIS which will develop a policy action plan to
engage the government on this issue. We provided talking points for the Vice President's
briefing book on the Moscow conference.
Outreach
o
There has been a great response to the USA Today cover story on the partnership
between Secretary Albright and the First Lady. We worked closely with Susan Page to
ensure the article had a positive tone and described specific results of the Secretary's work
to advance the status of women.
o
We hosted the Honorable Deborah Morris, New Zealand's youngest ever minister
for Youth Affairs and Deputy Minister for Women's Affairs, during her visit to
Washington. Alyse coordinated her schedule which included: a meeting at the White
House with Melanne Verveer, visits to local youth organizations and youth shelters, and a
roundtable at the Department with young leaders to strategize about ways for young
people to serve as a global force for change. Alyse also worked with the Secretary's Open
Forum to coordinate a speaking engagement for the Minister on the need for young
people to get involved in international issues. This event drew a crowd of approximately
one hundred Washington interns. Following this event, State Department officials spoke
to the interns about the need for young people to engage in foreign affairs.
o
Alyse spoke to a group of 120 young women representing every state in the nation
about the work of our office to integrate women's issues into the mainstream of American
foreign policy and the need for more young people to get involved in international issues.
They were in Washington with the Girls Nation Program.
United States Department of State
Under Secretary of State
for Global Affairs
Washington, D.C. 20520-7250
Senior Coordinator for
International Women's Issues
September 18, 1998
MEMORANDUM
TO:
C - Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman
FROM:
G - Theresa Loar
SUBJECT:
This week's highlights
INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK
I gave the keynote address at the IDB Forum on the Americas monthly luncheon
Wednesday discussing Vital Voices Montevideo. Over 100 NGOs, press members and
Latin American policy folks attended the luncheon to hear about the Vital Voices
Montevideo conference and Secretary Albright's commitment to this as part of her foreign
policy agenda.
GENDER & PEACE KEEPING
The second meeting of the US-Canada steering committee for gender issues and
peacekeeping met in Ottawa September 16 & 17. The objective of this G-8 initiative is to
develop a training course/ module for peacekeepers. The US delegation was lead by Anita
Botti and included IO, AID, and AmEmbassy Canada. The Pearson International Center
for Peace Keeping in Halifax will develop this course with a pilot ready some time early
next year. This initiative has generated a great deal of interest at the UN as a resource for
military and civilian peacekeepers.
CEDAW
As discussed, I participated in a press conference pep rally for CEDAW organized by
Representative Woolsey on September 10th. Despite our concerns, the event went well
with good NGO attendance and eight women Members speaking. The United Methodist
Women stacked up ten thousand letters in favor of CEDAW for a good visual to
demonstrate grassroots support.
THE VITAL VOICES BELFAST INITIATIVE
In the days following the Vital Voices Belfast conference, our partners in Mo
Mowlam's office and numerous participants have told us how they are moving forward on
the $2 million+ partnership projects developed at the conference. Alyse is linking us up
with the Mo Mowlam, David Trimble and Seamus Mallon U.S. "Road Show," sponsored
by the Industrial Development Board in New York, Chicago and Boston in October, to
expand follow-up activities and partnerships. I'd like to discuss Embassy London and
Consulate Belfast follow-up.
VITAL VOICES OF THE AMERICAS
As we get down to the wire on Vital Voices Montevideo, we are running into a
fiscal crunch involving the possible need for bridge financing to cover the private sector
contributions that are not yet in hand. Jim Lawrence has been working with ARA/EX to
move this along so we can fund some regional participants.
HEALTH
The President's Interagency Council on Women
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Honorary Chair
Chair
Donna Shalala, Immediate Past Chair
September 23, 1998
TO:
C - Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman
FROM:
S/PICW - Theresa Loar
SUBJECT: Highlights of the Council's Activities
WORKING GROUPS
Women's History
Lidia joined Ann Lewis' meeting on the Commission for Celebrating Women's History. Ann
and Beth Newburger, Associate Administrator for Public Affairs, GSA, will co-chair a
presidential panel which will hold public meetings across the country and recommend to the
President the best means to acknowledge and celebrate the roles and accomplishments of
women in American history. Ann will involve Council members with a presentation at the
next Council meeting.
Women in the Global Economy
We had a good meeting with John Wolf yesterday on how to integrate the advancement of
women into the APEC agenda. John will meet with Kitty Higgins before she heads out to
lead the U.S. delegation to the APEC Ministerial on Women in Manila October 12-16. Kathy
Hendrix and an ECON officer from Embassy Manila will represent State on this delegation.
We agreed if this ministerial is to influence the APEC process the goals and next steps should
be:
- a few key organizing principles
- development of APEC-wide guidance to assist in the implementation of the organizing
principles
- expectation that the Senior Officials (including John) will look to include this agenda as
a cross cutting issue in the Economic and Technical Subcommittee
- an ad hoc group to provide recommendations to the SOM in February.
The list of delegates for the October Ministerial was cleared by White House liaison and
invitations were sent on Council letterhead.
Kathy Hendrix attended the third annual meeting of the Women's Leaders Network from
APEC economies in Kuala Lumpur in August 31 to September 2. This group will recommend
an agenda and outcomes for the October Ministerial. The Women's Leaders Network
United States Department of State
2201 C St., NW
Room 2906
Washington, D.C. 20520
Telephone (202)647-6227
Fax (202)647-5337
http://secretary.state.gov/www/iacw/index.html
meeting was disorganized and participants complained that the U.S. paper on human resource
development had not been completed. Kathy is following-up with Labor.
