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Bureau
of Educational and Cultural Affairs Barriers and Bridges: Women, Networks, and Remarks Patricia S. Harrison Your Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. I am so pleased to be here at this important second annual Arab International Women's Conference. In fact, I am always pleased to participate in programs that involve women's leadership — because women's leadership is usually demonstrated on behalf of others — the family, children, the community, making things better for others. In my role as assistant secretary for educational and cultural affairs, I have had, over the past two years, the opportunity to meet some of the women who come to the United States on our more than 35,000 educational, professional or cultural exchanges. They come for training in many critical areas — education, environment, health care, conflict resolution, rule of law, media in a free society — and no matter where they come from, and many most recently have been Arab women, they come to increase their ability to share what they learn with others when they return to their countries. Americans benefit and learn as well. Recently my bureau brought 50 women from the Middle East to the U.S. to observe our mid-term elections. What an amazing group — community, business, education, government and journalism were just a few of the areas where they excelled. The Americans who met with this group had a real chance to understand that when it comes to Arab women, there is great diversity. But they all had one thing in common — a strong desire to achieve, that was matched by an equally strong desire to contribute to their communities and countries. My bureau relies on 80,000 volunteers and 1,500 private-public partnerships
to conduct our exchanges. We now have over 700,000 alumni — over
200 of whom have become heads of state and government. I am pleased to
report that women now comprise 45 percent of all of our exchangees. Two years ago, I spoke to a conference on higher education in the Arab world. It was attended by policy makers, by leaders from business, education, and government and was held in Marrakech, Morocco. Participants were people like you, men and women concerned about a growing population of young people, under-educated and under-employed. The conference pre-dated the Arab Human Development Report, which then echoed similar concerns, notably a lack of education and opportunity for women and girls. Prior to my remarks, I had the opportunity to listen to Queen Rania of Jordan who talked about 'the hope gap'. This is the gap that separates young people who have hope for the future from those who only know despair. The first group has hope because someone very much like you or I took the time to help them, to ensure they did get the education and the training they needed. The other group, with no education, no hope of a chance to make a real contribution, may statistically be part of the successor generation, but they are doomed to fail. I was so inspired by Queen Rania's remarks and even more by her commitment that I took the occasion of the Marrakech conference to ask the participants: Can we work in partnership, right now, on behalf of young people, to begin to make a measurable difference? The answer was yes. The key motivator behind Partnerships for Learning is that there
will never be a perfect time to focus on the needs of youths or girls
or women in society. But "now" is our time — we have no other time. This is the time when we can see great need and — through working together — we can achieve great results. We are not working within a narrow parameter called "women's issues" — we are working together — as President Bush urged — to ensure the non-negotiable demands of human dignity: the rule of law, limits on the power of the state, respect for women, private property, equal justice, and religious tolerance. And I am happy to tell you that two years later, Partnerships for Learning has been able to reach younger, wider and deeper audiences throughout the Arab and Muslim world, to reach beyond the traditional elites. This is a genuine partnership between my country and people from the region. And we will all benefit. Americans will have an opportunity to meet on a real level with people from Arab and Muslim countries, and connect through our common humanity at a time when we need to have avenues of respect opened as quickly as possible. Our first Partnerships for Learning Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program has begun with 131 students from Nigeria, Tunisia, Lebanon, Jordan, West Bank and Gaza, Egypt, Kuwait, Syria, Yemen, Turkey, Pakistan and Indonesia. In the second year, the YES Program will expand to Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Bangladesh. All told, we will fund almost 1,000 students over two years. We know if we can dispel the misconceptions of who we all are as people, we can further mutual respect, mutual understanding and together accomplish so much. If we can dispel these misconceptions at an early age, our bridge will be much stronger. Our effort to engage younger and more diverse audiences also extends
to undergraduate education under Partnerships for Learning. We
are now wrapping up recruitment of students from less traditional sectors
in Arab and Muslim nations who will spend the first two years of college
study in their home country, then travel to the United States for their
