virus that causes the disease. we are aware that we need to do this, and they are ready and able. cervical and breast and prostate cancer, i saw our country's readiness to tackle these issues head on. we have successfully brought together leaders from around the world, from 20-22nd of july to discuss how to in cervical cancer by 2015. [applause] i believe that net maybe you can be a role model in this fight against cervical cancer. we have been successful in

controlling the burden of hiv of reducing deaths from the disease. thanks in large part for support from the american people through -- let's see. we can do the same with cervical cancer, and that we will and we must. our new partners at the pink ribbon red ribbon are standing with us in this battle as part of our collective prevention. forecast for all women, working together i am strongly convinced that we can reduce death from hiv and the women's cancer. i thank you. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome pink ribbon red ribbon ambassadors.

[applause] >> your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, we have heard today breast cancer and cervical cancer are cutting short life to me women in sub-saharan africa. but pink ribbon red ribbon is making studies to combat this preventable and treatable diseases. we hope you all leave today with the knowledge that prevention -- young girls of today and their mothers may never have to face possibility of breast cancer and cervical cancers. this is important not only for the heads of our citizens, but also for the health of our economy. after all, these economic power of our women is a key to strong

and -- sub-saharan africa and the world. we are truly thrilled to be pink ribbon red ribbon ambassadors. we are eager to use our voices, influence to raise awareness of these issues. we're committed to be all they can be, a voice of healing, and hope for the women of her own country and continent. thank you. [applause] >> your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, i think bethlehem for her comments. i want to echo them very much, and i'm also truly grateful for

opportunity to present pink ribbon red ribbon as an ambassador. all of us gathered here today can be ambassadors for the women of africa. i encourage you to join with us in our mission. as first lady's you can use your unique platform and influence to create awareness of the problem and the champion prevented solutions. as the leader of an ngo or a corporation, you can partner by financial or kind donations. as an individual you can use the

power of the knowledge you know, you now have, to share what you know with your network. and here i want commitments for the vast experience to serve the women of africa once more. on behalf of steve, bethlehem and pink ribbon red ribbon partners, and the secretariat, i want to thank you in advance for joining us to save the lives of the generation, and the next generation of women on our continent, africa. we are grateful to be working alongside with you. thank you. [applause]

>> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the second lady of the united states, dr. jill biden. [applause] >> wow, i feel so tall on this. [laughter] push it aside. well, good afternoon, everyone. thank you for that warm welcome. it is a pleasure today to be here with my great friend and partner, michelle obama. unit in a great example of the

profound difference first ladies can make. so thank you, michelle, for your leadership and for your friendship. [applause] and it's wonderful to see president and mrs. bush again. we had a great event together in texas earlier this year to thank you for the work you are doing on behalf of the post-9/11 veterans through your military service initiative. to all the african first ladies, and other distinguished guests here today, thank you for taking part in this historic summit, and for adding your voice to this important conversation. i've been a teacher for over 30 years. in my own classroom and in my travels around the world, i've seen firsthand the difference a strong, educational foundation can make. a few years ago i had the

incredible opportunity to visit a girls school in kenya where i was a how education was providing a sense of hope, of normalcy, and the chance for a better life. last month when i visited zambia, the democratic republic of congo and sierra leone, i met with students were excited to learn, who are dedicated to their studies, and you have big plans for the future. in the hallway outside a classroom in zambia, a colorful board with the words our dreams, caught my attention. students have posted notes on the board describing what they drink to become when they grow up. doctors, lawyers, pilots, and my personal favorite, teachers. every dream posted on the board had a common purpose, a desire to give back, to help their community and to move the

country forward. that is the spirit of the next generation in africa. to make this possible it means making sure that all students, boys and girls, have access to quality education. the united states is committed to making sure girls and young women have the tools they need, not just to survive, but to thrive in their communities. and we are here today because we believe that it is our responsibility, yours and mine, to provide the next generation of women with the confidence and the education they need to succeed. because we know that a nation cannot reach its full potential until it's women me to tears. thank you very much for being here at. [applause]

>> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome -- representing president obama's mandela washington fellowship for young african leaders. [applause] >> audible first ladies, ladies and gentlemen, -- honorable first ladies. i come from mozambique from a very remote village in the southern part. i'm proud to be an african woman. i come from a family of nine, and the first girl child in my family to earn a degree. i was fortunate because i had a scholarship to study. my brothers and sisters didn't have the same opportunities, and

faced many more challenges. especially for girls to go to school is very rare in my village. girls don't have a voice. they don't make decisions. people say that girls should support their husbands and raise children. i want to describe to you a more common experience of another girl. during sixth grade, she is forced into marriage with an old man of 51, already with two wives and 11 children. her father is sick with hiv/aids, and the only solution to take care of his health is to give his daughter to this old man. and then return he will receive cattle, money in the form of jewelry.

the innocent girl has the option, but except the parents idea as a sign of respect and obedience. she is now 22 years and has four children to take care of. the old man she married is dead, as well as part of her parents. i think we can all imagine the future of this young girl, and this girl is my cousin. my passion to fight for her education was motivated by her and her story. i wish to start an organization where young girls like my cousin go to school because i believe they still have a future. i believe they still have a future. with their hands, their skills, with the knowledge they can help themselves move up in life.

honorable first ladies, ladies and gentlemen, if it's not now, then when? if it is not us, if it is not you, then you will support the girls education in our communities? it's time to take action. thank you very much. [cheers and applause] >> honorable ladies and gentlemen, girls face many problems and challenges to finish school. they are traumatized, they are abused, neglected and abandoned just because they are girls. my name is miriam from the democratic republic of congo.

today i want to share with you my story. in 1998, my family was attacked by rebels. they attack our neighbors first. they killed all the seven children and their father. they were 25 rebels, and they all raised their mother. we are hearing -- they entered in our house. they told us to make a line and cannot look at them. at a time i was nine years old, and i didn't feel afraid. i was looking at their commander without shaking my eyes. he pushed me and said, young girl, don't you know that i can finish it in a second? i said, yes, i know, but i'm not

afraid. i know you're going to kill us, but you also pay for what you have done. he looked at me and asked, what's your name? i replied, my name is miriam and i'm not afraid to he said, i've killed many people. i've killed girls and boys but i've never seen someone resisting me like you. you surprised me. i want to give your family but i want you to move away from your. since that day, i grew up with one mission, fighting for human rights and for girls education. [applause] i continued my studies. i saw many of my classmates killed by guns and raped. i graduated last year, and i was

the only girl among boys. [applause] i decided to start a project to educate women and girls, victims of sexual violence. today i ask you to join me without any fear, he does here is the legal debt. these days i ask all the girls all over the world to take out the fear and to take out the pains. but has taken back to schools. thank you. [cheers and applause]

♪ >> when you're a husband, a leader, i have to become a leader. if the government can't, i had the opportunity to go there. i was a teacher. to become rich. rich not means to have money, but when you have education, you are rich. when you give education to the girl, you give to the whole family. >> my project was working with children who became orphans as a

result of the work we're just got through as a country. and then in the late '80s, that time changed so much in uganda and destroyed so much. hiv/aids patches, and it was terrible, and so i was working with children. creating a lot of awareness, i wanted to give something back. it didn't matter where it was coming from or who i was. as the president you had to understand. because what i was doing, i was doing from a mother's perspective.

