Audacious Action: 25 Years of Disrupting the Status Quo | 2023 Festival

Well, hi there everyone Is anyone there That's great to know. Well, I gotta say we have a powerhouse panel right now of Powerful women as the as the name implies and today we're talking about 25 years of Disrupting the status quo and beside me are women who've been doing just that I want to introduce them starting with Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, please join me in welcoming her We're also joined by Ruchira Gupta She's a journalist and anti-trafficking activist and author as well as Umi Sissoko co-founder of the girls agenda Feel free to wave so they know who you are For now Heinz peacebuilder at Northern Ireland and Maria Pacheco founder of wakame global. Thank you all for being here So Secretary Clinton, I do want to begin with you and I want to start broadly because you are no stranger to Disrupting the status quo I can think of a few times you've done that first woman to be senator in New York first woman to get a Presidential nomination from a major US Party just to name a few things So I wonder for those in the audience who maybe haven't done as much as you have That wasn't meant to be shady What do you say to those women who are advocating for women's rights today? And also which women's rights do you feel are most at threat? It's a great question and I cannot tell you how happy I am to be back at vital voices and to be on a panel with women whom I admire and know women I've worked with in the past and Be part of this extraordinary network You know, it is a broad question, but but let me answer it in this way. I think that The gains that we have seen in women's rights and women's opportunities Have been significant. I remember very well in 1995 when I was at Beijing at the UN Conference on women We passed a platform for action which I'm afraid in today's world would probably not pass because it had to be unanimous because it was the United Nations so every country had to sign on and at the time we passed that there were Hundreds of millions of girls not in school There was inadequate health care There were economic barriers to the participation of women in the economies of their countries There were laws that prevented women from inheriting property from opening a business all kinds of prohibitions Women in some places were not allowed to vote drive a car women were in many parts of the world Really kept down and kept back so fast forward all these years later Certainly progress has been made a lot of laws have been changed a lot of doors have been either opened or knocked down a lot Of women have assumed positions of leadership and responsibility in the public the private the not-for-profit sectors so a lot of Movement has happened since the world really came together and had an honest assessment of where women stood However in the last few years some of it driven by kovat which disrupted So much of our lives There have been a lot of setbacks to women's ongoing progress and to just name a few after Combating child marriage in Africa it went back up during kovat after criminalizing domestic violence and creating laws against it and special programs to shelter women or to Punish offenders it also went back up during kovat we saw the Maternal mortality rate in the United States of America go up after making a lot of progress on women's health we obviously saw the reversal of Roe v. Wade and the imposition of very draconian laws about reproductive health and abortion in the United States just in place after place to say nothing also about The wars that have gone on and you know we have we thought again We were making progress on the conflict front too and in places now like Ukraine like Sudan Rape is a tactic of war going after women particularly women who are outspoken stand up to oppression and so as With any time in human history there's good news and bad news and Part of our challenge with vital voices is to keep pushing forward because in some places It's the very survival of women the right to survive in other places It is the right to have an education all the way through as far as they want to go in Other places it is having the opportunity to pursue a dream a job a Business that is still difficult, so it's hard to pick out sort of one thing that needs emphasis You know I wrote an article about a year or so ago in the Atlantic where I said you know women's rights are now understood to be legitimate and to be an important Achievement to continue to pursue but without power women's rights are very fragile and so We need to keep not only talking about rights But talking about empowering women to make the decisions that are best for them in their families their communities Their societies, and that's what we keep doing yeah and Secretary I want to spend a moment focused here in the u.s. Obviously it's an area you've worked extensively in and you mentioned the Dobbs decision which rolled back Roe v. Wade are these rollbacks Inevitable I know the Supreme Court has been a big focus right now with Clarence Thomas Do there need to be ethics do you believe the Supreme Court should have a code of ethics? I do believe that why should they be the only institution in the United States without a code of ethics that is enforceable The lower courts the circuit courts the Congress people who run for political office, and they have a lifetime appointment So I'm old enough to remember that there was a Supreme Court justice back in the 1960s appointed by President Johnson Who it was discovered had engaged in some financial Dealings with a you know friend a colleague of his outside of the court and was forced to resign So of course I think there should be Ethical standards, and they should carry some some weight because the daily revelations About what has gone on particularly