Mentoring
Lidia met with Leslie Thornton, Chief of Staff, Department of Education. Leslie chairs the
Mentoring Working Group. We need to find ways to get this group activated building on the
success of the Take Our Daughters to Work Day program. Leslie will explore participation of
Council members in Education's Back to School initiatives.
Rural Women
As follow-up to the June International Conference on Women in Agriculture, Jill Long
Thompson, from USDA met with the First Lady of El Salvador, and my counterpart in the
Argentine Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Teresa Sola. In the First Ladies' Summit, there are
funds for rural women's projects. However, most of the rural women need help developing
the strategy plan which is required to secure the grants. Jill's team along with other Council
members can provide technical assistance to help rural women develop their strategic plans.
Jill is working with the First Lady's office to bring this idea into the First Lady's Summit in
Chile in late September.
OUTREACH
NGO Public Briefing. On Friday, September 11 the Council held a quarterly NGO public
briefing for our largest crowd yet, over 100. I kicked-off the meeting with an account of the
success of the Vital Voices conference in Belfast and our expectations for the Vital Voices
conference in Montevideo. I emphasized how valuable it is to have the Council as a
coordinating mechanism on these projects. Council-sponsored events and interests were
highlighted in brief reports on the Second International Conference on Women in Agriculture
held in June, an update on CEDAW, including my briefing on the Hill with eight women
members, the announcement of the working group on Microenterprise chaired by Ellen Lazar
at CDFI Fund, and an overview of recent developments in Trafficking in Women chaired by
Anita. Kitty Higgins conducted a breakout session on Women in the Global Economy
focusing on the upcoming October APEC Ministerial on Women. Anita chaired a breakout
session on trafficking. Our partners from other agencies and the NGOs discussed their work
coordinating with the Council.
Women's Policy, Inc. Lidia met with Marjorie Sims and Lesley Primmer Presily. They
would like to coordinate a Policy Lunch for the women members of the 106th Congress in
February 1999 which the Council, Women's Policy, Inc., and the Congressional Caucus for
Women would co-sponsor. A representative of the Council (either the Secretary or you)
could deliver the keynote address. Other Council members could discuss their work and
ensure that Congressional members view the Council and Women's Policy, Inc. as a resource
on issues.
Upcoming Events
Council Meeting, with Secretary Albright and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton,
October, 1998 (date TBD).
Vital Voices of the Americas Conference, Montevideo, Uruguay, October 1 - 3, 1998.
APEC Ministerial on Women, October 12-16, Manila
The President's Interagency Council on Women
October 23, 1998
MEMORANDUM
TO:
C - Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman
G - U/S Designate Frank Loy
FROM:
S/PICW -Theresa Loar Th
SUBJECT:
This week's highlights
Expanding Women's Political Participation
We received a terrific response on the Vital Voices of the Americas Conference. Four
of our Ambassadors have already met with their country delegations to discuss follow-
on action plans. Pete Romero and I are hosting a debrief with the U.S. participants,
sponsors, and other interested parties on November 5. Melanne Verveer will join us.
We are also working with ARA on a meeting with all of the Ambassadors from Latin
America and the Caribbean to the U.S. in mid-November. This event will coincide
with the OAS Commission on Women meeting and a number of the Vital Voices
delegates will be in Washington.
We are also working with ARA and AID on a few Vital Voices events for the First
Lady's trip to Guatemala, El Salvador, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic in late
November. Dani is working with the First Lady's Office to shape a day long Vital
Voices seminar which will bring together approximately thirty of the conference
participants from Central America. This event would conclude with a roundtable
discussion with the First Lady.
U.S. Department of State
2201 C St., NW
Room 2906
Washington, D.C. 20520
Telephone (202)647-6227
Fax (202)647-5337
The Vital Voices Belfast Interagency Working Group has been meeting regularly since
the conference. We formed a core group of government and non-governmental
partners for each of the three tracks. I have been in close contact with Ky Fort at the
Consulate in Belfast and we are putting plans in place for a visit to Northern Ireland in
early December to firm up the follow-up mechanism between the USG and Mo
Mowlam.
One of the projects coming out of Vital Voices Belfast is Grassroots, a community
development organization in Northern Ireland. Alyse linked up the three young
founders with various youth community development organizations such as the Peace
Corps, Americore, and City Year to further develop their organization and seek
support. The goal of Grassroots is to keep young people in Northern Ireland working
to rebuild their communities. The organization will give college graduates a stipend
and place them in community organizations for one year. Grassroots will also visit
similar community organizations in New York, Boston, and San Francisco.
Violence Against Women
Rick Inderfurth and I met this week to discuss the ever increasing restrictions imposed
by the Taliban and the strong interest in a Washington based event, to include the
USG, focusing on women and girls in Afghanistan. We agreed that I would explore
concrete ways that Americans can help alleviate the suffering of Afghan women and
girls. We had an excellent meeting with Holly Burkhalter of Physicians for Human
Rights to discuss their recent report on the effects of the Taliban's restrictions on
women's access to medical care and their ideas for engaging the American public. We
áre also working with Feminist Majority as they notch up their campaign to call
attention to the treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan.
Anita and I met with our Canadian counterparts to discuss a range of issues. They are
also focusing on increasing public concern about the treatment of women in
Afghanistan. Anita explained our strategy to combat trafficking in women and we
agreed to stay on touch on Beijing + 5 preparations.
Consuelo Cabrera Rosales, member of the National Commission for the Rights of
Indigenous Women in Guatemala, came in to meet with us about her organization's
proposal to create a "Defensoria" or protectorate within the Guatemalan government
for the rights of indigenous women. Lidia will work with DRL and ARA to explore
this proposal.