it also plays a role, be open to people who are not able to reach to the president. >> i have been in the medical profession for years and i have seen a lot of people die from cancer. even yesterday i came back from the funeral of my cousin who died from cervical cancer. and even my mother died of that. >> all the nations are really affected by this disease. >> today i am in power. after a few years -- i believe

the children, they remember. without mama, without mama we will not be here. there are many things which i have attempted to do as first lady. some have completed. some are still in projects. i can tell that i've really changed a lot of lives, especially in namibia. >> we are at that place in africa where not everybody can get support. there are problems that were not there when i was young, but there's certain things, you work

with the school, he finished school, you get a job, you have a family. that's what children are prepared to do. if there is anything i can do, and do it, and saves even one life, that's the best thing i can do with my life. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

[applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the first lady of kind of -- kin ghana. [applause] >> your excellencies, mrs. michelle obama, first lady of the united states of america, your excellencies, first ladies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, i come to the united states government and the george bush institute for this unique opportunity to be part of this event as we discuss the provisions of quality education for our girls.

i am particularly happy to be here because of our shared values of democracy and the iso- relationship that exists between my country, ghana, and the trend aid of america. your excellencies, as ghana joins the world to observe -- i called for prioritizing quality education for girls. [inaudible] your excellencies, in africa girls need quality education and these challenges are not limited only to enrollment, progression, completion, accessibility, early marriage, early pregnancy.

they also face -- [inaudible] while boys are allowed to play and rest, the girls in addition to going to school must be doing domestic chores. this is a part of social contribution. mayors also the challenge of lack of one or comprehensive and coherent -- into schools and keeping them there. and thirdly, my foundation -- [inaudible] these girls would otherwise have dropped out of school.

but thankfully we have provided them with a better future. in fulfillment of my commitment to promote quality, my foundation is -- sorry, provide accommodation and education -- [inaudible] the facilities will provide education for these outcasts. distinguished ladies and gentlemen, in language the government policy guidance,

policy, education for the children in ghana, my foundation is working to secure funding for dining halls, kitchens, and a program for the deprived women in the countries. i have been in discussion with the policymakers regarding the provision of quality education for all girls. this discussion culminated in parliament of ghana in july this year. the minister of education will provide packages for 10,400 beneficiaries from deprived communities in ghana, and most will be girls. [applause] the government have also started 200 to 90 days and schools to

solve the challenges of accessibility and thereby encourage enrollment. ladies and gentlemen, today the women -- improving conditions in their communities across the world. perhaps if there were more women in decision-making roles around the world, we would have better societies. the president of the republic of ghana, the president of the republic of kind of has shown a way in is the appointment of the highest number of women of cabinet ministers and other public positions. [applause] >> these women were appointed in their position because of the investment made through education. i am not alone in this

conviction. when you educate a mine, you educate an individual. that when you educate the woman, you educate a family. [applause] women's education brings possibilities not just for women but for communities and future generations, to. i would, therefore, asked the world to join hands with government to make more resources available, a part of the social responsible for the education and empowerment of women. your excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, let me also use this opportunity to call on my colleagues first ladies to pick up the challenge to ask the home government to come up with policies that will ensure quality education and increase access not only for girls but for all our children.

i thank you for your attention. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please now welcome ambassador kathy russell from the department of state, ms. and cotton, the honorable -- forum of the african women educational. doctor sarah, and shelley from the intel foundation. [applause] >> hello, everyone. delighted to be here. i'd like to thank everyone so much for joining us this afternoon. we would especially to make -- to thank mrs. obama, this is bush and all of the first ladies who are here.

we're delighted to have you. in the united states we have a very powerful notion that we all hear about from the time we are children, that education is the key to a better future for us and for each successive generation. .. >> i saw it at st. joseph's girls' school in sierra leone a

couple of weeks ago when i traveled with dr. biden, and we all saw it with the girls trying so hard and against such incredible odds to get an education in nigeria. these girls and their parents know intuitively what the data shows us, that the girls' education is one of the smartest development investments that the international community can make. education increases a girl's individual earning power by 10 to 20%, the majority of which she invests back in her family. girls who stay in school longer through adolescence are up to six times less likely to be married as children. girls' attendance in formal school during adolescence is correlated with later childbearing, lower rates of hiv and aids, fewer hours of domestic and labor market work and greater gender equality. in addition, a child born to a mother who can read is 50% more likely to live past the age of 5 and more likely to remain

healthy, safe and in school herself. we know that keeping girls in school through secondary school, most importantly, is better for girls, their families and their communities. it is absolutely critical to expanding women's meaningful participation in work force, and it's the key to the universal dream of empowering the next generation to do better than the last. i'm so pleased to be here today with our distinguished panelists to talk about what we can do to insure that girls in africa get the education they deserve and they need to become the leaders of tomorrow. so let me briefly introduce our wonderful panelists. dr. sarah rutow, actually, we're not in order here, so dr. sarah rutow is the regional director for east africa which is a citizen-driven initiative operating in kenya, you began da and tanzania that seeks to draw

public attention to learning. she will speak about completion of primary education and about getting parents involved in supporting education. the honorable aisha is the chairperson and founding member of the forum for african women educationalists. many of you have herald of this. -- heard of this. it's an ngo working throughout africa to insure education is tailored to address the specific needs of girls. she will share some of her thoughts on the importance of girls completing secondary education. ann cotton is the founder and president of camfed international working to address poverty in africa through girls' education. ms. cotton will speak about empowering the next generation of leaders and expertise in working with governments and other partners. and finally, shelley askew, vice president of legal and corporate affairs with the intel foundation working to give girls

and women more opportunity to participate in the global economy, and she will speak about the importance of empowering girls through access to technology. so let me begin with my first question to dr. rutow. sarah, i understand that you use an innovative approach to improve literacy and numeracy for girls which we know is a challenge in many places. what barriers do you see that keeps girls from pursuing primary education and what interventions do you think are most successful? >> thank you, ambassador. i think when we are looking at the barriers, it's against tremendous progress we have made. how me to talk about the evidence, we reach about a million children since we started in 2009. about 90% of the children have at least had five years of schooling in east africa. and then there is the 10% who are missing somewhere. and it's known where they are. they are often to be found in

the poverty hot spots. they're to be found in rural remote districts. and these districts are not culture specific. if you go to kenya and uganda, they're neighboring and, therefore, you need a regional approach to that, not just a nation-state approach. and the reasons that are keeping them out, i think, have been talked about by so many people; attitude, religion, practices. research has always told us about them. so we need to be listening to the evidence, i think, a little bit more. but even the 90% who are in school, they've only been there for about five years. and when you look at the numbers who are getting to school in terms of gender parity at the start, it's almost equal, boys and girls. and at that early level because we test the children's abilities to do literacy and numeracy, that added level, they're not any better or any worse than boys. but later on you'll find that girls drop faster than boys in the preteenages.

