BUT SOMETIMES AS WE BEGIN IMPORTANT INITIATIVES, AS YOU ARE DOING HERE THIS MORNING, IT IS USEFUL TO HAVE A STRANGER WHO WEARS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SET OF PROFESSIONAL GLASSES, TO WALK YOU THROUGH THE POSSIBILITIES AND THE NEEDS FOR ACTION. THAT IS WHAT I WILL DO THIS MORNING AS MY CONTRIBUTION TO YOUR THINKING AND ORGANIZATION OF AN INTERNATIONAL PEDIATRIC NURSES' NETWORK. I HAVE HAD THE RARE OPPORTUNITY TO TRAVEL AND TO MEET PEOPLE AT BOTH THE GRASSROOTS AND THE HIGHEST POLITICAL LEVEL IN SEVERAL COUNTRIES OVER THE YEARS. FROM CAMBODIAN AND PALESTINIAN REFUGEE CAMPS, TO THE GARBAGE CITY OF CAIRO. FROM WOMEN'S DEVELOPMENT P ROJECTS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA, TO DAY CARE CENTRES IN SAN SALVADOR, POLIO CENTRES IN CAMEROON AND HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN IN CHINA, OR SOUTH AFRICA, OR EVEN MY OWN COUNTRY - HERE IN CANADA. I HAVE HAD THE STIMULATING AND OFTEN HEARTBREAKING OPPORTUNITY TO SEE HOW MANY OF MY SISTERS' LIVE AND WORK - AND TO KNOW MY OWN IMMENSE GOOD FORTUNE OF HAVING BEEN BORN AND RAISED HERE, AT THIS TIME, AND IN THIS COUNTRY - WHERE WE TAKE SO MUCH FOR GRANTED AND YET WHERE OUR GOOD FORTUNE REQUIRES OF US, A CONTRIBUTION LARGE AND GENEROUS TO OUR SISTERS AROUND THE WORLD.
AS WE VISITED SO MANY PLACES, AND TRIED TO UNDERSTAND THEIR OWN INTERNAL DYNAMIC, THE EFFECT OF THOSE TRIPS WAS ALWAYS TO DO TWO THINGS. FIRST, IT LET ME KNOW THAT IN EACH COUNTRY OF THE WORLD, THERE IS AN URGENT NEED FOR A FOCUS ON THE NEEDS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN. SECOND, IT SHOWED STARKLY THE LINKS BETWEEN AFFLUENCE AND INFLUENCE - AND THE ALMOST UNIFORM SITUATION OF POVERTY AMONG WOMEN AND GIRLS. THIRD, THAT EVEN WHERE WOMEN LIVED LIVES OF COMFORT, IT WAS A COMFORT ON LOAN TO THEM. THEIR STATUS AND AFFLUENCE - I WILL NOT SAY INFLUENCE - DEPENDED ON THEIR HUSBANDS, WHO IN MOST SOCIETIES ALSO HAD THE POWER TO END THEIR MARRIAGES AT ANY TIME, OR TAKE ANOTHER TO REPLACE THEM, AT WILL.
THIRD, IT DEMONSTRATED, BEYOND A DOUBT, THE LINK BETWEEN WOMENS' STATUS AND THEIR RIGHTS AS HUMAN BEINGS, AND THOSE OF THEIR CHILDREN. 4. AND BUIDING FROM 3 - IT BARED THE HARSH TRUTH THAT CHILDRENS RIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES DEPENDED SO MUCH ON THEIR MOTHERS EDUCATION AND ABILITY TO MAKE INFORMED AND TRUE CHOICES ON THEIR BEHALF, FOR THEIR HEALTH AND WELL-BEING. AND YET HERE AGAIN, BE IT FOR REASONS OF CUSTOM, OR RELIGION, OR PLAIN PUBLIC POLICY, EDUCATION WAS AND CONTINUES TO BE DENIED TO WOMEN AND GIRLS - WHY? BECAUSE THEY WILL WASTE IT - THEY WILL BECOME WIVES AND MOTHERS - AND WIVES AND MOTHERS NEED NO EDUCTION, THE REASONING GOES, BE CAUSE THEY HAVE NO STATUS. THEY ARE ONLY WOMEN DOING WOMENS' WORK, AND THERE IS NO NEED FOR THEM TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THE WIDER WORLD.
THIS LESSON - OF THE LINK BETWEEN GENDER AND STATUS AND AFFLUENCE, IN EACH AND EVERY COUNTRY OF THE WORLD - IS ONE UPON WHICH WE MUST BASE OUR COMMON ACTION FOR CHANGE. AND THIS IS OF PARTICULAR IMPORTANCE AND RELEVANCE ON THE EVE OF THE UPCOMING BEIJING CONFERENCE, WHERE WOMEN WILL NOT ONLY ASSESS WHAT HAS BEEN DONE TO BETTER THEIR LIVES. THEY WILL ALSO CRAFT THE PRAGMATIC AND ACHIEVABLE LOCAL AND GLOBAL STRATEGIES TO COMPLETE THE WORK STARTED TWO DECADES AGO IN THE DRAFTING OF THE FORWARD-LOOKING STRATE GIES.