2
Trafficking in Women
As we build towards a principals meeting on trafficking, we pulled together the
interagency trafficking working group this week. I chaired the meeting which was
broadly attended by representatives from throughout State and other agencies. It is
apparent that widespread coordination is required to deal with this issue. Steve
continues to work closely with the State offices on the final drafts of an anti-trafficking
protocol to the International Crime Convention.
Following our lunch with Finnish Foreign Minister Halonen, Anita stayed on to work
with representatives from the embassy and foreign ministry to look into cooperation
on the areas of violence and trafficking. The programs we develop will focus on the
Baltic region and Northern Russia complementing the Northern European Initiative.
Outreach
I spoke with Pat Morrison of the Los Angeles Times about theUSG's strong
commitment to defending women's human rights in Afghanistan. Morrison used a
good quote from the Secretary in her piece, clearly identifying the US as standing up
for women and girls in Afghanistan. Mavis and Jay Leno contributed $100,000 to the
Feminist Majority Foundation for their campaign to highlight the issue of women in
Afghanistan throughout the United States. This donation has received widespread
publicity with press conferences in NYC and Los Angeles and interviews with Mavis
on Larry King Live and Extra. Mavis is a member of Feminist Majority and we met in
March when we both testified before Dianne Feinstein on the status of women in
Äfghanistan.
In response to the Secretary's remarks at Seneca Falls, Anita was interviewed by a
producer from Dateline for a one hour story by Maria Shriver on trafficking in women
and girls. They are just beginning their research on the issue and will talk with many
of our NGO contacts. They will also interview other members of the interagency
working group, including our representative from Justice who will discuss their work
to prevent and prosecute trafficking in the United States.
The Washington Post is seeking interviews with Administration officials for a story on
domestic servitude/trafficking by diplomats in the United States. Steve set up a
meeting with State and Justice representatives to discuss issues involving the scope of
diplomatic immunity and a case that has come to the attention of the Criminal Civil
Rights Division at Justice.
Lidia made a presentation to a group of 30 California business women who wanted to
learn more about the USG focus on issues affecting women and families. This meeting
fit into our outreach strategy to actively seek opportunities and expand our work with
the private sector.
3
Steve briefed sixty NGOs on the USG's anti-trafficking strategy at the U.S. UN
Mission in New York. This session was a good opportunity for us to get input on our
work from the NY-based NGO community.
Lidia participated in a Vital Voices briefing for the Women's Taskforce at the
International Foundation for Electoral Systems, one of the NGOs that participated in
Montevideo conference. They were extremely enthusiastic about the conference and
follow-up plans.
Gender and Institutional Change
We presented the next step of the strategic plan for our office to Craig Johnstone. We
have been working closely with Craig's office to identify goals, objectives, and
programs. Our next step is to identify USG resources required for this mission. Given
the scope of our work, this is a comprehensive undertaking. Craig's team is working
closely to advise how to shape this determination, an important element of the
strategic planning process.
Women in the Global Economy
Kitty Higgins headed the U.S. delegation to Manila for the APEC Women's
Ministerial which included two separate meetings, the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM)
followed by the ministerial meeting. Kathy Hendrix is representing State at the
ministerial and SOM meetings. The "theme" of the ministerial is "Women in
Economic Development and Cooperation in APEC?" USG was responsible for
drafting the human resource and development technical paper and recommendations
that were considered at the ministerial meeting. The ministerial achieved consensus on
a joint declaration which contains recommendations for APEC Leaders for
consideration at their November meeting in Kuala Lumpur. The current financial crisis
in Asia underscored the whole proceedings and is reflected in specific
recommendations concerning possible disproportionally negative effects on women
and calls for the establishment of social safety nets. Embassy Manila hosted the US
delegation and assigned a senior political officer to the meetings.
Take our Daughters to Work Day
We sent out letters from Secretary Albright to all the young DC high school women
who participated in our event. We asked them to complete a survey about their
experience and future goals. We got a great response from one young woman who
says the experience "inspired me to push for the stars." We are putting the group
photo of the Secretary with the young women and this letter on our website. We will
continue to follow-up with these young women and begin organizing next year's event
with the Department of Education.
4
Possible new working groups:
Women in Science and Technology Working Group
Lidia will be meeting with the CIA Council rep to discuss their concept for a working
group to develop partnerships between select federal agencies and industry and
educational institutions. The partnership would focus on promoting scientific and
technological academic initiatives for school-age girls. We have been approached by an
NGO to help expand women's access in the U.S. and overseas to scientific and technical
information. We will explore this idea with CIA as well.
Microenterprise Development Interagency Working Group
Ellen Lazar from Treasury has asked us to include the CDFI/SBA working group on
microenterprise development to our roster. Ellen said that Betsy Myer, from SBA is
supportive. The Presidential directive setting up the microenterprise group is in
fulfillment of a USG commitment announced by Secretary Albright in Beijing.
Upcoming Events
Council Meeting, with Secretary Albright and First Lady Hillary Rodham
Clinton, (date TBD). Attached is the action memo that went to the Secretary
requesting that she participate in this meeting. It is important that the Council meet
again to build momentum on these issues.
NGO Briefing and Holiday Open House, December 17, 1998. We will hold our
last quarterly NGO briefing of the year and invite the attendees and other friends to
visit our next offices on the sixth floor. We invite both of you to attend and would be
delighted to introduce Frank to this NGO community.