junior and senior years at an American institution of higher learning. Since the Morocco conference, $41 million has been allocated for Partnerships for Learning, which complements the Middle East Partnership Initiative led by Deputy Assistant Secretary Elizabeth Cheney. Let me stress two other points about Partnerships for Learning. First, it is just that — a genuine partnership of governments and educators, business, and community leaders. Second, we do not look upon these programs as one-way streets — but equally as opportunities for deeper dialogue and engagement. Recently we hosted a group of women teachers from Afghanistan as part of our International Visitor Program-women who had taught young girls despite great threat to their lives by the Taliban. I asked one of them: 'How did you find the courage to do this?' 'It wasn't courage,' she said. 'It was just the right thing to do.' Well, isn't that the definition of courage — of leadership — identifying the right thing to do and doing it? These women are part of an extensive teacher-training program that will result in over 500 Afghan teachers being trained and training others. Part of the education process, I really believe — whether we are teaching young girls, or helping older women believe in their own distinct qualities — is to recognize that the work of social and political change begins first from within. The American writer Willa Cather said: "All serious daring starts from within. It may be just a faint wish at first — where a woman dreams of something more than she is supposed to have." It can be learning how to read or, at another level, running for office, or starting a business or an NGO. And then she does what women always do — tells her family and friends. And what will be the response? 'It can't be done', 'Your dream is too big', and 'Who do you think you are'. "No one in our family has ever done that." That is why it is important we be there with resources and encouragement. One small dream of learning how to read will lead to other decisions. And in the process, that woman will be helping her children while helping herself. And as we know, eventually, she will be helping her community and her country — one woman, one dream at a time. I was in Iraq last month and I met with a group of Iraqi women — professors, community activists, teachers, wives and mothers. They told me it is so difficult to get women to trust again, to believe that if they do take a leadership role they will not be hurt or their families tortured. "We have been living in an insane asylum for so long", one woman said, "and we need so much help. Help for our children, for our communities, for our families." We met with university presidents who told us that there had been a maximum quota for women university students because Saddam Hussein did not want women to overtake the numbers of men attending. That quota is now part of the past. Yesterday my bureau announced the beginning of the Fulbright Scholarship Program in Iraq after a break of more than 14 years. The scholarship program will send the first Iraqi students and young professionals to the United States for university study this January. Later in the year, we will be providing exchange opportunities for Iraqi faculty and other more advanced scholars to be part of the program. The women I talked to stressed how important it is for women to be Fulbrighters, to serve as ministers — to have a leadership role at every level. To begin now to end girls' and women's illiteracy which is at a horrific high of 77% in Iraq. For the first year of the program, after meeting with the deans of Iraqi universities, we will be giving special attention to scholarships in areas such as education administration, law, public policy and public administration, economics, and the sciences, including health. We will initially begin with 20 scholarships in the first year and look forward to cooperating with U.S. universities around the country to find the best placements for the Iraqi Fulbrighters. We already have a group of young Iraqi women who want to be considered for this life-changing program. Several years ago, I wrote a book called A Seat at the Table: A Guide for Women Leaders in Business, Government and the Community. The purpose of the book was to affirm that every woman, whatever her race, religion or ethnicity, has innate leadership qualities and these qualities, when utilized on a daily basis, in both small and large ways, are strengthened. So I am very excited about this conference, because of the possibilities for interaction among each of us. For when all is said and done, when we return to our homes around the world, it is the decisions we make and the actions we take that can and will make a difference. By working on behalf of others, we strengthen our own skills and that in turn enables us to work more effectively, more compassionately. Women's education, women's training is critical to peace, prosperity and freedom. A dean of a university in the region said, "If you don't have a culture of learning, you cannot have a culture of prosperity" and neither are possible without women's full involvement. Each of you represents so much talent, so much commitment. When I return to the United States, I will continue to talk about the need to view Arab women beyond the myths and stereotypes. What we are all working toward is a world where women are free to make decisions about their own lives. Some will choose to be wives and mothers and focus on the family. They should be allowed to do this — without criticism. Others want to own a business, some want to teach or help other women achieve their dreams. And many women will do all of these things in time. I have had many titles, many opportunities. But at the end of the day, the important thing to know is something that no title can tell you: who you are, what you stand for, how you contributed your time, and what difference you made in the life or lives of others. This is a room filled with successful women — but you and I know that successful women are usually viewed at the point of their success. The truth we