I AM NOT A GREAT ONE FOR STATISTICS. THAT IS WHY I AM IN LAW. MY THINKING PROCESSES DO NOT ABSORB NUMBERS WELL. BUT IT DOES NOT REQUIRE A PH.D. IN MATH TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WE HAVE BEEN REPEATEDLY TOLD THIS WEEK. WOMEN DO THE BULK OF THE WORLD'S WORK, YET O WN ALMOST NONE OF THE EARTH'S LAND OR RESOURCES. WOMEN RAISE THE WORLD'S CHILDREN AND KEEP MOST OF THE WORLD'S FAMILIES, IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, WITH OR WITHOUT A MAN AROUND, AND THEY HAVE NEITHER RECOGNITION NOR THANKS FOR THIS MASSIVE EFFORT. CHILDREN CO NTINUE TO DIE FROM PREVENTABLE DISEASES AND CONDITIONS. CHILDREN AND WOMEN ARE STILL BLOWN TO BITS BY THE SOLDIERS OFTEN OF THEIR OWN GOVERNMENTS, WHO SEE THE TERRITORIAL IMPERATIVE AS THE PURPOSE OF THEIR LIVES, AND CARE NOT ABOUT THE HAVOC AND HATE THAT THEY SOW WITH THEIR GUNS AND THEIR STUPID AND SENSELESS WARS.
I CAME HERE THIS MORNING TO SPEAK ABOUT WHY YOU, WITH YOUR SKILLS AND YOUR PROFESSIONAL TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE IN PEDIATRIC NURSING, SHOULD COME TOGETHER TO FORM A PUBLIC AN INTERNATIONAL NETWORK. I THINK YOU CAN NOW SEE WHY I THINK THIS IS IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO DO.
IN CLOSING I WOULD LIKE TO ADD SOME THOUGHTS ON WHAT I THINK YOU MIGHT DO WITH SUCH AN ORGANIZATION. 1. YOU MUST JOIN YOUR CONSIDERABLE NUMBER OF VOICES TO THOSE ALREADY CALLING FOR LAWS AND POLICIES WHICH VALUE WOMEN AND CHILDREN. WHAT IS NEEDED IS A REORDERING OF PUBLIC PRIORITIES TO MAKE WOMEN AND CHILDREN THE FOCUS OF LOCAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL DECISION-MAKING. IF WE CAN ALLOW BUSINESSES TO DEDUCT STAPLES AS A BUSINESS EXPENSE, SURELY WE CAN ALLOW PARENTS TO DEDUCT THE COST OF QUALITY CHILD CARE AS A COST OF THEIR CONTRIBUTING, THROUGH THEIR WORK, TO THE VERY PRODUCTIVITY OF THE BUSINESSES OF OU R COUNTRIES.
2. YOU MUST REMEMBER THAT BY AND LARGE, YOU ARE A PROFESSION MADE UP OF WOMEN. YOUR ACTIONS WILL SERVE AS ROLE MODELS FOR OTHER WOMEN - ESPECIALLY THE YOUNG GIRLS WITH WHOM YOU WORK, AND WHO ARE OFTEN IN NEED OF PEOPLE THEY CAN TURN TO AND EMULATE.
3. YOUR PROFESSION, BY ITS NATURE, TAKES YOU DIRECTLY TO WOMEN, THROUGH THEIR CHILDREN. YOU CAN HAVE A PROFOUND IMPACT ON THE EVERYDAY LIVES OF WOMEN, AGAIN THROUGH THEIR CHILDREN, AS PATIENTS. BUT PLEASE DO NOT LET YOUR INFLUENCE STOP THERE. YOU CANNOT J UST GIVE THEM HEALTH. YOU MUST ALSO GIVE THEM HOPE. HOPE THAT THEIR LIVES ARE VALUABLE. BUT, AS A MOTHER OF A TEENAGE DAUGHTER, I SAY THIS - HOPE THAT THEIR DAUGHTERS WILL NOT BE CONDEMNED TO FIGHTING THESE SAME BATTLES OVER AGAIN, TO BE RELEGATED TO SECO ND CLASS CITIZENS IN THEIR OWN HOMES. TO HAVING NEITHER AFFLUENCE NOT INFLUENCE. YOU CAN DO THAT. YOU CAN, IN YOUR DAILY PROFESSION, TOUCH THEIR LIVES AND MAKE THEM BETTER. THIS IS PART OF WHY YOU CHOSE NURSING AS A CAREER. BUT IT IS ALSO THE PURPOSE OF Y OUR WORK, ITS CORE, ITS MISSION.
4. AND FINALLY, USE YOUR ENERGIES TO LINK THE HALF OF THE WORLD WHICH WE, AS WOMEN, HOLD UP. I HAVE LED A LARGELY PUBLIC LIFE, AND I AM VERY LUCKY IN MY LIFE. THAT DOES NOT MAKE ME SANGUINE OR COCKY. IT MAKES ME WORK. ITS MAKES ME REALIZE THE ROLE EXPECTED OF ME IN THE FEW YEARS I WILL BE HERE ON THIS EARTH. ALL OF YOU HAVE TOUGH DAYS. IT SEEMS T O GO WITH THE TERRAIN. BUT WE ARE ALSO IMMENSELY FORTUNATE. WE ARE EDUCATED, WE HAVE PEOPLE WHO CARE FOR US. AND WE HAVE BOTH THE ABILITIY AND THE POWER TO MEET THE URGENT CHALLENGES WOMEN AND CHILDREN FACE IN OUR WORLD. THIS INTERNATIONAL NETWORK WHICH YOU WILL DISCUSS AND HOPEFULLY FORM TODAY, CAN PLAY A POWERFUL ROLE AS BOTH A CONSCIENCE AND A CATALYST TO IMPROVE INDIVIDUAL LIVES AND, AS IMPORTANT, TO IMPROVE OUR WORLD. ??