5
The President's Interagency Council on Women
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Honorary Chair
Chair
Donna Shalala. Immediate Past Chair
October 30, 1998
MEMORANDUM
TO:
C - Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman
G - U/S Designate Frank Loy
FROM:
S/PICW Theresa Loar DRforTh
SUBJECT:
This week's highlights
Expanding Women's Political Participation
We had an excellent meeting at Blair House with the First Lady of Colombia, Nohra
Puyana de Pastrana, arranged by our Vital Voices partner Marylouise Oates. Mrs.
Pastrana shared her commitment to advance the status of Colombian women and a
- desire to incorporate her democracy building programs under the Vital Voices
umbrella. She has plans underway for a two day conference in February and seemed
enthusiastic about our suggestion to expand the list of invitees to include a broad
range of women leaders from throughout society, including potential private sector
partners. We will continue to work with Mrs. Pastrana and share ideas on new
projects for women.
We are moving ahead in developing Vital Voices follow-up books for both the
Montevideo and Belfast conferences. We are hoping that USIS will print and ship the
books which will serve as a scrapbook/directory for participants, highlight strategies
and action plans, and engage additional private sector support for the initiative.
We had a great meeting with the President and COO of the Discovery Channel and
Discovery's Senior V.P. for Latin America to discuss their follow-up commitment to
the Vital Voices of the Americas Conference. Prior to the conference, they committed
to airing public service announcements in the region. After hearing more about the
concrete plans coming out of Montevideo, they are looking into producing twelve
public service announcements, one for each of the key areas of focus that came out of
the conference.
United States Department of State
2201 C St., NW
Room 2906
Washington, D.C. 20520
Telephone (202)647-6227
Fax (202)647-5337
http://secretary.state.gov/www/iacw/index.html
Violence Against Women
Anita is in Moscow this week for the U.S.- - Russia Family Violence Against Women
Conference. Ambassador Collins opened the conference and Bonnie Campbell
brought some of her staff to provide hands on technical advice to the Russians: Anita
and Bonnie will also meet with Ambassador Collins on his interest in a project on
trafficking in women and girls. Anita will continue on to Warsaw to speak to the
OSCE Conference on USG efforts to combat trafficking in women and girls. From
Warsaw, she will travel to Geneva for meetings with Mary Robinson's people, the
U.S. Mission, and IOM.
We are meeting regularly with SA, PRM, DRL, and NGOs to help shape one element
of the White House Human Rights Day event that will focus on Afghan women and
girls. In light of the recent press attention to the plight of women and girls in
Afghanistan, we want to be sure that USG efforts and policies are clearly
communicated.
We are working with the Secretary's Open Forum to bring in the author of the
Physicians for Human Rights paper on the severe consequences of the Taliban's
restrictions on women's health. We continue to work with NGOs to devise a plan of
action for Americans to show their support for Afghan women and girls and I will
review these with Rick Inderfurth next week.
The fact-finding team commissioned by the Indonesian government on the May
riots/rapes committed against Sino-Indonesian women will soon issue its report. We
have been working closely with EAP and DRL to ensure that State issues a strong
press statement when the report comes out on the USG commitment to protecting the
human rights of women. I am hoping to meet with Stanley Roth next week to hear
about his meetings on this issue during his recent trip to Jakarta. Since there is
significant interest from the NGOs, I plan to invite Stanley to speak at our NGO
briefing on December 17.
Outreach
I am in New York today to lead a panel discussion for the New Women: New
Leadership Forum on leadership and partnership. Secretary Albright spoke to this
group a couple of years back and they were eager to hear about USG work on behalf
of women. This group of corporate leaders, mostly women, is a great audience to
engage.
2
Alyse and I will both address the State of the World Forum in San Francisco. The
Forum brings together leaders-from all over the world to engage in dialogue about the
future. This year's focus, which we helped to shape, is investing in women. I will
speak at the closing lunch and highlight the Secretary's commitment and the leadership
role the USG plays in defending women's human rights and supporting women's role
in building democracies. Alyse will speak on a panel about the importance of youth
involvement in social change. She will describe the Vital Voices Initiative and the
Secretary's interest in engaging young people in international affairs. We also worked
with the Forum to get speaking roles for some of the young people who attended Vital
Voices in Belfast and Montevideo.
At the request of the White House Women's office, I spoke to the top 35 women
CEOs in the Cable and Telecommunications industry at their first Leadership Summit.
I spoke of opportunities for these women to use their positions in the communications
industry to effect global change. I also briefed on the Vital Voices public-private
partnership and our work on behalf of Afghan women and girls. They want to work
with us to create communications strategies to raise public awareness about these and
other Council initiatives.
Lidia is developing a strategic plan for the Council to ensure that we use our full
capacity over the next two years. We will begin with house calls to all of the Council
representatives and will host a strategic planning session in early January.
Upcoming Events
Council Meeting with Secretary Albright and First Lady Hillary Clinton (TBD)
Vital Voices of the Americas, U.S. Participants Meeting, November 5, 1998
Proposed Blair House Vital Voices Event for Latin American Ambassadors and OAS
CIM Members, November 16, 1998
FLOTUS Trip to Guatemala, El Salvador, Haiti and the Dominican Republic,
November 16 - 20. Guatemala and El Salvador are proposed sites for Vital Voices
roundtables.