with Justice Thomas But a few others as well, and it should be it should be nonpartisan not just bipartisan nonpartisan There should be a set of standards and people should be held to them but I just want to close by saying that I mentioned power and It still remains the most important power which is to cast your vote for people who you think will protect your rights and too many Too many people in our country have Failed to believe that or accept that thinking there's no difference well now We've got one really big difference And it's the Dobbs decision and it's the kind of draconian measures that are being passed in a number of states That are right out of Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale. I mean you can't even imagine the United States in 2023 and the kind of you know almost punitive Measures that are being put on women's lives and choices Thank you, and I want to bring you in for now Hines because you've done some really important work overseas I'm thinking of Northern Ireland you actually played an Integral role in that intractable conflict first by introducing a women's coalition to help resolve it for the Gen Z in the room She essentially helped craft the Good Friday Agreement and actually last month Marked 30 years since that civil war passed so with all of that said I want to know and get your perspective Can you speak to coalition building right now? How important is that in the work of women's equity? It's absolutely Essential and just to start with where Secretary Clinton started talking about the Beijing platform for action in 1995 that was the very first International delegation of Northern Ireland women and we collaborated together. I remember booking the air tickets Don't tell anybody with no money in the bank Because we had to get them at the lowest prices and we had to raise the money the first delegation of women to go to To a massive conference where women's rights are human rights, but we started way back in the 1970s You know women leaders of the civil rights movement women Starting a parallel women's rights movement not just waiting for civil rights, but actually working on women's rights Setting up the first Women's Centre out of that spinning women's education projects other women's centres On both sides of the divide who could then work and collaborate together And I know with your friend and our friend Agnes McCormick and others women in the labour movement Rape crisis centres many many work and not just in urban areas, but in rural areas We are very rich in Northern Ireland in civil society and women's activism and I suppose if you come to the time of the women's coalition, and I want to quote a Colleague of mine Annie Campbell. She said the audacity of men Thinking that they could sit around the table and decide the future of Northern Ireland without women Present and and the women's platform the women's European platform had been lobbying and arguing for this and challenging parties Over a very long time, but there was another reason Because we wanted the war to end Because we had seen that previous negotiations with primarily only men around the table had not yielded results and indeed When we put out that call to women because we had years of working as women together and forming collaborations Yes falling out over feminism over this issue over that issue falling back in knowing how to trust each other over the many years and Setting our hearts and our minds on a very very important goal Actually the second part I have to be careful when I'm doing this Internationally because I'm very aware if I'm working with our friends and you know in Syria or Areas, which have not had a long history of civil society They think can we not do this? And of course we can start at any time and lots of things can be the mobilizing force But I find in the conflict the most mobilizing force is that women have been dealing With the effects on the grind of the children and in the communities and the mobilizing force is to work for peace and Then to actually create the opportunity find the opportunity or seize the opportunity And it was all of that that we did in those days There was something very different that women brought to the table, which I think it's important to talk about when you go in and Secretary Clinton talked about it in terms of power When we're in the negotiations The political parties the men and political parties are focused on the power who's going to have the power Is it going to be shared? What are the institutions going to be the men with guns are focused as we all are on the security issues? Okay, and we as women brought Additional issues we could cope with all those issues and be pathfinders in some solutions But actually bring additional issues that speak to the future of society now Why was that because and I've also seen it in Colombia because we didn't go in with a zero-sum position We said how are we going to lead our position and we focused on that point that you made about ethics Based on values and principles and our core values and principles were around equity human rights and inclusion inclusion of all stakeholders and being at the table including people at the table and going through the dialogue no matter how difficult it was and I Leave you with one thought Had women not been at the table. It is Inconceivable and and I know we were the first women in a peace negotiations Victims and survivors would not have been mentioned in the agreement and I was asked over lunch What would I do now? What did we not get right and it's what I say when I'm working with women elsewhere When you think you're asking for something that the other parties aren't asking for multiply it by a hundred double it multiply it by ten again Because we as women are not asking for enough No, that's so powerful Because women