and school inefficiency is affecting our children because our data again tells us that in uganda, for example, the school year's supposed to be seven years. and yet children are taking 11 years to complete. the older a girl is in school, the more vulnerable she becomes and, therefore, we need to be looking at that. yeah. and in terms of the successes, let me talk about three of them. the first time i got the data is telling us which all of us know is that when a mother has primary education and especially secondary education, you see that her daughters and children generally have higher learning outcomes. the evidence is there. not so much for the men, fathers, but more so for the mothers. the second piece of evidence which we need to be looking at is the role of school leadership. where a school has got a dynamic leader, they're in charge of about 500, maybe 1,000 children, they serve girls and boys. and then the third one is the

girls' own resilience. when you introduce girls to many activities, you know, whether it is in sports, they learn confidence and, therefore, when things are bad, then they will have to draw on their own strength. and so building on the girls' resilience becomes very important. but as you've seen, i've started with the family, mothers, and then the school, and then the girl herself. all of us have a role to play. >> sarah, could you talk a little bit about the role of the family? and in particular, what you can do to convince families particularly when they're facing situations of limited resources of how you deal with that problem and convince them if they have, you know, a couple of children or if they have to choose between sending boys or girls to school, how you encourage them to send their girls and make those decisions, that it's worth the investment to send the girls to school. when you see that 90% of the children are in school and it's

near gender parity, for me it looks like at least half the battle is done, because many parents believe and are sending their girls to school. i think the biggest thing that will lead to skepticism, that will destroy this belief is if our girls, our children have nothing to show for the years they spent in school. and so the onus is on us then, those of us who are seated over here are evidence of the success of schooling. this has to be spread to all the others. and i think if we do that, i remember when i went to a village one time and we had a fundraising, and the daughters sent money to the church because our mothers told us this was very important. and when i met the pastor he told us, you know, it's important to send girls. did you see how they built the church? it's evidence of success that will be what will drive us and show that, actually, it is worthwhile to educate our children, your girls, your boys. >> so you're the evidence.

[laughter] thank you. all right. aisha, i was wondering, i understand that faraway is working in 33 different african countries to foster policies, practices and attitudes towards girls' education. i was wondering, your organization has worked with governments, commitments, civil society -- communities, civil society to make education for girls a priority. could you talk about what you see that works best, what more could be done, and if you could work with some specific examples of gender-based violence, vocational training and give us your sort of just based on your experience what your views are about the best opportunities out there. >> let me just maybe start by giving you some statistics. we have 30 million kids out of school. 54% are girls. 22 million adolescents are out of school. 54% are girls. therefore, we have to do

something. we cannot just sit and wait. we have to work together to give to these people the right to quality education. so fawe is working for gender equity and equality for all children, in particular girls. what we have done is to develop innovations to convince. because if you don't convince, you cannot reach the results you want. we start with the advocacy at the community level. i think you touched about it. you have to convince both male and female, because these two are the ones who have to take the decisions. are we going to take the girls or the boys to school? you have to tell them and explain to them the value of education, the benefits of educating girls. i think today we have seen it.

this video has shown us everything, so i don't have to go to it. and what we have found out is today men are supporting girl withs' education. girls' education. and women support girls' education. they even form what we call mother, mother clubs. and they are the ones now who are tracking the girls that are not going to school. so school attendance now is looked after by these women clubs. we have another innovation which is very important. it's empowering girls and boys. it's the -- [inaudible] order. it means to speak out. so in the school, men, the girls and the boys get together, they identify their problems, they analyze them, and they together find solutions to solve them. what we have found out through drama, songs ask activities --

and activities, we have found out that now girls are empowered to speak out. theythey have self-confidence, y have negotiation skills, they have leadership skills. and they are fighting against what we call culture, cultural barriers. now they know that they have rights, so they claim their rights. we have another innovation, giving -- [inaudible] i think the first lady from ghana just talked about it. when you give a birthright to a girl who is bright -- [inaudible] of the secondary school, it makes a difference. so with -- [inaudible] we gave to more than 46,000 girls and boys. 30% for the boys. you see, you cannot just discriminate boys either. you have to pull them, you know, they have to work together.

and with the foundation, we are going to have 1,200 scholars in rwanda and ethiopia, and it's going to make a big difference. you educate a girl, mahatma gandhi has said it. you educate a family and a nation. a boy is just a person. [laughter] so we also have what we call the center of excellence. i'm mention it because madam bush visited one. in that school we transform it into a gender-responsive school. girls are empowered and boys also. teachers are trained to be gender aware, and now they know how to treat girls and boys equally so that the participation of girls even in math and science is much better.

and it's amazing how the school now has an environment which is conducive to learning. there is no gender violence at all. >> wow. >> which is important. technical education. we have trained out-of-school adolescent girls in six countries which were postconflict affected. what we did was to give them the skills and competencies in the disciplines that will also be male disciplines such as mechanics, you know, electricity , carpentry. and they have, they did very well. and before they finish, we go and lobby the, we lobby the companies to the hire them when they finish their studies, and it has made a big difference. when you have confidence in a

girl, she can do i would say even better than the boys. i'm saying that because africa in 2011 the population was one billion. and 20% were youth. and estimation is that in 2015 50% of the population is going to be youth. therefore, africa will have to invest in its youth in particular girls. if you want a continent to be dynamic, productive economy. and i believe in girls' education. if you are here, it's because we were educated. and it's amazing because my father was one who said all my girls have to go to school. therefore, please, let's get together and work for girls' education. [applause]

>> thank you very much. ann, i'd like to ask you a little bit about camfed's unique approach which i understand you call the virtuous cycle, which i would like you to explain, if you would. but you have educated girls since 1993 and supported young women in rural communities working through national and local systems with parents, teachers, government officials and traditional authorities which i think is really critical in many of these communities. i would like to understand how you, how you've worked with girls through development and education and beyond that, and if you could give us some idea. and as i said, if you would also explain the virtuous cycle, i would appreciate that. >> yes, of course. thank you, ambassador. well, we work in rural areas, and that's where poverty is deepest. and many families are not in a position to make choices, in fact. they make decisions based on

socioeconomic realities. their choices are forced. and so we understand and work and respect that decision making. so the process is one of partnership with parents, inclusion of parents. and the point of transition from primary to secondary school is where so many girls drop out, because the costs of education rise. so our partnership with parents means that they don't have the means, but they certainly have an abundance of love. and our data shows that that support they get at home, that encouragement we are seeing between 88% and 93% attendance across five countries. the numbers of girls are high, 108,000 in secondary education. parents are not withholding their girls from going to school for domestic and agricultural chores. in the schools are teacher mentors and networks because girls are coming to school with problems. they suffer bereavement, for example, so we have a network of

trained teacher mentors across 5,000 government schools, and that is having a significant impact on progression which is 90% across all programs. >> wow. >> now, you mentioned tradition alleyeders. -- traditional leaders. they are some of our most powerful advocates. one of the traditional leaders said a number of years ago in zimbabwe, he said i have understood in speaking with girls that they are refugees in their own land, and he is an advocate, and there is a peer network of traditional leaders, particularly child protection and child marriage. and, of course, government. really our partnership with government is the foundation stone. we work in government schools, and our partnership there is at the district level and national level. our directors in africa all recruited from africa as policy work very closely with ministries of education. they share data, strategies, they're at the policy table. so it's really a very inclusive

