Secretary Clinton was a surprise speaker at the TEDWomen conference in D.C. yesterday. I haven't seen a transcript of her talk yet, but according to the @TEDWomen Twitter feed she said, "Give women equal rights, and an entire nation is more stable, more secure." Here are a couple of other Clinton-related tweets from @TEDWomen:

• Hillary Clinton: Women's issues are a vital interest of the US. It is a security issue, a prosperity issue, a peace issue
• In reviewing a key US defense & diplomacy policy, Hillary Clinton made sure women were represented throughout

Update, Dec. 14, 2010, 5:31 p.m.: Click here for an amusing anecdote Clinton told about how a cow can change a girl's life.

Aisha, the 19-year-old Afghan whose nose and ears were hacked off by her husband and who appeared on the cover to Time magazine this summer, has a new prosthetic nose!

With her new look, she attended the Grossman Burn Foundation's benefit event in California on Oct. 8 and received an Enduring Heart award from Maria Shriver, wife of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. "This is the first Enduring Heart award given to a woman whose heart endures and who shows us all what it means to have love and to be the enduring heart," Shriver said.

The Grossman Burn Foundation paid for Aisha's surgery in California, and plastic surgeon Peter H. Grossman, co-director of the Grossman Burn Centers, is hoping that a "permanent solution" can be found, perhaps reconstructing Aisha's nose and ears from bone, cartilage, and tissue from other parts of her body, reports the Daily Telegraph. Now, Aisha is beginning a new life in the United States. What a brave young woman.

Update, 4:13 p.m.: The brutality inflicted on women like Aisha shows us why Secretary Clinton is so adamant that absolutely no political reconciliation in Afghanistan should come at the price of Afghan women's well-being. As she said in July in Kabul:

I don't think there is such a political solution that would be a lasting, sustainable one that would turn the clock back on women. That is a recipe for a return to the kind of Afghanistan -- if not in the entire country, in significant parts of the country -- that would once again be a breeding ground for terrorism.

Here is a CNN video about Aisha, whose surname has not been disclosed, and her new look:

Secretary Clinton yesterday announced an international alliance to improve infant and maternal health in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The five-year effort joins the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with the development agencies of the U.S., Australian, and British governments in an effort to "increase access to family planning and reduce maternal and neonatal deaths," as Clinton put it.

In her remarks, made at U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Millennium Development Goals maternal and child health event, Clinton said:

Our effort will contribute [to] increasing access to family planning by 2015 for 100 million women who now lack it. It will also boost the number of skilled birth attendants, babies delivered in clinics or hospitals, and women and newborns who receive quality medical care.

Infant and maternal health is an issue that people both agree on and disagree on so strongly. Everyone agrees on promoting infant and maternal health. How can anyone be against healthy babies and healthy moms? But then there are the divisive issues of contraception and abortion.

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa and global health, wrote an op-ed in Sept. 19's Washington Post warning that abortion-rights activists could sidetrack this week's meetings on the Millennial Development Goals. He singled out Clinton, pointing out that she "has said publicly that she believes access to abortion is part of maternal and reproductive health." (And indeed, her remarks on the topic irked many Canadians when she visited Canada in March.) Smith cautioned that "Including abortion in the U.N. Outcome Document or in its implementation will undermine the Millennium Development Goals."

Curiously, Smith's op-ed never mentioned the term "contraceptive" or anything that could be interpreted as its synonym. Maybe it was outside the scope of his op-ed, but if you want to reduce abortions, one of the obvious things to do is to improve access to contraceptives for women who want them. Without a conception, you can't have an abortion.

For the sake of women and infants worldwide, let's hope activists on both sides of the abortion debate don't let their disagreements get in the way of important mutally-agreed-upon measures that save the lives of some of the most vulnerable people on Earth.

Want a breakthrough in Mideast peace negotiations? Open the talks to women -- that's the nontraditional approach that two women from the Institute for Inclusive Security advise in a recent opinion piece.