don't just bring themselves to the table. They bring so many others and also hearing you talk about Coalition does not mean we're just getting along means we're willing to work through I do want to turn back to Secretary Clinton briefly here though Because you said something that struck me and it was that the men thought they could make decisions without us at the table And of course, we've been talking about 2024. It's looking like we might have a rematch between President Biden former president Donald Trump is an 80 year old white man disrupting the status quo as a potential Democratic nominee representing that party. Well, I think as president he has disrupted the status quo and now he has a record that he's running on and you know, I was in the Senate for eight years and so I have a real understanding of how difficult it was to Get accomplished to get past the legislation that he did and that legislation whether it's building, you know Roads and ports and airports and broadband and all the rest of it or whether it is Building the manufacturing of the future with the so-called chips bill or clean energy will employ millions and millions of Americans so the economic investments that are being made because of President Biden's You know very singular focus on helping us to have the economy of the future Is really disruptive because you know The the prior president he who shall remain nameless He must have said the word infrastructure a million times Infrastructure infrastructure, you know Never did a thing about it because it was hard, you know, so talk is cheap Action is valuable That to me is disruptive because we're currently in a period in our country's history where we think we can't get stuff done because nobody will listen and nobody will talk and nobody will compromise and nobody will Stay and actually, you know, do we see that change work? Well, I think Joe Biden has proven it I mean, I don't think he gets the credit that he deserves from the press or you know Maybe some large segments of the people but literally He got a lot done in two years in very difficult circumstances Including an insurrection at the Capitol to try to prevent him from being president That is disruptive in the best sense of the word that is you know, I know that it's not easy I know that you know, a lot of folks didn't vote for me I know that some people were literally trying to prevent me from being president I'm gonna get up every day no matter my age and we're gonna get stuff done. I love that. Yeah Umi I want to bring you in and I'm so glad you're representing the African Diaspora Specifically West Africa the Gambia. Yeah, I think that deserves a round of applause And I understand in your advocacy work you take a very specific Approach specifically when it comes to shifting social norms in your work for women and girls Can you just break that down for us first of all and then talk about how do you go about shifting? Mindsets and attitudes, I think we can fall into the trap of groupthink I'm just talking to people who agree with me, but you do the opposite I came from a tribe where the firstborn is expected to be a male and Here came a girl and I grew up in a situation Where I saw my mom being battered and I had no idea why I started talking about freedom justice Equality when I didn't know the meaning of feminism, okay When I didn't know the meaning of feminism our crack conversations at school Junior school with peers and ask about their family settings if this is something normal It's something emotional and I still battle with it but here I am today a woman who was battered having a child a daughter Who is now a globally recognized activist for women and girls in the Gambia and beyond? I? Used my mom's experience as a woman of faith a Woman with limited words a woman of grace And I walked very hard Attaining myself a university degree By myself when the chances were very slim In my tribe the first mensuration is actually the ticket for graduation if a girl is lucky to be in school. I Escaped that it was destructive But it came to haunt me when I was 25 And I was graduating with my first degree in the Gambia as the best graduating Degree holder in political science and heading to Thailand for a study exchange program. I Was seen as too disruptive by my father's Extended family and an unknown man was brought from nowhere Actually haven't still set my eyes on this unknown man and I was told to be prepared for a marriage and I was like I Have co-founded my own organization with my best friend Moving all around the Gambia speaking to women mothers and fathers to send their daughters to school Well again, this is another slap on my face, but it is not happening. I Will send you back to your extended family and tell them that this survival is not going to be intimidated anymore It's enough and I am NOT going to marry this unknown man Those extended family members who were pushing the agenda Never contributed to my life or to my well-being when I was struggling with my mom as a single mother and my maternal grandmother. I Emerged out of that headed to Thailand came back and got a scholarship through the Taiwanese government Went to Asia and it became an issue. I was too much a traveling girl I was too much a loose girl. The tribe wasn't happy, but they couldn't do much about it Because I kept reminding them that you didn't contribute a dime to my well-being to my education It is that woman who is silent who should get the credit about me But you're not letting her I Moved on and I focused and invested my energy my resources on my time on the girls agenda especially from 2015 to date Almost every government institution in the Gambia in 2015 when I came from Thailand I actually wanted to visit them and talk to them about investing on girls education Their health and their well-being using