program for the education of girls. and we are seeing significant improvements in academic results of those poorest children. but when they come, when they leave secondary education, what next? you know, they are confronted sometimes by a lack of employment, and often they will be in a position where they are under pressure to marry. and also they may go to town in search of work where they are very, very vulnerable. so at that point we support beyond secondary education, depending on grades and aspirations, into university into technical training colleges and with training and lobes and grants -- loans and grants. and, therefore, the family. how do you make that dividend grow for the district, for the

nation? so what we've done is created an alumni. so that is the completion of the cycle. members, there are 24,435 graduates in that network across ghana, tanzania, malawi, zambia and zimbabwe. extraordinary young women. we're supporting between two and three children into school outside her own family. she's also supporting within her family. so this is, you know, this is really the power. and i think what they have done, they say we're united by background of rural poverty and the commitment to change. and they are proud of their roots. you know, so often poverty carries with it the marks of embarrassment and shame. but they've transformed that into pride and empathy. and i think that is at the heart

of their power. that is at the heart of their activism. >> that's impressive. so we have an incredibly powerful group of people here, all the first spouses. and i'm just curious about how organizations including governments, spouses engage in this vital piece of the women's empowerment process. >> yes, ip deed. indeed. it is extraordinarily powerful, and i'm deeply honored to be here. and the partnership is wide and broad. the partnership with the private sector as well as government. one of our partners is the mastercard foundation, there's one in ghana, and where we are working on a long-term program of support, secondary and tertiary level education. and the young women and girls in that program have prepared a chronicle of their experiences for the first ladies that they want to share and that just give you an indication, one of them,

bertha. bertha, in junior high school she was living with her family in one room, and it was so noisy that she didn't have time and opportunity to study. so what she decided to do was to go to bed at seven p.m. every evening, to get up at two a.m -- >> oh, my. >> -- and study when everyone else was asleep and then go to school. now, bertha wants to be a pediatrician. and what she says is i want to be a pediatrician because i see my role as being with children. i love children, and i see their vulnerability. and, you know, that's a theme that we hear time and time again. the girls and young women whom we support who haven't had a background in education, and, you know, we're sharing our personal experiences. my grandmother left school at 12. there was no one more committed to education than she was. read a book was her constant mantra to me. and that's, that commitment to

education grows exponentially when, you know, you are suddenly having that opportunity. suddenly that latent power becomes live because of your education. so they all say we want to be doctors because we want to change our communities. we want to be mid wives because we see women suffering. we want to be journalists because we want to tell the world about our communities. it's about them, but it's about what they can do in the world. >> uh-huh, excellent. >> so, first ladies, you know, they are so ready to work with you. and as you've mentioned, they have tremendous ideas to share. and the platforms that you have to really bring their voices forward are just extraordinary, and i would say i would urge you to raise your voices and use those platforms, those extraordinary platforms e e e -- effectively. >> thank you so much. shelley, i was struck -- i have a couple of questions for you, but i was just struck all of

these networks that ann mentioned, it strikes me that that might be a good prompt for you all to -- project for you all to sort of network these people together. [laughter] not that intel needs anything else to do, i'm sure you're busy, but there's so many groups of people here that we could try to get together. in any case, intel is doing so much to address gender gap. and i was just curious about how you see tech language call -- technological tools really advancing opportunities for women, and i was hoping you could give us some idea of the things that you all are doing in that field. >> absolutely. thank you for the great idea. we were talking about that in the marketplace this morning. >> excellent. >> how do we network these concepts together. >> i know, there's so many amazing -- >> and make it easy for people to access them. at intel we've been very committed to education and insuring women and girls have access to quality education. we have a three-pronged approach. first is around raising

awareness and insuring access. the second is inspiring girls and women to not just be consumers of technology, but creators. we want girls and is women to know that they can create the next solution that will solve the problem that their community is facing, and we want them to know that they can play an active role because women often don't take that role in most parts of the world. and then in the third area is really this idea of bringing people together in an ecosystem and connecting people so that they have a platform to communicate and they have a network to support them. and we find that this idea of the community is critical even when we're using technology, that people need to know there's people that are behind them. one young woman told us i know there's an army of women ready to support me, and they're all over the world. and that kind of confidence comes from knowing that they exist. but what we found when we did a study in 2013 is that women are,

sadly, left behind in terms of internet access. and in our report women and the web, which we did with your office, we identified for the first time just how large this gap is. and, unfortunately, in sub-saharan africa it is the largest gap that we identified. and these women and girls are being left behind for a variety of reasons that have been mentioned here today. we found that when they have access to the internet, they have access to education, to information that can help them with health care, job creation, society development and this empowerment that comes from meeting others that are like you. and so we know that by closing that gap, we can have -- make a tremendous impact. so we've been committed to a goal of reducing the gap in sub-saharan africa by 50% in the next five years, and we have numerous tremendous partners that are working with us on that

project. we're very excited about the possibilities, because as we all know, the possibilities of education, the possibilities of information, what that can do in the hands of young women all over africa. so we're looking forward to welcoming more partners and working with more governments who also share this goal of bringing access and closing that gender gap. >> great. could you talk a little bit about the role of public/private partnerships in your work? >> absolutely. i think it's been shared today, and we firmly believe that it's only through partnership that we're going to have sustainable impact. we have worked with partners in government for many years, and most of our education programs. and now we're reaching out to a larger ecosystem. many technology companies are interested in this work and other players, other foundations. so bringing all those people together toward a common goal is really what we're trying to do is create this ecosystem of people that care about this

gender issue and want to help educate girls and empower them to really be a voice and a leader in their local community. >> excellent. great. sarah or aisha, i was wondering if you could talk a little bit. i was struck by what mrs. obama was saying earlier about the important role of men and boys in this effort. and it's something that when i travel, sometimes i get an initial schedule, and it'll be a lot of meetings proposed or visits proposed to meetings with women and visits to women's centers, and i'll say, wait a second, i think i need to talk to the men too, and i need to meet with boys and understand what they're doing as well. and i think sometimes we do spend a lot of time talking to ourselves. and i was just wondering if either of you had some insight into the really critical role that men and boys play and how we need to engage them, how best to engage them. and if either of you had think thoughts about that.

>> maybe i'll start. >> okay. >> in the family, most of traditional africa, men are the ones who are doing the choice. therefore, you have to talk to both men and women, explain to both the value of education and give examples of the benefits of education. for girls. then they will understand. >> yeah. >> otherwise they will always send the boy if they don't have enough money to send both. that's one. second, in the school if you don't bring them together to talk to each other, in life finish. >> yeah. >> -- are they going to lead separate? they will be together. therefore, it's better to train them together to make them understand the concept of learning to live together. that's where the teacher has a

key role to play. so training teachers for them to be gender aware, gender sonsive, to know -- responsive, to know that in each child there is a potential, and they have to tap into that potential and make both boys and girls succeed. >> yeah. and perhaps just to add on that i think one of the things we need to do is to be a little bit more multidisciplinary in our approach. because when we look at the missing 10% in east africa, the things that are keeping them out of school is not because the mothers don't want them to go to school, it is a cultural something where you have to look at who has the power, where is the power side, who is the decision maker? so you have to go and talk to them. like when you're talking about issues of fgn females, you know, i think for a long time we have focused on the victims. >> yeah. >> one needs to widen, understand who is the decision

maker, where the power lies. and then get them to be your friends ask your partners in creating change because changing of attitudes, it needs a lot of, first of all, trust so that the discussion can move on and you start bringing those changes that then sustain and insure that girls.