Of course Secretary Clinton, a woman, is already facilitator in chief for the peace talks, taking place today in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. But the opinion piece, by Carla Koppell and Rebecca Miller, argues for the direct and indirect inclusion of women, women's groups, and other civil-society organizations. When such groups are included, the peace process becomes more transparent and the "fog of pessimism" brought on by secrecy lifts. The authors write:

Research shows that when women are included in negotiations, they regularly raise key issues otherwise ignored by male negotiators. Women often facilitate cross-conflict talks on the margins of formal negotiations that cultivate public investment in negotiations. When formally involved, women often help talks gain traction.

Importantly, the authors argue that transparency, not secrecy, drives peaceful resolution, and they point to research by Darren Kew and Anthony Wanis-St. John that demonstrates a correlation between the degree of involvement of civil-society groups during peace negotiations and the likelihood that a peace agreement will hold. (I think it's this study.)

Koppell and Miller advise Clinton that she can be more inclusive of women and civil-society groups by doing the following:

•Soliciting topics for the negotiating agenda from civil society and women;
•Organising public consultations with women and civil society organisations to hear their perspectives on the core issues;
•Creating a formal consultative mechanism for civil society groups to feed input indirectly into negotiations;
•Appointing gender advisers or civil society liaisons to assist official delegations; and
•Offering negotiating teams additional seats at talks if women are added.

You never know. This outside-the-box approach just might work. At the very least, it can't make things worse.

It's absolutely deplorable that anyone would poison innocent children just trying to get an education, but it appears to be happening in Afghanistan, with children -- especially girls -- becoming poisoned at school by toxic gases over the past two years. Blood tests have found toxic levels of organophosphates in victims of 10 mass poisonings, the New York Times reported Aug. 31. Organophosphates are found in herbicides and insecticides and are used in the development of chemical weapons, such as the nerve gases VX and sarin.

Just last Wednesday, Aug. 25, another gas poisoning occurred at a girls school Kabul, and dozens of girls and teachers had to be taken to the hospital, as seen in the photo above and video below. These poisonings are particularly tragic because as humanitarian Greg Mortenson of Three Cups of Tea fame puts it, education promotes peace "one school at a time." With every girl who can't learn to read and every school that is attacked, Afghanistan remains one giant step farther from peace.

Details -- whether all the poisonings were deliberate and how the gases were delivered -- are still under investigation, but Secretary Clinton, an unflagging advocate for the empowerment of girls and women, has condemned these disturbing attacks through the following statement, issued Aug. 31:

The United States is deeply concerned by the recent poisonings of Afghan school children in Kabul. While details of these attacks are still being verified, Afghan schools, teachers, and students, particularly girls, are regularly targeted by anti-government elements seeking to destabilize Afghanistan and undermine progress. We condemn such attacks and are working with the Afghan government to address this important issue and prevent further incidents from occurring.

Afghanistan and the United States, together with 40 other co-sponsors, presented a joint resolution to the Human Rights Council that was adopted by consensus in June concerning attacks on innocent students, particularly girls, in Afghanistan. We urge the international community to continue their support for the Government of Afghanistan in combating repression and violence against girls seeking an education, and in bringing to justice those responsible for these appalling attacks.

Our deepest sympathies are with the families of the victims, and we assure the government and all the people of Afghanistan that the United States will stand by you as you continue working to bring peace and stability to your country.

Below is an Al Jazeera video about the gas attacks:

At least 179 women were gang-raped in a weekend orgy of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo last month, the United Nations revealed yesterday. Most women were raped by two to six men at a time, while their children and families watched, an NGO source told the New York Times. 

This horrific news comes just roughly a year after Secretary Clinton defied security advice and personally visited Goma, the epicenter of the Congolese region where rape has been used as a weapon of war. As her eyes brimmed with tears, Clinton listened to a woman explain how she was raped while pregnant and lost her baby. Clinton called the sexual violence "evil in its basest form" and announced $17 million in U.S. aid to respond to it.