S/PICW's NGO Briefing and Holiday Open House, December 17, 1998
S/PICW Council Members Strategic Planning Session, January 1999
3
The President's Interagency Council on Women
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Honorary Chair
Chair
Donna Shalala. Immediate Past Chair
November 6, 1998
MEMORANDUM
TO:
C - Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman
G - U/S Frank Loy
FROM:
S/PICW - Theresa Loac
SUBJECT:
This week's highlights
Expanding Women's Political Participation
The Vital Voices of the Americas debriefing with some 75 American participants was a
success. Pete Romero and Victor Marrero spoke about their commitment to
incorporating the Vital Voices objectives into ARA and the OAS. Many of our private
sector partners joined us and spoke about the programmatic partnerships made with
the women from the region and their desire to collaborate on future projects. One
main theme that was repeated throughout the meeting was that this event established
linkages that could not be made anywhere else. Pete, Victor and I agreed upon on
three track follow up plan.
- ARA will lead the follow-up on the policy commitments drafted by ARA and
announced by Ambassador Hrinak at the conference:
-- the Secretary will consider how to bring Vital Voices implementation into
discussions with her NAFTA counterparts
-- our ambassadors in the field will meet with Vital Voices delegates, integrate
outcomes from the conference into the missions' bilateral policy goals and
use the Summit of the Americas to advance these policies.
- USOAS will lead the efforts to use the Vital Voices initiative to energize OAS
activities on behalf of women. These efforts will address the entire mission of the
OAS, not just the Commission on Women.
- Our office will continue to work with outside partners on private sector follow up
activity and lead quarterly meetings to bring the three tracks of implementation
together.
United States Department of State
2201 C St., NW
Room 2906
Washington, D.C. 20520
Telephone (202)647-6227
Fax (202)647-5337
http://secretary.state.gov/www/iacw/index.html
We had a productive meeting with NSC and the First Lady's Office to discuss USG
plans for Human Rights Day.: We are coordinating with DRL to include a component
on Afghan women and girls. We are also working with the NSC and DOD to include
a deliverable on the U.S.-Canadian peacekeeping initiative which Anita is developing.
At the Meridian House briefing for our new Ambassador to Ireland, Michael Sullivan,
I briefed about the Vital Voices Northern Ireland initiative and the extensive follow-up
throughout the U.S. and in Northern Ireland. Mo Mowlam has set up a Northern
Ireland Steering Committee for the ongoing initiative. Ambassador Sullivan and his
wife are both very enthusiastic about the Vital Voices Initiative and would like to play
a key role in energizing the delegates from the South. North-South relations are vital
to the success of the Good Friday Agreement and there is some talk of a virtual Vital
Voices network linking Northern Ireland and the Republic.
Violence Against Women
We met with Rick Inderfurth again this week to review public awareness activities and
to discuss other diplomatic and humanitarian options to focus attention on the plight of
Afghan women and girls. We also met with the Feminist Majority Foundation to
discuss their public awareness campaign which includes significant support from Jay
and Mavis Leno. Linda Thomas Greenfield the refugee coordinator out of Pakistan,
shared her ideas on how to channel citizen concern into concrete humanitarian action.
We will meet with Voice of America next week to encourage the radio programs that
are broadcast throughout Afghanistan to let Afghan women know that their voices are
being heard.
The fact-finding team commissioned by the Indonesian government issued its report
this week regarding the May riots/rapes. Working with EAP and DRL, Durriya
Ghadiali, one of our new PMIs, ensured that the Department's press statement
denounced the rapes, harassment, and torture aimed at ethnic Chinese women as
"unacceptable and reprehensible."
Durriya also met with Bob Sieple to discuss future possibilities for cooperation
between our offices. Durriya has a background in Islam and the Middle East and we
will work together on future initiatives with Muslim women's organizations,
particularly regarding the situation in Afghanistan.
After a year and a half of pushing from our office and AmEmbassy Moscow, the US-
Russian Conference on Family Violence brought together for the first time government
and NGO reps from all over Russia. The conference opened with a keynote address
from Ambassador Collins and included Bonnie Campbell from DOJ. Several Russian
speakers from within the government as well as the NGO community commented on
the First Lady's keen interest and were appreciative of our involvement in assisting the
Russian government to find concrete solutions to violence in the home. While the
sessions at time were grueling and there was a fair amount of speechifying on the part
2
of government officials, the outcomes were positive. Recommendations came forward
on programs to strengthen NGO participation and integrate key players such as law
enforcement officials, medical staff, legislators and regulators. In follow-up to the
conference, Anita will host a meeting with S/NIS, INL, USAID, and USIA to discuss
next steps on policy and program initiatives.
Trafficking in Women
While in Moscow, Anita and Bonnie Campbell discussed trafficking with Ambassador
Collins and potential next steps, including working with the Duma. The Duma
representative for Human Rights has expressed interest in setting up a government
council, modeling the structure of our own, to deal with trafficking.
Anita also delivered the US statement on trafficking at the OSCE Human Dimensions
conference in Warsaw. The US position was echoed not only by the Ukrainian
delegation but other member state delegations as well, acknowledging trafficking as a
form of modern day slavery. Anita had individual, productive meetings with
representatives from UNIFEM and the Council of Europe as well as the delegations
from the Ukraine and Russia.
In Geneva, Anita met with number of international NGOs working collectively on
trafficking including IOM, ILO, and UNHRC. These meetings were useful in
identifying the groups' plans, as well as the distribution of resources dedicated to
trafficking. UNHRC is planning to work in the NIS and South East Asia regions while
ILO will be focusing primarily on South East Asia. The UN Foundation is funding a
$3 million project to combat trafficking in the Mekong sub-region. Clearly we have
our work cut out for us to coordinate our USG efforts on trafficking with the diverse
projects underway in the international community.