>> it is about early pregnancy. and that film has unlocked tremendous understanding in communities. and as my colleague in africa, ann lean, who actually is one of the first girls who was -- she's the regional director for camfed, and she was telling me about an incident in malawi. and they'd camped together. it was a chiefs' meeting, so it was men. and ann yes lean said how about, you know, the wives. and the chief was not terribly keen on this idea. but there was a little bit of discussion going on, and suddenly angie saw him on his mobile phone, and soon his wife

came. and then the other chiefs' wives came. and so they had a very inclusive forum. and i think it's about, you know, sometimes humor, opening it up. but that power of the film in introducing stories and, as you say, really understanding. i mean, we're seeing in our data coming through in malawi the extraordinary impact of education on child marriage. in our program just 5% of the girls who are supported are becoming mothers in the same age group where the national rate is 26.8. so that in terms of education is preventing significant child marriage, preventing another generation really being born into poverty. >> well, i would like to thank you all very -- oh, i'm sorry, would you -- >> well, we just want to make an announcement, if it's all right. >> of course. [laughter] >> we're just very thrilled to announce a new alliance.

it's called the women in the web alliance, and our goal is to bring 600,000 young women online in nigeria and kenya in the next three years. >> great. >> and we're going to do that by catalyzing an ecosystem. right now the alliance include usaid, intel, net hope, world pulse, world vision, u.n. women and women in technology nigeria, and i just wanted to share that news with you because we are open and welcoming of all partners who are interested. we think it's very critical that we create local content, localized training with gender-specific resources for women and really try to create this network so they can support each other. so i'm proud to make that announcement today. [applause] >> well, i would like to thank all of you so much, first for

being here, but also just for the tremendous work that you do every day to support women and girls. i met a woman many years ago in, i think she was -- i can't remember what country she was in, maybe in the drc, and her name was christine. and she told me something that always stuck with me which was that one woman can do anything, but many women can do everything. and it's always resonated with me, and i think when i see amazing women like all of you, i believe that, and i think together we can do tremendous things for women and girls everywhere. so thank you for what you're doing. thank you all for being here. [applause] >> and more live coverage coming up from this daylong first spouses' symposium as part of the u.s./africa summit with a discussion on provoting women's economic participation and

healthy women. we'll have that live here on c-span2. in conjunction with the first spouses' symposium, this afternoon at two eastern live on our companion network, c-span, the congressional black caucus will be hosting a panel with african business and political leaders along with members of congress. and president obama will wrap up the final day of the africa summit with a closing news conference. that's scheduled to get started at five eastern. we'll have it live also on c-span. tonight here on c-span2 watch booktv in prime time with a focus on marijuana beginning at 8 p.m. eastern. doug fine discusses "hemp bound: dispatches from the front lines of the next agricultural revolution." then angela hawken on her book, "marijuana legalization: what everyone needs to know." then a discussion about the book "the last pirate: a father, his son and the golden age of marijuana." booktv tonight at eight

eastern here on c-span2. and in prime time over on c-span, part of the net roots nation annual conference with discussion on income inequality, gay rights and sexual assaults. also a discussion about campaign finance and the super pac ready for hillary. >> one of the thicks that's really unique about this organization, you know, is we're not to -- this is not a campaign. it's focused on building a grass roots army and building grassroots infrastructure. so for every time that hillary goes out and gives a speech about, you know, recent things that have happened in voter suppression, we're really echoing that, making sure that our e-mail list knows the key points that she's hit on and giving people opportunities to, you know, really join in the

efforts that she's promoting, and then also really just using her as a force of personality and so a lot of the imagery that you see on the facebook page and on the e-mail list and other social network channels are things that we've done a lot of testing on and see that people really respond to because she is, you know, an inspiring figure. >> watch more there this year's net roots nation annual conference tonight on c-span. it starts at eight eastern. the palestine center hosted a discussion on tuesday about the role of international organizations, specifically the u.n. and the international criminal court, in the israeli-palestinian peace process and the establishment of a palestinian state. this is an hour. >> thanks, molly, and thank you all for coming out on this rather steamy afternoon. for those of you not in washington, don't come. [laughter] thanks to the palestine center, always, for the consistency of

the center in running these kinds of projects and bringing people together, for discussions of issues of topics that are too often ignored in this city. you know, the question of the role of international organizations on the question of palestine should be an easy one in a certain way. it was the united nations that created the state of israel, the united nations that divided historic palestine, the united nations that said there should be a, quote, arab state. what's the the big deal? well, the problem is none of those things have happened in the way they were supposed to happen, and mostly things that should happen at the united nations, the centrality of the united nations in leading international diplomacy on this issue which is perhaps more than any other longstanding international problem a problem that is recognized as an issue for and of the united nations somehow is not allowed to be

brought to the united nations. so we have a myriad of examples. you know, i want to say just one thing first. when we first started talking about this event, it was before the current horror that is going on in gaza had begun. gaza is already, was already in horrific shape because of the occupation to. of the occupation which is denied. we pulled out of gaza in 2005. we pulled out all our settlers, we pulled out all the soldiers. how can you say it's occupied? well, because we -- unlike the israelis -- rely on international law. and international law is very clear that occupation is defined on the basis of control, not on the basis of how many soldiers happen to be in any given place at any given time. and from the vantage point of control, gaza remains occupied. that meant that gazans are sealed into a large outdoor prison.

1.8 million people who are not allowed to leave. there is a wall. you know, we hear a lot about the west bank wall. we don't hear as much about the the wall, but gaza is completely walled in on all the israeli areas. that wall is patrolled by israeli soldiers. it's also a military war -- a military wall with gun sights, electric field, etc. the airport in gaza, of course, was bombed years ago by the israelis, has never been allowed to be rebuilt, and the skies are patrolled not by gazan aircraft, but by the israeli air force. the seas are patrolled not by gazans or gazan fishermen, but by the israeli navy. gaza remains occupied. but the recent four weeks of the israeli assault on gaza has made the situation so incomparably different. one of the things that it means we have to talk about in perhaps a different way than we might

have a month ago is the difference between the role of the united nations now and the role of the united nations during, for example, the three-week-long war that israel waged against gaza in 2008-2009 when 1400 gazans were killed, 13 israelis of whom accept were soldiers -- seven were soldiers, four killed in so-called friendly fire. and the role of the united nations at that time was similar but different. similar in the sense that at that time like now the u.n. was not able to play the role that the charter gives it, the charter of the united nations, the fundamental core of international law says that the role of the united nations is to end the scourge of war. period. not to end the scourge of war when the victims are anybody except palestinians because, you know, we don't really have to