Clinton has a jumble of issues to address, from Middle East peace to wishing Ukraine a happy Independence Day, but it would be encouraging to see her at least make a statement on this sickening tradegy. Maybe Melanne Verveer, ambassador at large for global women's issues, could do something?

Over at Inner City Press, Matthew Russell Lee has taken the United Nations to task. It spends $1 billion annually on a peacekeeping mission in Congo that is tasked with protecting civilians. Nevertheless, these rapes occurred just 30 kilometers (about 19 miles) from a peacekeeping base. Then today, the day after the announcement about the rapes, the Security Council met, but no one called for the issue to be taken up! 

On International Women's Day this March, Secretary Clinton said:

Investing in the potential of the world's women and girls is one of the surest ways to achieve global economic progress, political stability, and greater prosperity for women -- and men -- the world over.

When you educate girls and women, you change attitudes and increase women's earning power. And when women have a broader view of the world and increased earning power, that changes the internal dynamics of a household, and across many households, that can change a society.

That's why Clinton would be impressed with A Girl Story, the world's first donation-based film series. The animated 11-part film, launched by Nanhi Kali, a nonprofit that helps underprivileged girls in India get an education, follows a fictional Indian girl named Tarla. When I first learned about the short film in late June, I could only view the first few parts, which showed Tarla dreaming about going to school, but being unable to attend. Her big brownish-plum cartoon eyes welled with blue tears, as seen above in the clip from chapter 2.

For the film to advance and show Tarla realizing her dream to attend school, viewers must make a donation. The idea is that it's up to the viewers whether Tarla gets to go to school, or not.

Yesterday I checked out the film, and I was heartened to see that it had advanced to the sixth part of the series, with the story progressing to show Tarla receiving a book and a school bag, but still not making it through the schoolhouse door. But then the film halted, and Tarla told us that to "unlock my next chapter," we must contribute $844 more. (Nanhi Kali's website says it costs just 1,800 Indian rupees -- about $39 -- to send a girl to school for a year for grades 1 to 7, and 2,500 rupees -- or $54 -- for grades 8 to 10.)

Nanhi Kali -- which means "Little Bud" in Hindi -- presently supports the education of more than 58,000 girls in India, but hopes to grow that number. It was founded in 1996 by the Mahindra Education Trust in India, which is registered in the United States as the Mahindra Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. So check out the film, and if you're like what you see, consider making a donation to the foundation.

Can you even begin to imagine the heartache of watching your newborn baby being tossed into the sea? That's what happened to Salima, the young Somali refugee in the photo above. I was alerted to her photo and story by an email last week from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The woman who captured Salima's image, photojournalist Alixandra Fazzina, is being honored with the UNHCR's Nansen Refugee Award for her "tireless dedication to uncovering and portraying the overlooked human consequences of war." Fazzina spent two years in Somalia following refugees escaping across the Gulf of Aden to the Arabian Peninsula. Salima's portrait graces the cover of Fizzina's resulting book, A Million Shillings: Escape from Somalia,
forthcoming in September.

Here's a summarized paraphrasing of the moving caption that accompanied Salima's photo:

Basatine, Yemen, March 2008 -- Salima, 19, now lives in a cramped, dark safe house controlled by human traffickers. Once she saves up $25 through begging, the traffickers will drive her to the desert, allowing her to get to Saudi Arabia, where she'll most likely spend her days enslaved as a maid in someone's home.

The last six weeks have been a nightmare for Salima. She had been living in Mogadishu, Somalia, with her baby boy and husband. Six weeks ago, while pregnant with her second child, she left her home to buy bread. While out, mortars hit her house. "I found my husband and child, but they were not with us anymore," she told Fazzina, the photojournalist. The two had perished in a random attack perpetrated by the very soldiers who had been entrusted to protect the people.