my story as a success story In the Gambia, I am a household name because of the approach that I take talking to parents mentoring children Convincing guardians to send their daughters to school I use friendly community approaches by using my story as an example that we could actually disrupt the harmful social norms that are affecting the progress of every girl and In this country, I will go to communities and speak to community leaders I will go to community radius and speak to the people I will speak to my people bringing myself down to the level that we will understand each other But making a point that no woman or girl deserves to be disrespected We all have our equal rights and we are to be protected respected And we should ensure as a society to always promote the well-being of every girl and woman Because if we do our society will progress. I also I Also continue walking with organizations like vital voices I must acknowledge giving me the space actually is very disruptive in the global donor community Young women like myself. We are not accessing resources. We were not accessing platforms like this We were not talking to BBC or CNN sending information out that affect the well-being of girls and young women in our countries So having a link with vital voices, for example Gave me a platform to access global fund for women that also gave me a platform to access Amplify change for example, and we are producing Videos talking about sexual violence talking about domestic violence These are taboo topics, but we are now using arts as someone mentioned earlier in the day We can talk about anything using art. We become the actors and the actresses ourselves go to the media play dramas Play theaters create the movies that our people will understand talking about female genital mutilation talking about sexual abuse Talking about building girls leadership and I am glad to say that over the past three years my Organization has produced 600 gold leaders in the Gambia through support that we got from And that support was built through my participation with vital voices today as I am seated here I came with my two daughters Chile and Jabu and Chile and Jabu will not be mutilated So your investment for the past 25 years is the product like me who have decided that my daughters will not be Like me and I am using my story of not mutilating my girls to convince my community and my tribe that Girls deserve better girls deserve leadership girls deserve life skills girls deserve entrepreneurship skills girls deserve information about their reproductive health and their Reproductive rights to be protected and to earn an education and not to be caught in the name of culture. So, thank you. Thank you For those online there's some standing happening in the crowd and you said your daughters are here I think I've seen them. Maybe they can give a wave to though. I think they're very small You mentioned storytelling and of course that makes me want to turn to you Ruchira in my reading of your work You've been described as a feminist storyteller who wants to paint hope for those unfamiliar You actually had a debut fiction novel last month. So congratulations. Oh, look at that. I kick and fly And I know a lot of your work is centered around human trafficking and preventing that but why use Storytelling whether through the form of journalism or fiction to do that and how can those in the room who maybe do storytelling in their work? Disrupt through the stories they tell Thank you first of all I'm just thrilled to be in this room with someone I've admired for such a long time and met again and again at very critical Moments and I just want to give an example of my own life How storytelling has helped me make a difference in the world that we inhabit today? I was a 20-something kid and I went to listen to Hillary in Beijing And I was standing in the rain and you know Someone gave me an umbrella and said we can share this umbrella and then a few years later I was trekking in the hills of Nepal just a year later, and I came across rows of villages with missing girls and I Couldn't understand where all the girls were and I decided to ask the men sitting there and drinking tea playing cards And they said all the girls are in Bombay And I followed the trail and found little girls locked up in small rooms for years Being exploited by multiple men and as a journalist as a woman as someone who'd been to Beijing and Seen the unity of women's action and the words that women's rights are human rights I couldn't believe how this could exist. So I wanted to do something I decided to tell the story and I ended up making a documentary called the selling of innocence and that Documentary I won an Emmy for that documentary and I came to New York and I was looking at the bright lights and Lots of applause and all I could see were the eyes of the mothers who had told their story in my documentary because they wanted to save their daughters from the same destiny and Donna Shalala had given me the award. I already had Contact with Mrs. Clinton and they put me in touch with Swanee and Milan and together there was an instant women's circle who said you want to make a difference we are going to help you and They took me to speak in front of the UN and show the documentary there and to the US Congress We created a bipartisan bill Wellstone and Brownback and today I can say I played a part With the help of a little few friends and one of them is on stage who galvanized all this action In the UN protocol to end trafficking in persons which is now the golden standard for all the countries to change the laws 160 countries and a part in the passage of the Trafficking Victim Protection Act the first anti-trafficking law in the United States and Literally it was the circle of vital voices which I want to acknowledge and I