Beijing Plus Five
Our meeting today served to organize the work needed for the special session on
Beijing Plus 5 planned for June 2000. We will address the Beijing Plus 5 issues at the
next Council meeting. We will develop a framework that includes goals, budget for
delegation travel, prepcom timelines, and possible delegation lists to start coordinating
this effort.
Women in the Global Economy
Kitty Higgins, Chair of PICW's Working Group on Women in the Global Economy,
briefed John Wolf about the APEC Women's Ministerial. John supports the creation
of an ad hoc task force to examine social safety nets to protected the negative effects
of the financial crisis on women. Lidia attended the meeting and, together with DOL,
will develop a checklist of issues and possible pilot projects to be considered for 1999
APEC implementation.
3
Outreach
USIA joined me Wednesday in New York for the Women's Edition seminar on sexual
violence, put on by the Population Reference Bureau. We had an animated round
table discussion with the 10 journalists from developing countries (including one Vital
Voices Vienna participant.) The main focus was the implementation of the Beijing
Platform of Action.
The InterAmerican Development Bank is planning a young leaders millennium
discussion and met with Lidia to ensure that the Vital Voices emerging women leaders
were included.
Upcoming Events
December 4, tentative date for a meeting of the President's Interagency Council on
Women, chaired by the Secretary and the First Lady
December 17, PICW NGO Briefing and Holiday Open House
4
December 11, 1998
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman
U/S Frank Loy
FROM:
Theresa Loar of
SUBJECT: This week's highlights
Expanding Women's Political Participation
Vital Voices - Belfast follow-up is moving at a great pace. This week the President
talked about the success of the Vital Voices Initiative at the NDI dinner in honor of the
Peace Prize winners and at the White House event in honor of International Human
Rights Day. This week we also conducted one of our regular conference calls with
our government and non-governmental partners on the Political Track. Mary
Boergers from the Ireland Leadership Program at American University is developing a
forum in March to bring the fourteen women members of the new Northern Ireland
Assembly to Washington for a week of advanced political training and skills
enhancement. The forum participants will also look at ways they can work together
across political party lines to advance issues concerning women in Northern Ireland.
We have put Mary in touch with our NGO and foundation partners across the US to
set up a speaking tour for these elected officials. They will also link up with our
Congress.
ConGen Belfast reported that the Vital Voices Women's Business Roundtable with
Aida Alvarez was a successful exchange. I had asked Aida to stopover in Belfast
during her Dublin/London trip to meet with her SBA counterpart in the Northern
Ireland government to support its efforts and to lend technical advise. We are
working with Mo Mowlam's Vital Voices steering committee to coordinate follow-up
projects on the ground and arrange an agenda for our trip in late January.
We have been approached by a number of regional bureaus interested in hosting Vital
Voices conferences. After our experiences with the Belfast and Montevideo projects,
Dani drafted an MOU to be used between the regional A/S and me before we take on
any future Vital Voices initiatives. It is important that the regional A/S understand that
the conference is a policy mechanism and a way to institutionalize these issues. Our
office can provide issue expertise but the heavy lifting of regional expertise, full
administrative support, and follow up policy development will come from the regional
bureau. We believe this will make clear the responsibilities of the regional bureau as
they prepare for and follow up on the conferences.
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FOLDER TITLE:
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Freedom of Information Act - [5 U.S.C. 552(b)]
P1 National Security Classified Information [(a)(1) of the PRA]
b(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]
P2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA]
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
P3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
an agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]
P4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA]
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
P5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA]
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
of gift.
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
2201(3).
concerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA]
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
Durriya and I met with Dr. Oras Sutan Naji, one of two female members to the
Parliament of Yemen. Reputed to be a conservative Arab and Muslim country, I was
particularly impressed with Yemen's progress on women's political participation in the
example of Dr. Naji and her extensive work in health issues. Dr. Naji lobbied for a
visit by the First Lady to Yemen and gave three possible events that would anchor the
First Lady's visit: the NDI emerging democracies conference in May 1999, the IFES
Yemen-wide conference in March and to launch the USG supported demining private
public partnership initiative (no set time). Durriya will join you, Frank, in your
meeting with Dr. Naji today.
Violence Against Women
The Human Rights Day at the event was a major success and served as a public
reminder that the Administration is firmly committed to advancing the status of
women. We worked closely with DRL, SA, PRM, the NSC, and the First Lady's
Office to ensure the event highlighted USG support for Afghan women and girls. We
were pleased to have both the First Lady and the President focus on this issue.
Dorothy Thomas, one of the recipients of the Presidential Eleanor Roosevelt awards,
has been a close friend of our office and the human rights community was very
Enthusiastic about her award and the event
As the 1998 country human rights reports are coming in from our missions overseas,
Lois has developed a matrix for the issues to be included in the reports to address the
status of women within the human rights context: We are splitting up the 100+
reports for review among our staff and will provide this matrix to the desks and DRL
for their future reference. We expect that next year and beyond, the desks and DRL
can use the matrix, with yearly updates and modifications, so that our review will not
be required. This exercise will help institutionalize the women's human rights issues
into the process for preparation of these annual reports.
Anita has finalized plans for the next meeting of the US/Canada working group on
gender in peacekeeping in January. At the meeting, which will include NGOs and AID
and DOD reps, the curriculum for integrating women human rights into training for
peacekeepers will be finalized. Also, a date will be set to launch the training at the
Pearson Peacekeeping Center in Halifax in the spring. You may want to drop by this
meeting to show your support for this project. This joint initiative was announced by
the Secretary during her meeting last March with FoMin Axworthy.
We are happy to report that
(b)(6)
the Indonesian ethnic Chinese rape victim [001]
Lois met with in July, was granted refugee status and has arrived safely in the U.S.