Seven months pregnant, Salima decided to escape. She journeyed northward 20 days in a truck until she reached the area near Bosaso. Salima, along with 120 others, entered the water and were hauled onto a small, wooden boat. Because she was pregnant, she was allowed to sit with her legs out. Everyone else had to sit with their knee to their chins. 

In the rough seas, Salima began to get contractions and started bleeding. The crew, who had been drinking gin and smoking marijuana, and who were armed with guns, knives, and hammers, moved her to the front of the boat. She thought they were helping her. Salima passed out. When she woke up, she saw a crew member toss her newborn baby into the sea -- like it was nothing more than a ball. "My baby was all I had left of my husband," Salima told Fizzina.

After landing at a deserted Yemeni beach, Salima was registered at a UNHCR-operated center. She even saw a doctor, but it was too painful for her to talk about what had happened. Now, all alone, without family, she is a traumatized teenager, barely an adult. So, she's back with the traffickers. Her final destination? "Where Allah takes me," she says. Realistically, she'll toil in virtual slavery as a maid  in someone's home in  Saudi Arabia.

On June 18, in honor of June 20's World Refugee Day, Secretary Clinton spoke about what the refugee issue means for Americans:

[Supporting refugees] goes to the core of who we are as a people and a country because the United States is not only a nation of immigrants -- we are also a nation of refugees. We know from our collective experience that most people want the same basic things in life: safe communities, food, water, lives free of political and religious and other persecution. And when these basic needs go unmet and families are forced to flee their homes in desperation, we should all be there with a helping hand.

She also said:

We help because it is the right thing to do. We happen to believe it's also the smart thing to do, but even in cases where it doesn't appear all that smart, it's still often right. And therefore, we proceed.

It's a big day in women's history today: Australia just got its first female prime minister!

After Kevin Rudd stepped down as prime minister, Julia Gillard stepped up. She said she was "truly honored" to be prime minister and said to reporters:

"I think if there's one girl who looks at the TV screen over the next few days and says 'Gee, I might like to do that in the future,' well that's a good thing."

She also said today:

"I'm aware I'm the first woman to sit in this role, but I didn't set out to crash my head against any glass ceilings."

She may not have set out to break any glass ceilings, but she has. Secretary Clinton -- who famously said her supporters helped put "18 million cracks" in the "highest, hardest glass ceiling" during the 2008 Democratic presidential primary campaign -- must be very happy for Gillard.

Clinton will be visiting Australia for defense talks sometime at the end of the year, and husband Bill Clinton will be visiting in November to talk about disadvantaged women and children at the Asian Pacific Global Issues Forum. It's not known whether their visits will overlap.

Secretary Clinton met with women civil society leaders in China this morning. It's wonderful that she's able to take time out of her busy schedule -- packed with talking to leaders about what to do with North Korea -- and support women in the strides they're making around the world.

[Update, May 27, 2010: The transcript from the meeting is here.]

Secretary Clinton met with four female Afghan government ministers yesterday and made a pledge to the women of Afghanistan: "We will not abandon you. We will stand with you always."

The Afghan government is planning to reconcile with and reintegrate "moderate" Taliban, and many Afghan women are understandably concerned that women's rights will be even more sidelined. Clinton reassured them:

It is essential that women's rights and women's opportunities are not sacrificed or trampled on in the reconciliation process.

And Clinton restated that message in her discussion with Afghan President Hamid Karzai later in the day when she listed the conditions that Taliban members would have to meet to reconcile or reintegrate. In addition to saying that they must abide Afghanistan's laws and Constitution, renounce violence, and cut ties with al Qaeda and its extremist allies, Clinton said, "[O]n a personal note, they must respect women's rights."

Let's hope this move to reconcile with and reintegrate "moderate" Taliban doesn't end up being a step backward for Afghan women.

"... it's like walking through the Old Testament" -- that's a description of Afghanistan's Uruzgan province provided by Dutch Army Brig. Gen. Tom Middendorp to the Washington Post last summer.