pay attention to palestinians. it doesn't say that. it says the work of the united nations, the goal of the united nations is to end the surge of war -- the scourge of war. but to do that, the united nations has to be allowed in. they have to be allowed to play that role. they have to have the power to impose a ceasefire when one or another warring side decides they don't need a ceasefire yet. so that's the same. what was different in 2008-2009 -- there were many differences. in both cases the governing forces in gaza led by hamas were quite isolated. that was not the case, we should note n2012 during the much shorter israeli assault which was in a period, a very brief moment, when gaza was not isolated, when the government was joined by the ministers of half a dozen arab countries, by the prime minister of egypt who

came to gaza to stand with the people of gaza under the israeli bombs. we're not seeing that this time around. the government of egypt is essentially collaborating with israel in maintaining the siege of gaza. none of the arab governments are prepared to support the people of gaza. so gazans once again stand alone. not entirely and not, certainly, in the case of people. but when we talk about governments and the united nations, gaza and the people of the west bank and east jerusalem, the other parts of the occupied territory, as well as the refugees, as well as the second, third and fourth class citizens of israel that happen to be palestinians, palestinians largely stand alone. why, why is that? at this time when palestine is recognized as a state, unlike israel, it even has borders. the '67 borders are recognized

by the united nations as palestine. israel is the only country in the united nations that has never declared its borders. says we haven't figured them out yet, meaning we're still expanding. we still want our borders to go further. so those things are the same despite the significant differences that we now have in terms of palestine's role at the united nations, its credibility and its credential at the united nations which is very, very different. but what still has not changed, palestine remains the longest-running problem that belongs to the united nations, and it is at the same time perhaps the greatest failure of the united nations, the longest lasting failure of the united nations. the u.n. is supposed to be responsible for palestinians until they have achieved their inalienable rights. not until they achievement and something that -- achieve

something that somebody might call a state because, you know, you can call anything a state. doesn't make it viable, doesn't make it just, doesn't make it sustainable, doesn't make it any of those things. you can point to some bits of territory that are not contiguous that are, you know, if you kind of imagine swiss cheese, the israeli-controlled areas of the west bank and east jerusalem are the cheese. the palestinian areas are the holes. meaning that they're the parts that are not contiguous. the israeli territory is now contiguous. you can get from there to there. ariel sharon, the late prime minister long known as the butcher of beirut for his involvement in the slaughter of citizens, of of civilians, of palestinians and lebanese during the war of 1982, was very creative when it came to diplomacy, and he invented this term that i always thought was quite brilliant. he talked about transportational

contiguity. if you can get from there to there, you'll say it's contiguous even if you have to fly in a helicopter from one point to at, even if you have to go in an underground tunnel, even if you have to go up on a bridge over somebody else's lammed and the land actually doesn't -- land and the land doesn't actually touch each other. but if you can get from there to there, we'll call it contiguous to. sorry, it doesn't work. that's not going to make it a state. you can call it a state, you know, give it a telephone code and passport and postage stamps. that momentum make a state. -- that doesn't make a state. a state is contiguous territory of the entire population. and crucially, it means control of the use of force. that's what every state does. they control -- this country we don't do it very well as anybody who sees how our country is flooded with guns, we don't do that very well at all. but that's not for the lack of ability to do it.

it's the lack of political will. but the problem for palestine is nobody's even talking about allowing palestinians to have control over violence in their territory. that responsibility everybody knows, that's one of the famous lines, everybody knows palestine will be disarmed from outside, and it will be israel that main maintains the control of force and violence in any palestinian state. so palestine from the beginning was defined at the u.n. as a, quote, problem. the palestine problem. then it was changed to the question. so now it's the palestine question. i just finished doing some work for the u.n. rewriting their sort of book on the u.n. and the question of palestine. it's like, really? is it still a question? 65 years later, you know, don't we have the answers already? i thought we did. but apparently we don't. apparently it's still a big question at theup. and it's defined as a question because none of the answers that make sense were ever allowed to

be imposed: so when you look at the u.n. charter, the question of why don't we just go with what it says, well, the answer lies just down the road about a half a mile. well, a little more than that. the state department, the white house, the congress. those are the forces that determine how the u.n. charter is to be defined and how it is or is not allowed to be implemented. so that's the problem that we face today. the u.s. goal in the united nations is based on its special relationship with israel which began in 1967. now, the u.s. had a perfectly good supportive relationship with israel before '67. supported the partition agreement in theup, etc. but its -- in the u.n., etc. but its relationship was quite tactical. it took the '67 war for the pentagon to look and say, wow,

we could do business these people. and business, in fact, of course, became the operate toive -- operative conception of the relationship. the pent gone looked at what the mythology said was tiny, plucky israel defeating six arab armies. now, in fact, that didn't happen. four of those big arab armies didn't each fight. but whatever, it was clear the israelis did pretty well militarily. they defeated the other side. and at the end of six days, they controls, again, all of the territory. the palestinians had been left with 22% of historic palestine, now they were left with 0%. so there is now one government in control of all of the territory of historic palestine that includes the state of israel, the west bank, gaza and occupy toed east jerusalem. occupied east jerusalem. together they made up the old palestine mandate that was turned over to the united nations, and it was that law of

the u.n. that divided historic palestine. so what does it mean when you have one government that controls all of the territory but has different sets of laws governing different populations within that one territory? that's the legal definition of apoor tide. -- apartheid. not because the israeli version of apartheid is just like the south african version. it isn't. it's very different for a whole host of reasons i'm not going to get into here. but what they share is they both stand in violation of the international covenant against the law -- against the crime of apartheid which is a u.n. document signed by the majority of countries in the world -- not, we should note, by our own. but that's what we have to look at. so the question of how to look at the situation in palestine isn't just how do we get back to the two-state solution, how do we get everybody back to the table. i can promise you the next step somebody will be back at the table, and it will fail be again.

not because people don't understand each other's narratives, not because israelis and palestinians don't get along. it's because it's going to be based on the failed diplomatic approach of the last 23 years. going from 23 year t of failed diplomacy to 24 years is not my idea of likely success. you know? it was, it was the great scientist who once said the definition of being crazy is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. that's why i called this last round the einstein round of talks. they did the same thing and expected it to be different. why? because this time it was obama and kerry doing it instead of bush doing it. really? do you think the rest of the world really cares who's in the white house that much? no, they don't. so that was a huge problem. and probably we'll have to go through that again once or twice until we finally get back to the point that says that's not how you solve the question. you answer the question the way

the united nations should have answered it years and years and years ago. on the basis of human rights, international law and equality for all. now, the question of the arrangements, one state, two state, red state, blue state, that's not the business of the u.n., it's not the business of all of us in this room except for those of us in this room who happen to be israelis or palestinians. people who live there get to choose the arrangements. the rest of us don't. i'm a jewish girl from california. i don't get to say how many states people should have who live half a world away. why is it my business? it's my business sort of because i pay taxes in this country. that's where everybody in this room has something to say to our government, and one of the demands should be let the u.n. be the central actor rather than the situations we've seen. there are so many examples of how the u.s. relies on its goal of the special relationship to insure that the u.n. is not allowed to play the major role.