want to tell that story because Very often when we do the work we forget the work that our Fellow women have helped us do and then of course I went back and set up an NGO to help the girls Who the mothers wanted to protect and again, there was lots of danger. There was patriarchy men will be men prostitution is as old as the hills nothing can be done and I was trying to get the girls into school and Facing a lot of challenges and I remember mrs. Clinton came to Calcutta and even before she went to meet the chief minister in Calcutta she came to visit our NGO and I just gave her a photograph of her with a girl Practicing karate and that literally is the essence of my book. I kick and I fly which I've just signed for her In which a girl 14 years old from a nomadic tribe in India Escapes the sex trade by becoming a kung-fu champ That's why it's called I kick and I fly and the reason again I've gone back to storytelling is because I think We have to break the silence around issues which affect our children, but we don't talk to them about so this book is a young adults book published by Scholastic and It's going to trigger a conversation which we need to have because sex trafficking is happening to children our age But also in schools across America CDC has just brought out a report Which says that teen mental health is a big issue and if the root causes our body shaming bullying sexual abuse Food insecurity homelessness the same things that I talk about So this book might be a message in a bottle But also it's a way of passing the baton on to the next generation And I'm back again with vital voices and with the same group of people to do so So I'm so thrilled and I just want to end by just thanking Hillary Clinton for her leadership Not just talking but walking the talk every step of the way and being there again and again, so Thank you Maria I want to bring you in here. I mean didn't I tell you this is a powerhouse panel pretty impressive group So, I know your approach to disruption has its roots in restoration and recovery Specifically in Guatemala after a decades-long Civil War and for those unfamiliar with your work You saw an urgent need for repair and income generation, especially in remote areas So, can you just talk to us about how you've centered infrastructure in your work? Centering girls and women. Yes But first I really also want to acknowledge Secretary Clinton, I mean, we're so proud of you women all over the world You are an inspiration So I'm of that I think of the first women that came to vital voices I came here in like 2005 2004 and I came with a big dream for my country a country that had been torn by war and where I was looking at women losing Their children because they didn't have five dollars to feed them or to take them to a hospital And I came here like with the big dream But feeling burden and feeling lonely in my work and like everybody said earlier today the first time we sat at a table with other 16 mentees and all the vital voices women some of you are here and you heard our stories and you supported us and you believed in us This from then on I never felt like I was alone in this journey, so I think that's a part of vital voices So yeah, I I'm a biologist, but I was in Guatemala and and the women were saying, you know When you were looking at women burying their children Literally from the war and then from the famine I would ask them like what can we really do that will change your lives and what they said Turn, you know gave me my to-do They said Maria if you can find sources of sources of income for us the rest we can do So I began like wondering how we do that, you know selling everything and but then you know, it's been 20 It's been 18 years and we're able to set up a system where we could get women with big dreams in the villages But very few opportunities to become a formal business Then we set up the wakame value chain Which would sell products in the world markets and many women could go through that and get income and then the women with income Their dreams were not just to have money. They wanted educated kids healthy kids kids that went to school So then we build a platform where we also have girls clubs and scholarships and in nutrition programs so the the women can really Get the dreams done and what have we seen after 18 years in a country where the average school attendance is 4.5 years for girls It's even less that will come me women that will come me boys and girls have nine years of school attendance double the school attendance coming from the most vulnerable community and and in a place where 50% of children suffer chronic malnutrition We see that there will come II women after one year of being in the program 60% of those children start recovering So when you look at that, the biggest problems of our country are being solved by women with income I think you know how we were trying to find a name for that and we were thinking it's like the mom effect You give mom an opportunity and she will transform the children in her families and the dream is you give many women a source of income and you change a country and being part of vital voices just gives me that the Ability to believe that we can scale and we can go further so I think businesses that provide opportunities for very vulnerable people are businesses that change the world and through moms Maria thank you as you're talking about infrastructure, you know, Secretary Clinton earlier during lunch. We were talking about How in the world today? There's so much conflict, right? We're talking about Sudan Ukraine and the reality is that even when infrastructure is built like when we saw the botched u.s. Exit from Afghanistan the Infrastructure can crumble if you were in the White House today. How would you be handling the crises we're seeing right now? Look I think