should share more often with others is that at some point in our lives we all needed support and help. Remember, as you work with young girls or with older women who have not had some of our opportunities, that you may want to connect with them by sharing some of the challenges you have faced, so that they can feel hopeful about their own chances of succeeding. We must be there for those who need our help, who need to have the education and training critical for them to move to the next level of contribution. We need to tell them the truth about leadership — it is really all about contributing at that next level of difficulty, whatever it is, moving toward the challenge. My goal through our exchanges is to use all the tools of technology as well as the time-tested people-to-people programs that connect Americans with those of other countries. We need to reach women in real time and not just in theory. We need to listen more. Listen to rural women who may not have an education but understand what they need. We cannot preach the virtues of the Internet to women who have no access to the computer, but we can teach them how to read and how to write. I know all of you are familiar with Dr. Muhammad Yunus, a Fulbright Fellow who started the Grameen Bank, lending money to women when no one else would take a chance on them. He said: "Suddenly I felt the emptiness of those theories in the face of crushing hunger and poverty. I wanted to do something immediate to help people around me. Not knowing what I could do, I decided to find a way to make myself useful to others on a one to one basis. I wanted to find something specific to do to help another human being just to get by another day with a little more ease than the previous day." So he left theory behind and instead began to address the causes of poverty and famine, symbolized by a woman who wove bamboo into beautiful stools. She was earning only 2 cents a day and did not have the money to buy the bamboo for her stools. She was borrowing from a local lender under the condition that she sell her stools to him at a price of his choosing. For just 20 cents, the cost of the bamboo, the mother and her two daughters would have been able to avoid being exploited by the lender, escape poverty, even have time for school for the youngest. Dr. Yunus began by lending the woman the money and then realized that he needed a much more sustainable way of helping. He proved eventually that lending money to poor women carries no extra risk and all initial loans were repaid. Today the Grameen Bank has 1,191 branches and more than 11,000 employees. I am proud that over 40 years ago, the bureau I lead funded the Fulbright Scholarship that helped Dr. Yunus develop his economic theories. But even more significant is that he looked at these women beyond the stereotype, beyond the poverty and saw their potential. And that is what we must do as well. To help young girls who may not have a role model to develop the confidence within themselves to do what perhaps no one in their family has done before. Gonul Saray, the first woman to serve in parliament in Turkey, said it took courage to run for office but now she is inspiring young women to enter politics in her country. Rafiah al Tal'ei, an Omani journalist who recently came to the U.S. as part of our International Visitor Program, said the program triggered her decision to run for the consultative council in Oman. We recently hosted three women from Syria as part of our International Visitor Program and they said that perhaps the most tangible benefit from the experience is that they are now part of a region-wide network of women that can share ideas and they are eager to do something related to social issues for their country. The dynamic Arabic women that Deputy Assistant Secretary Liz Cheney and I are privileged to meet are making a commitment — beyond the goals they may have had for their own lives — to change the lives of other women for the better through education. We know that the education and advancement of girls and women can be
the investment with the highest rate of return for reducing poverty and
promoting economic development. This isn't speculation or wishful thinking,
but a fact substantiated by repeated studies of social and economic development. Only a culture of learning — a culture that values inquiry, dialogue, tolerance, and broad participation by all — can provide us with a culture of sustainable development and prosperity. And in so doing, heal the wound represented by "the hope gap", the knowledge gap. It is our responsibility to provide this generation of men and women, boys and girls, with the twin pillars of education and opportunity — so that they can employ their energy and vision to create a better world in the century before us. All of us must move beyond our personal comfort zone to create an environment for education and opportunity — and if we find we do not have a seat at the decision makers' table, we must build our own table — one with many, many seats to accommodate women who need a voice and can make a difference. I look forward to working with all of you as we support women throughout the world — notably the Muslim world — who are demonstrating both personal bravery and visionary leadership. There is no shortcut, no magic. Someone once asked the question: 'When is the best time to plant an oak tree'? The answer: "Twenty-five years ago." "When is the second best time?' The answer is: now. Let's keep the momentum going from this important gathering of Arab women — to not let the "now" we have slip away. Together we can make a difference for girls, for women, for the successor generation. I look forward to working with you in partnership on their behalf.
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