so what does that look like? well, let's look at the history of the u.s. veto. since 1970 the u.s. has cast far more vetoes than anybody else in the security council. but if you count them up, you'll see that two-thirds of those vetoes were in defense of apartheid policy toes either in south africa or in israel. two-thirds of u.s. vetoes cast in defense of apartheid. you can look at the madrid peace talks in 1991, and a lot of people sort of point to that as the beginning of the current fades of diplomacy, right? -- phase of diplomacy, right? big international conference. it was held at the crystal palace in madrid. i'm looking around the room and seeing most of you are old enough to remember that from 1991. that's not a good thing, i'm just saying. [laughter] but at those talks, you know, there was all this talk about how this is the first time there's this international conference. well, it doesn't. there was an international day

that opened it up, and then it was divided into these working groups which was a rob because the palestinians -- which was a problem because the palestinians weren't allowed to have their own systems, their own representatives. they had to go through the your jordanians. but more important than that even was that the israelis were promised by the united states that the representative of the secretary general of the united nations would not be allowed to speak, that he would be -- it was always assumed to be a he and, of course, it was -- that he would be allowed to talk to people in the halls and report back to the secretary general but would not be allowed to speak. that was the official position of this so-called international conference. in 1994 madeleine albright, her goal for that year stated in the u.s. letter to the general assembly that goes out every year was to get rid of all the old resolutions on palestine. they werer relevant. and now that oslo was understood way, they shouldn't be -- underway, they shouldn't be on the u.n. agenda because they are

being discussed by the parties. and she specifically mentioned settlements, refugees and jerusalem, the three most important issues that were not under discussion in oslo, that deliberately were postponed. so she just got up and lied, and nobody said a word except, okay, we'll just do all those things to get rid of all those resolutions. international law is limited not by the law, but by political will. and that's where civil society has a role to play to reestablish the legitimacy and the operational ability of the u.n. to be at the center of what it's going to take for real protection of palestinians. you know, we hear a lot at the u.n. about what they call r to p, responsibility to protect. it's the new buzz word around the u.n. the last six or seven years. and the idea is, oh, all this stuff we used to talk about humanitarian intervention, that was really just a cover for the major powers intervening

whenever they chose and giving it a humanitarian gloss. and you want to say to them, yeah, you think? obviously, that's what the problem is. the problem is, this isn't any different. so lots of people were writing about the so-called responsibility to protect isn't going to work because it, again, is only going to be used for those interests of the powerful countries. and i thought at the time, you know, maybe what we should do instead of saying that we should get rid of r2p, get rid of it because it's not legitimate, it's not -- it doesn't reflect any kind of international equality, we should actually demand that it be the principle that's used to provide protection for palestinians. then we'd see how popular r2p really is at the u.n. because the idea of providing real protection when the force that you're protecting people against happens to be the closestal high of the -- closest ally of the most powerful country in the world would provide a whole new challenge for the united nations and for

the of the world. very quickly, just a couple of more things that i want to mention, and then we can get back to any of this in the questions. the role of the united states right now is come licit in israeli -- complicit in israeli violations. that raises all kinds of questions about the role of the united states in the international organizations from the u.n. to the international criminal court where, of course, it has still not been willing to sign on as a full member of the rome treaty to establish the court precisely because the u.s. has determined that its soldiers and officials will never be held accountable. for that reason, they signed off on these bilateral agreements with countries, particularly the poorest countries, particularly african countries, saying if you turn over any american citizen -- soldier, anybody -- to the international court, you will lose all aid that you might ever get, and we will bring other unspecified pressures to bear on you, so don't even think

about doing it. and then there was what was called the invade the hague law that was, in fact, passed, you know? that basically says if the u.s., if any u.s. official actually arrested by international criminal court and imprisoned in the hague, the u.s. will invade the netherlands and get them out. we will support our troops. so, you know, this is the u.s. view of what international law and the united nations means. the question of accountability is fundamental. israel is not held accountable even from the goldstone report or the other myriad of reports that were done, and at the moment is not going to to be held accountable yet until something changes not because they're not -- well, i won't say they're guilty because we haven't had a real investigation. but not because there can't be an investigation of potential war crimes, but because they are protected by the united states. that's what has to change, and that's what brings it back to washington. this isn't an issue for the u.n.

this is an issue for us. because, and this is my last point be, the role of civil society both in the u.s. and globally is crucial for any possible way of keeping accountability at the united nations, for keeping the legitimacy of the united nations. we need the u.n. to be able to act on behalf of its charter that says its role is to end the scourge of war. it has to be empowered to do that. when the human rights council votes, i think it was 38 yes, a few abstentions and one vote no that said, no, there should not be an investigation of war crimes by all sides, i should note, not only by the occupying power, but by the occupy toed population as well, which i agree with. everybody responsible for war crimes should be held accountable.

the u.s. said, no, we won't allow it. luckily, they don't have a veto, but they do have economic, diplomatic and political pressure that they will bring to bear on any country that dares to challenge them on these kinds of issues. so that's where we come back to the role of civil society and organizations like the palestine center that are part of bigger organizations, the u.s. campaign to end the israeli occupation that now has over 400 organizations around the country, the international coordinating network on palestine which is the broad global network of organizations accredited to the united nations who work on the issues of enforcing international law and keeping the u.n. as central, who work with the special rapport tours on human rights and palestine, who work with the human rights council, who work with the general assembly when we can get access, etc., these are the organizations that are going to make a difference in changing that understanding of what does the law say -- whether it's the u.n. charter or the universal declaration of human rights -- what does the law say

versus how does it get interpreted and enforced or ignored, and, therefore, violated by our own government. thank you. .. what the war on the potential ml role for the international organizations can play on human rights in palestine. the focus today would be on the name international organizations

that can likely advance the resolution to the conflict. and a summary of options that palestine either has or can have in the future. of course there are other agencies that palestine can join. the international court of justice, there's the international criminal court and there's also policing called by palestine to place the new protection of the trusty of the charter. we know the organizations do not produce disagreements. the active involvement in the international organization, however, should be part of the struggle in that effectively allows the international law and diplomacy in order to first of all exposes the variations and demand the remedies and uphold

the state's responsibilities to comply with and enforce the international. and there are of course many challenges in order to achieve all of these. but afteafter all, we have to rr that it is for the justice and human rights at its cannot be for the challenges. article one of the united nations lists the purpose of the organizations and bees make them work on action taken to first of all [inaudible] the international law, protect human rights and the conflict through the collective international cooperation. the united nations provided as any other state the opportunity to be heard in the governmental organization. now, i want to mention briefly

that tradition the existence of the state and international law is a determination and resolutions do not create the states or state that helped to prove whether or not and entity that has the permanent population, to the defined area, three government has also the capacity to enter into the international relations. and the recognition of state is a particular matter and should be separate from the existing state of the international law. currently there are about 140 states declared independence in 1988. i will briefly touch on the process for becoming a former rivka united nations. intedit the most important sectn is for the unchartered mission of any state to the membership in the united nations would be

affected by the decision of the general assembly upon the accommodation of the council. palestine as we all know has officially applied for the ship, but the application has been effectively blocked by the committee of representatives basically because of the political reasons of the power in the council. the legal background of this is that in 1950 principle has advised that the assembly can only adamant numbers upon the recommendation of the council. that was accepted by many including the judge that dissented and the singular vote with us in able to frustrate the members of the nations and the back is an absurdity.