that There there is there's so much going on it is hard to Really Figure out everything that should be done. But just in a very sort of brief overview I fully support what our government is doing in Ukraine. I want the Ukrainians to win I want them to push the Russians out of their country. I want them to be able to rebuild The infrastructure that has been deliberately targeted by You know Putin and that will require patience and you know, we're not living in a particularly patient time You know, we have a short attention span people are wanting, you know to figure out what's happening move on keep going but we have I think along with all of our allies but mostly because of the courage of the Ukrainian people and their and their leaders we have been able to See a small country invaded by a very very large neighbor Defend itself and I think we should do everything we can To help them continue the fight and go on the offensive and try at least to push The Russian troops out of what has been seized last year and then try to figure out how we can help them rebuild in Sudan The United States government along with others have been trying very hard to negotiate ceasefires But the bloodlust is too high, you know, the men that are fighting for power Are not ready for a lasting ceasefire I mean one of the things that happened in Northern Ireland after you know, 3,500 or so people were killed There was enough You know willingness to stop the killing and to haul to have a ceasefire but it took years to get there and Expect that in Sudan. I don't know I think these I think the two people the two men, you know, the head of the military the head of the militia are you know putting everything they have into Trying to gain power and there's going to be a lot of you know, terrible barbaric you know Consequences of that as we heard at lunch from Nazik, you know Bashir escaped, you know So he's at large We've got other countries in the region that are trying to pick sides and and arm the side They're in favor of we've got the Wagner's army, which is the you know, the Russian mercenaries that are fighting in Ukraine They're also in Africa and they're also picking sides. So this is going to be I'm afraid a very Difficult conflict to get to a ceasefire that lasts but we should keep trying and we should do everything we can I want to continue to support the women's revolution in Iran Those young women who are on the streets of Iran You know, I think they will eventually prevail But they have paid a huge price the number of you know, young people killed thrown into prisons Tortured sexually assaulted by a regime that has no legitimacy a bunch of old men hanging on to power. It's disgusting And so the people and particularly the young people of Iran deserve so much better and we need to do everything we can which is difficult to support them Afghanistan look could anything have been done differently for that? Well after you know, Trump made the agreement to pull out. I don't think anything Was going to happen other than we were gonna pull out it could have been handled better. I think everybody should recognize that but it's It's really tragic. You know, the Taliban showed up in Doha during these negotiations that You know Mike Pompeo then Secretary of State was leading and the Taliban said oh we're different we've changed Oh, of course girls can go to school. Of course, no problem. And if you read the ridiculous Document that the United States government under Trump signed with the Taliban they just bought it hook line and sinker because they wanted to get out and so then Biden inherited that and it was you know a very Unfortunate outcome. So we need to do everything we can to try to help the people of Afghanistan Especially the women and children that's going to be very difficult because you know aid is being Cut off if women are delivering it There's lots that we have to figure out how to how to do to help so you could literally go around the world There are so many challenges but on balance on balance, I think that you know the coalition that was put together to Help Ukraine was quite an accomplishment. I think the Work that's being done to try to bring Asian nations together to stand up against a potential invasion of Taiwan by China Very important. I think that we need to do a lot more work in Africa and Latin America. I don't think that you know There was so much in my view That wasn't done in the prior administration. We have to have to do some makeup work there but we're living in a really complicated time and We need people to not just be in government and Thinking about these issues, but you know in business in the media citizens in academia across the board Because I know that if we don't stand up for freedom and human rights We will lose ground and I don't think we want that to happen. And so I Want to end we got about a minute So we're gonna do rapid-fire minute with this very small panel of five very powerful women So Rana I want to start with you I Asking each of you a slightly different question, but for everyone looking ahead Rana Where do you see the greatest opportunity for progress when it comes to how we build coalitions? Well, one of the things I think we have is we have the international frameworks now with the Beijing platform for action And the suite of resolutions around women peace and security and the solidarity piece is really important in the depths of our difficulty having international solidarity from outside was essential and Moving forward like a good news story when vital voices came to Northern Ireland was when I set up democracy We had partnerships which managed to turn Very few women in our assembly and in our political infrastructure from 14% up to nearly 40% We're at 37% now and that's I think turning round the management of Power so where I think it