The United States wants 21st-century-style women's liberation in Afghanistan, but can the United States make that happen -- and fast? It took the United States 144 years (1776 to 1920) to grant women the right to vote. Now Afghanistan is expected to go from Old Testament times to the 21st century in something closer to 144 months. 

It would be great if the United States had a magic wand to make Afghanistan a land of freedom, democracy, good governance, and women's rights. Gen. Stanley McChrystal even thinks he has one; he calls it "government in a box." Reality check: The only people who can create a stable, free Afghan government that is "of the people, by the people, for the people" is the Afghan people themselves. And unfortunately, it doesn't seem like a critical mass of them are onboard yet to make that happen. So, the United States and its allies find themselves trying to drag Afghanistan kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

Yes, this is discouraging. Every day that goes by is another day that Afghan women are treated worse than animals. But there are a lot of people out there who think that if the United States just perseveres and just continues plugging away at it, democracy and women's rights will happen -- just read Valerie Hudson and Patricia Leidl's excellent FP piece, "Betrayed," about why the United States must not let down the women of Afghanistan. 

The authors point out that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- an absolutely unflagging advocate for women and girls around the globe -- said in March, "... the subjugation of women is a threat to the national security of the United States." Hudson's research proves it: "states with higher levels of violence against women are also less peaceful internationally. Indeed, violence against women is a better predictor of bellicosity than level of democracy, level of wealth, or presence of Islamic civilization."

I share the authors' belief that the United States shouldn't abandon the women of Afghanistan, but I also think there are limits to what the United States can do. Just like you can't force someone to fall in love with you or command an atheist to genuinely believe in God, you can't make an entire society embrace women's rights. Yes, social change is possible -- the West went from burning women as witches to women burning bras -- but it unfolds indigenously, organically, slowly, over decades, centuries. Now the United States wants to hit the fast-forward button on social change in another country. Imagine if Dutch troops dropped into Alabama and pushed for sincere, societywide, approval of same-sex marriage -- how fast do you think social change would be?

Continued after the break …

Read on

The United States and Canada may be good friends, but that didn't keep Secretary Clinton from getting tough and ruffling feathers there during her two-day visit this week. Three things have irked many Canadians:

•Clinton's criticism that Canada didn't invite indigenous groups and some Scandinavian countries to a meeting on the future of the Arctic.

•Clinton's public appeal on Canadian TV for Canada to stay in Afghanistan past its planned 2011 withdrawal date.

•Clinton's urging that Canada's initiative on global maternal health include contraceptives and abortion, the latter of which Prime Minister Stephen Harper (seen above) wants to leave out.

It takes a lot of guts to stand up for your beliefs and be critical of a friend.

Secretary is en route to Russia right now to discuss the new START treaty and meet with the diplomatic "quartet" on Middle East peace. Meanwhile, here are some recent Clinton headlines.

MIDDLE EAST: 

•"With subtle shift in nuance, Hillary Clinton reiterates U.S. stance on Israel" (Washington Post)

•"Clinton to call Netanyahu soon amid row" (Agence France-Presse)

•"Foreign minister: 'Not reasonable' to stop building in East Jerusalem" (CNN)

•"Mrs. Clinton's hissy fit" (Washington Times)

INDIA:

•"Nirupama Rao briefs US on talks with Pakistan" (Indo-Asian News Service)

•"Pakistan, Afghanistan high in Rao's talks in US" (Indo-Asian News Service)

JAPAN:

•"Clinton, Okada to meet in Washington or Canada in late March" (Associated Press)

•"Okada unlikely to present Clinton with Japan's plan on Futemma" (Associated Press)

IRAQ/WOMEN: 

•"Clinton looks forward to an inclusive Iraqi government" (Kuwait News Agency)

•Yesterday, Clinton met with 22 female Iraqi provincial council leaders. Her remarks are here.