Lois worked with DRL to provide the foundation for her grant of refugee status. Ms.
(b)(6)
family in Jakarta had received threats after she met with the Congressional
Caucus on Human Rights and she remained in Singapore until her refugee status was
granted.
We joined a roundtable discussion with the Pakistani Minister of Population Welfare
of Pakistan on the possible implementation of shariah (Islamic law) in Pakistan and its
effect on women. We also discussed her government's support for the Taliban.
Minister Hussain's perspective was valuable since these issues are consistently raised
here in the department and in meetings with NGO's.
Trafficking in Women
Anita and Steve hosted a meeting on trafficking in women and children for the
Catholic Coalition on Women. Representatives from Catholic Relief Services,
Catholic Charities USA, the US Catholic Conference and the Office of the
Archdiocese of New York discussed ways to become more involved in the prevention
of trafficking through increased awareness and education. They also agreed that the
church can assist in the protection of victims of trafficking through outreach programs
and shelters here in the US and overseas.
Anita, Steve and Kathy Moon (our visiting scholar from Wellsley College) spoke with
Tom Lipman from the Washington Post for his upcoming article on trafficking of
women and girls. We gave him a broad perspective of the problem, outcomes of the
Secretary's action on the issue, and info on how the interagency working group Anita
leads through the PICW is making headway. He will also interview Craig Johnstone
about how his work with us to institutionalize a State Department response to this
issue. Tom expects the article to run in January and we will continue to feed him
updated information.
Outreach
As part of our work on the White House human rights day event, we invited five
emerging leaders, in the US for work on human rights, to the event. Each of them
were honored with recognition from the First Lady. Recently, they forged a
partnership to work through their organization, Global Youth Connect, to support
young leaders, raise youth awareness about human rights, and mobilize young people
around the world to take action. Alyse also coordinated a roundtable discussion at the
State Department for these young leaders. We invited young people from around the
country who are currently interning in Washington to join the discussion and learn
more about US foreign policy and the Secretary's commitment to reach out to young
people.
Durriya joined Her Royal Highness Sarvath El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan for her
discussion on "Women in Islam" sponsored by Mahnaz Afkhami's group, Sisterhood
is Global. Her Highness highlighted the importance of distinguishing between
doctrine, culture and interpretation when discussing women and Islam. She buttressed
her arguments with the many concrete examples of women's initiatives in Jordan
which she supports. We also drew from this discussion to integrate the status of
women into the papers NEA is preparing on the President and First Lady's upcoming
trip to the Middle East. This discussion was well attended by prominent academics,
the diplomatic community, and Muslim women's groups which resulted in provocative
discussion.
Durriya participated in a conference, which she organized, at the University of Texas
at Austin entitled "Women of the Book: The Changing Face of Feminism in Judaism,
Christianity and Islam." The conference brought together top scholars and activists in
this field to engage the cross-section of feminism and religion, an issue which will gain
increasing significance as we work on Muslim women's issues in Iran and Afghanistan.
The conference participants were enthusiastic to learn of the work of the President's
Interagency Council. We will meet with many of the participants to follow-up and in
The future we will engage the academic community, an excellent source of expertise
and support for our initiatives.
Anita and I briefed a group of senate staffers organized by Senator Feinstein's office.
They were very interested in Vital Voices, trafficking, Beijing Plus Five and women's
human rights issues in Indonesia, Afghanistan, and Algeria.
Lidia joined the US delegation to the Interamerican Commission on Women (CIM) of
the OAS. The new U.S. delegate, Kathy Jurado, was appointed in time for this
assembly which meets every two years. Our OAS Ambassador, Victor Marrero, has
been key in trying to strengthen the CIM and open it up to NGO participation.
I addressed the CIM delegates on Vital Voices follow up. Nine of the CIM delegates
attended the Vital Voices conference in Montevideo and talked about the follow-up
activities underway in their countries. This was an excellent opportunity to engage all
of the CIM delegates in the Vital Voices Initiative. We prepared individual country
packets with information for them to use in their home countries.
Lois briefed a new class of foreign service officers at FSI on incorporating women's
issues into their political and economic reporting. Lois will continue to work with FSI
to integrate these issues into area studies, the courses that are mandatory for officers
assigned overseas.
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Melanne Verveer
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P2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA]
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P3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
an agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]
P4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA]
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
P5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA]
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
of gift.
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
2201(3).
concerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA]
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
December 18, 1998
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman
U/S Frank Loy
FROM:
Theresa Loar
SUBJECT:
This week's highlights
Expanding Women's Political Participation
Violence Against Women
Trafficking in Women
(b)(3)
our INR/CIA fellow, traveled to New York as part of her research
[002]
project on trafficking in women and children. She met with the FBI, INS, and the
Assistant U.S. Attorney for New York's Eastern district, all of whom have worked
trafficking cases. (b)(3) also met with the NGO Coalition Against Trafficking Worldwide
who put her in touch with a Czech trafficking victim. The info from this debrief will help
our enforcement and protection efforts.
Outreach
Alethea and I met with Mort Halperin, to strengthen the link between our offices.
We reviewed the Council and the Senior Coordinator's goals and objectives for FY 1999
and 2000 and ways to further integrate these issues into Department regional and
functional bureaus. Mort suggested working with the incoming Rule of Law Coordinator
on a criminal justice system response to violence against women. Mort also for a briefing
from Anita on trafficking in women and girls.
Alethea represented the Council at a meeting with Ambassador Linda Tarr-Whelan, U.S.