needs to happen along with this is I have a lot of faith in you in the young people in the young people in every single country and those of us need to work in an Intergenerational way supporting young women because you're really sassy You don't censor yourself the way we maybe used to do growing up We you have our faith and our love and our hope and I think we need to create that sense of security around them and those of us who are in Opportunities to make it easier within the international frameworks. We need to be doing that so that they can get ahead and do the work in every country Lumi, I want to bring you in and sort of reframe the question a bit What does progress look like to you? But also what do you think the West may be doing wrong when it comes to work on the African continent? What can we be doing better? Okay to me progress is about creating lead adolescent girl leaders young women as leaders my commitment from now to 2030 is the creation of 2,000 young women leaders across the Gambia by Constructing something similar to this idea called the leadership hub for young women in the Gambia It is through the grant that we got from the Global Fund through vital voices connection creating women leaders and sharing that power Ensuring that girls and women are represented on the decision-making tables will be transformative to improve maternal health to reduce food insecurity sexual violence domestic violence and The first leaders to enforce laws such as laws against female genital mutilation and child marriage how the West can invest more is Getting our leaders to work for the people and not for their political positions Help us rebrand democracy in a way that it is also does it doesn't also look like Something like a force on us walking together with us through our institutions collaboration between the West and the South to ensure that the gains of democracy over the decades are Actually sustained in the best interest of the most vulnerable But also those people that we see as vulnerable are powerful in their own rights when they get the right Investment on them and space are created for us to voice out our needs and we have the abilities to thrive And the sky will be the drawing board Ruchira you're an Emmy Award-winning storyteller Looking ahead. How do we tell stories that best serve women and girls as a group here? I think tell stories of hope Talk about what we have achieved what our friends have achieved what each other has achieved because often we are gaslighted And we are told you've done nothing you fail. This is going on. That's bad But actually we have made huge strides and what we are facing right now is a backlash So if we don't give up right now We can achieve a world in which there's full participation of women and girls in everything Because if not our democracy will go gender digs a trench into our brain into which all other inequalities fall Because it's at home We first realize that it's all right for one class of human beings to order and one to obey One to get paid for their work and one not and then we go out Replicating the same models of power and looking for a strong Head of the state just like a strong head of the family who may be right or wrong So we really have to not give up. We are almost there Maria what gives you hope in this moment as you look ahead? I think we're talking with the least today collective dreams You know the big gift the vital voices that with the women here in the US gave us as women was to learn How much power comes from supporting each other and that we brought to Guatemala and to Central America We once I came here we started with other friends other women in Guatemala the Central American vital voices Network And what gives me hope it's so many of us women working with girls working with generating income working With getting women on boards and so it's a movement now and it all got started here So the more we are the faster we will achieve this world in which? Equality is a key ingredient Thank you. I guess me hope And of course Secretary Clinton, I want to end with you 2024 no kidding Where do you think we need to be focusing our efforts when it comes to Pursuing a gender equal world looking forward looking ahead Well, I think you've heard from four amazing women who are showing us by their daily actions and their commitments What can and should be done and honestly? from you know my perspective We just have to keep the energy up to continue To stand and speak out and support Women and our men who are allies who are on the front lines, you know trying to push forward the kind of opportunities and rights and power that women and girls deserve to have in the continuing pursuit of justice and equality So honestly, I I know we've had a backlash. You're a hundred percent right about that but that should just stiffen our spine and and get us more committed and I think it's important to keep trying to get more allies more more people who? Understand what's at risk, you know, I was talking to some women who are in the fight for abortion rights in our country and All of a sudden, you know somebody knows somebody who has a miscarriage and they can't get treated because under the You know the absurd laws of the state in which they live. They're told I'm sorry We can't treat you yet. Go go sit in your car Until you're really sick and then come in and maybe then we can treat you. Well storytelling and then Acting on those stories and then motivating people and I'll end with this and then turning out to vote in Democracies and not leaving it to somebody else To decide who our leaders are. That's what we need to be doing if we're going to Stop the pushback and and restart all the progress that still lies ahead Secretary Hillary Clinton and everyone else. Thank you all so very much for your work and for your time