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- 10/21/08: Remarks by Henrietta Fore, Administrator, USAID and Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance at the White House Development Summit
- 10/08/08: Remarks by Henrietta Fore, USAID Administrator and Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance at The President's Freedom Agenda
- 10/01/08: Remarks by Henrietta H. Fore, Administrator, USAID and Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance, at the Ceremony Marking the Full Operational Capacity of Africa Command (AFRICOM)
- 09/25/08: Remarks by Henrietta H. Fore, Administrator, USAID and Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance, at 2008 Millennium Development Goal Malaria Summit, New York - "U.S. Leadership in the Fight Against Malaria"
- 09/22/08: Remarks by Henrietta H. Fore, Administrator, USAID and Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance, at the White House Symposium on Advancing Global Literacy - "U.S. Commitment to Advancing Global Literacy"
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Remarks by Lisa Chiles
USAID Counselor
USAID Symposium on School-Related, Gender-Based Violence
Ronald Reagan Building
Washington, DC
September 16, 2008
It is a privilege to welcome Mrs. Nita Lowey, Chairwoman of the U.S. House Appropriations sub-committee on Foreign Operations and no better champion for basic education, as well as our other distinguished officials and guests this morning. I want to thank the USAID Office of Women in Development for organizing this excellent event, and for bringing us together to share lessons learned from the Safe Schools Program.
I also offer a warm welcome to our foreign guests who have traveled here from Ghana and Malawi: Dr. Beatrice Okyere, Country Coordinator for the Safe Schools Program in Ghana; Mr. Victor Mante, Director of the Teacher Education Division of the Ghana Education Service; Dr. Chrissie Mwiyeriwa, Country Coordinator for the Safe Schools Program in Malawi; and Ms. Madalo Samati, Director of Programs for the Creative Centre for Community Mobilization, familiar to many as CRECCOM. The United States is proud to support your efforts to make schools safer and to raise the quality of education in each of your countries.
President Bush has made a strong commitment to oppose gender-based violence and promote equal opportunities for girls in education, as demonstrated in the Presidential Initiative on African Education and the Presidential Initiative on Women's Justice and Empowerment. As First Lady Laura Bush noted: "…Violence against women is an outrage that afflicts every society. Women who have suffered from violence feel vulnerable and afraid. And violent acts deny our basic rights to safety and security…". Five years ago, the challenge of gender violence in schools jeopardizing girls' safety, security, and educational attainment was answered by the launch of USAID's Safe Schools Program. An innovative pilot, the program recognized that gender-based violence was a barrier to educational success and had to be addressed head on, which very few organizations were doing, even as recently as 2003.
For our guests from Ghana, I want to note especially that when President and Mrs. Bush visited your country earlier this year, one of the highlights of the trip for the First Lady was her visit with the First Lady of Ghana, Mrs. Theresa Kufuor to the Mallam Basic School in Accra. The school demonstrates an outstanding commitment to gender equality and educational excellence.
In both Ghana and Malawi, the Safe Schools Program is making a path-breaking contribution to the global cause of curbing gender violence in and around schools. It has also had an impact on reducing child marriage, which often puts an end to a girl's education.
Allow me to share Glory's story. Glory lived the life of a typical girl growing up in Kaombe village in Malawi. She never thought that she would complete primary school, much less attend secondary school. When Glory turned 13, her parents decided that she should get married. Glory was given no option but to drop out of school and move to her new husband's village. After that, however, Kaombe's Village Headman Chilembwe and Glory's parents became actively involved in the Safe Schools Program. As a result, they worked together to remove Glory from her early marriage and re-enroll her in school. Today, Glory is happy to be a student again. Her family now sees a future in an educated daughter, and is supportive of her endeavors. Glory looks forward to attending secondary school this month.
There are many other girls like Glory who have benefited from the partnerships of the people with the governments of Ghana and Malawi and the people with the government of the United States.
School-related, gender-based violence is a complex issue. It requires the involvement of teachers, parents, students, community members, government officials in education, health, and social welfare, the police, child protection agencies, and NGOs. The complexity of this issue clearly transcends the reach of any one organization.
The key to minimizing complexity is knowledge. Most importantly, that knowledge and experience must be shared among donors and their contractors, NGOs, host governments, the private sector, and foundations, which are all striving to make a difference. Today, we have brought together a diverse audience from the government, NGO community, and private foundations that cuts across the sectors of education, health, humanitarian assistance, and child protection.
Whether your focus is on increasing the quality of education, preventing the spread of HIV, empowering adolescent girls, or protecting orphans and vulnerable children, you all have a role to play in making schools healthier learning environments for girls and boys. Today you will learn more about this issue and discuss ways in which the promising interventions to end gender-based violence can be adopted and integrated into your existing programs for teacher training, school governance, support to orphans and vulnerable children, and HIV prevention education, to name just a few.
Let me say a special word about HIV prevention. Reducing gender violence is central to HIV prevention. To increase effectiveness, gender-based violence prevention needs to be integrated into HIV prevention activities. The Safe Schools Program increases self-confidence among girls and boys to protect themselves from HIV, and creates an environment where schools no longer condone the sexual harassment and abuse of students, sending a clear message regarding responsible personal behavior. Let us make the potential role that schools have in preventing HIV more of a reality.
In summary, ending gender-based violence is critical to both global education and health goals.
Now, I have the privilege to introduce our keynote speaker. As the Chairwoman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, Congresswoman Lowey is responsible for the annual funding bill that directs foreign aid and State Department operations. She has led efforts to significantly increase the U.S. investment in international basic education since 2001, from $100 million to $700 million dollars, and authored the Education for All Act, the first comprehensive legislative plan to achieve universal, free basic education for all children by 2015. Mrs. Lowey is, without a doubt, a strong intellectual force and advocate behind a greater U.S. Government commitment to education. We appreciate all the support she has shown to this Agency.
Congresswoman Lowey, we look forward to your remarks.
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