Respresentative to the UN Commission on the Status of Women. The purpose of the
meeting was to discuss the 1999 session of the CSW and solicit input for the U.S.
statement on one of session's main themes: "Women and Health." Several NGOs
working on women's health issues participated, as well as members of State, USAID and
HHS. Topics suggested for the U.S. statement included women's experience with
HIV/AIDS, female adolescent health, and women's access to healthcare, including family
planning and mental health services. We advocated that the statement address the health
status and assistance needs of trafficking victims and women and girls in Afghanistan. We
will continue to work with Ambassador Tarr-Whelan in the formulation of the U.S.
statement for the 1999 CSW.
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COLLECTION:
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Melanne Verveer
OA/Box Number: 20060
FOLDER TITLE:
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Presidential Records Act - [44 U.S.C. 2204(a)]
Freedom of Information Act - [5 U.S.C. 552(b)]
P1 National Security Classified Information [(a)(1) of the PRA]
b(1) National security classified information [(b)(1) of the FOIA]
P2 Relating to the appointment to Federal office [(a)(2) of the PRA]
b(2) Release would disclose internal personnel rules and practices of
P3 Release would violate a Federal statute [(a)(3) of the PRA]
an agency [(b)(2) of the FOIA]
P4 Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential commercial or
b(3) Release would violate a Federal statute [(b)(3) of the FOIA]
financial information [(a)(4) of the PRA]
b(4) Release would disclose trade secrets or confidential or financial
P5 Release would disclose confidential advice between the President
information [(b)(4) of the FOIA]
and his advisors, or between such advisors [a)(5) of the PRA]
b(6) Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
P6 Release would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy [(b)(6) of the FOIA]
personal privacy [(a)(6) of the PRA]
b(7) Release would disclose information compiled for law enforcement
purposes [(b)(7) of the FOIA]
C. Closed in accordance with restrictions contained in donor's deed
b(8) Release would disclose information concerning the regulation of
of gift.
financial institutions [(b)(8) of the FOIA]
PRM. Personal record misfile defined in accordance with 44 U.S.C.
b(9) Release would disclose geological or geophysical information
2201(3).
concerning wells [(b)(9) of the FOIA]
RR. Document will be reviewed upon request.
fre Women's Conncil
United States Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520
December 23, 1998
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman
U/S Frank Loy
FROM:
Theresa Load onthout
SUBJECT:
This week's highlights
Expanding Women's Political Participation
Our Ambassador to Iceland, Day Mount, approached us about a Vital Voices Northern
Europe to take place in Iceland (time to be determined). They see this as a mechanism
to strengthen Strobe's Northern Europe Initiative. I am meeting with Ron Asmus in
early January and will also meet with Marc Grossman. Anita's trafficking initiative
with the Finns could fit well into this conference structure.
After my discussion at the ARA Chiefs of Mission Conference last week on Vital
Voices of the Americas follow-up, I met with a number of Ambassadors in the field
who are taking this agenda into their embassies. They continue to look for equal
support and coordination from the ARA front office. Pete Romero has now
designated Sue Woods, the Canadian DAS designate, as the Vital Voices point of
contact and we look forward to working with her.
Trafficking in Women
(b)(3)
our INR/CIA fellow, traveled to New York as part of her research
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project on trafficking in women and children. She met with the FBI, INS, and the
Assistant U.S. Attorney for New York's Eastern district, all of whom have worked
trafficking cases. (b)(3) also met with the NGO Coalition Against Trafficking
Worldwide and debriefed a Czech trafficking victim. The information gathered during
this trip will enhance our enforcement and protection efforts.
Outreach
Alethea and I met with Mort Halperin to strengthen the link between our offices. We
reviewed the Council and the Senior Coordinator's goals and objectives for FY 1999
and 2000 and examined ways to further integrate these issues into the Department's
regional and functional bureaus. Mort suggested working with the incoming Rule of
Law Coordinator on a criminal justice system response to violence against women.
Mort also asked for a briefing from Anita on trafficking.
Anita, H, and I met with staffers from the offices of Senators Feinstein and Wellstone.
They are interested in strengthening USG efforts on trafficking. They are also eager to
see comprehensive protection for victims in the United States which they hear from
the NGOs is not adequately available. Senator Feinstein is moving off SFRC and on
to the appropriations committee and wants to find ways to continue to support Afghan
women and girls.
Durriya met with Bob Seiple to discuss co-hosting a meeting with Muslim women's
organizations in late January. This will initiate the building and strengthening of ties
between the Muslim community and the State Department. We will continue to plan
for this meeting and other follow-up events.
PICW Strategic Planning
We are moving ahead to prepare for the January 14 Council "offsite" which will be
held from 11:00 am - 2:00 pm in one of the diplomatic dining rooms. Lidia and a
professional facilitator on loan from AID are meeting with the representatives to
discuss how they have effectively used the Council and what obstacles they face in
carrying out the Council mandate within their agencies. Out of these interviews we
will develop a worksheet that we will send to Council members before the strategic
planning session. We hope you are available to drop by at some point during this
session.
Our quarterly Council NGO briefing followed by an open house was very well
attended. We drew a crowd of over 200 participants, including the diplomatic corps
and NGOs. Stanley Roth did a terrific job briefing on his bureau's commitment to
women's human rights in FY 99 and 2000 and specifically on his activist role in a USG
response on the allegations of the rapes of ethnic Chinese women in Indonesia. Craig
Johnstone drew thunderous applause following a description of his institutionalizing
gender project. Craig has a knack for describing this initiative in a way that NGOs and
other governments can readily recognize as being immediately effective and having a
long term impact.