some have opposed article 42. however many others believe that there is no need to make any amendment to the charter that should be allowed and can be to not provide the members of the security council with power. however they have shaped the practice since 1950 and without the recommendation the implication would effectively be blocked. now, in december of 2012, the general assembly created the status to the nonmember state and we all know that many states voted in favor of the 5% un members. the resolutions and recommendations on the charter but the important goes beyond whawith every right and privilee

except and why is that? because the views of the international community. they also serve in the international law. as we rightly observed the value for the 6719 is the answer to the problem looming on the question concerning the status of the international law that has been a result because of so many countries in the resolution. the resolution has a direct impact on the palestine status and any international agreement that is deposited on the general formula and the old state formula which is basically attracted the general has been making to seek the general

assembly guideline that is disputed or is unclear. now in the security general by all states including the members of the agencies that palestine is one of because it is a member of. now, in october of 2011, palestine became a full member and that meant the information of the status and also meant that it's able to join the international organizations and plus deposited such as the icc and also to enhance the status and the standing of the third-party states and the access to demand the compliance with the international obligations. in this institution palestine by the way has been delayed for the

treaty and among the most important is the 1954 convention for the protection of the cultural property and conflict. also in the 1970 to the gym on the illegal trade of and cultural properties as well as the 1972 wheeled cultural convention. there are as mentioned eight of them i'm not going to go through but as i mentioned earlier, palestine now has an enhanced standing to demand to cease and return and removed from palestine and put against the cultural wreckage. they can afford the production but also the obligation to. it is an international legal system and delivers the situations according to the obligations and its need also to do that to the tour the

variations in further the standing on the international institutions to contest and prevent him to go against the contact. when the treaty ratification specifically as we mentioned the u.s. membership and also the general is in late 6719 to apply the treaties and that's how they stand in the research states and it's also improved its bargaining position to israel although they think it's important that palestine now is shaping the agreement or might be shaping the agreement as an enterprise state and not as a priority as an organization. that is very important in the international law. the resolution of the general assembly has strengthened the right and in april of 2014 about

four months ago as we know palestine had 15 international human rights and conventions and many of them are very important including the geneva conventio conventions. many of these are in palestine but they've also provided additional mechanisms to pursue the remedies for human rights and international organizations. access to the treaties would provide the standing of israel and other states to avoid the rule of law. there is a way to also join the justice. the statute that formed as we all know however no members of the united nations are aboard the decision of the general

assembly they are likely to treat on this article similar to that one arm the meeting that the general assembly wouldn' woe able to approve an application to join without the un security council recommendation. however there is a way to maybe find me out of this at the reputation that doesn't recognize the veto power seems to be more in line with the object and purpose. the call for the peaceful resolution of the dispute and to see the countries to join if we are encouraging the resolution of the conflict through peaceful means. if the case is concerned the states that have been recognized as jurisdiction and israel unfortunately has not accepted that therefore it will be

difficult to bring the cases against israel. however it will be possible to bring the against the others that are implicit or supporting the relation of the international obligations. the declaration accepting palestine is already a member of other antigovernment organizations and leading the league of the states and the organizational islamic organization that is the one unfortunately the security council veto power that belongs to the members of course does not allow or does not apply which are free to affect the members according to the rules and procedures. therefore there are several un agencies that palestine may seek membership in and amongst then are the international

development, united nations organization. i'm not going to go through them if thethey are the main ones thl seek. they are not numbered in these organizations and they are cutting the funding like what happened in unesco and that created international law. why is that? the states may not as a domestic legal system with regards to justify the noncompliance i of e international organizations. now, there are other bodies that can get to their memberships in organizations under them are the organizations and many others to

allow for more answers. also to join interpol by the international fund because they already have a precedent of admitting co- servo which isn't a un member organization and by the way, the power depends on the size of the economy, the state econom economy in the worn economics, so it's more forceful in the economic countries. briefly as we all know tha knowe effective in july when of 2002 and as we can see in the statute that allows them to accept the jurisdiction since july 1 of 2002 and the statute perspective is unlike the declaration the

court may have jurisdiction going as far as july 12002. palestine fought the jurisdiction beginning as far back as july 1, 2002. they get to the jurisdiction over the crime of aggression, genocide, crimes against humanity. and according by the way to the office of the prosecutor, more than 400 communications were received on the crimes in palestine. now, in 2012 to the precise date decided not to proceed a method to define the state. it stated however the crimes on

the states or should the council on the jurisdiction. they are criticized by mainly to look at the validity to see if it can be done. but the prosecutor by the way also cited the practice on the general assembly that i mentioned. the guidance to the state also failed to note that it is to join the icc and also it should be noted that the decision was issued to six months after palestine.

there was a recent request by the attorney general to reconsider. in the 2009 it is unclear however they would open an examination that already considered the best. they said that the declaration again and that's to avoid any legal issues in the 2009. however it is well known that palestine is trying to get a consensus on the other fraction before they start the declaration. amnesty also released last week an important briefing and

arguing that the action is the only way and to me the end the violence in gaza. they also call on israel to do the same and i see to the icc and also for the united nations security council to refer the situation as it did. now that's probably going to be my last topic to discuss the recent request to seek the protection from the aggression and continue its bombardment against gaza. this is to create to administer

the colonies of the defeated state after world war ii. that was after the council. the new areas can be placed by the states responsible for the administration under the charter. the council was also created carrying out its function according to the charter which is also important for example the last trust to achieve full independence in 1994. and since then, the council which isn't composed of the security council members have been left without the responsibilities here. what are the objectives of the system under the charter? if it is to further the international peace and security into the economic advancement of

the inhabitants to the government as appropriate and also other objectives in the charter and what are the pros and cons about going back to the system or something similar to what palestine was like. the challenge would be what thee is responsible for palestine now lacks some might argue that it falls in the states but has the control over its meaning it is israel. however they did lose sovereignty and could be considered as administering the state.

another legal obstacle that is a procedure as well as the standard is under the un charter there's a distinctiothere is a n the strategic and nonstrategic area. it's not defined in the charter however it is considered to be a strategic area in the mandate of the responsibility of the un security council. the distinction was used only once so far. back then they considered them to be strategic because they are imported timportant to the intel security as well as being integrated by the two the security of the states and it should be also noted that the establishment of the basis doesn't necessarily make it a strategic area for also

[inaudible] maybe they still believe that palestine is still under the response abilities generally simply because it is to the league of nations with regards to what palestine has demanded. however this argument is to preserve because it isn't very favored by the decision-making circle. however, the agreement into the duration of such an agreement are also very important and what would be the exact mission and the extent of the function of the entity that would administer palestine. what would be that entity into the multilateral force what would be the status and if so by

whom and what would be the fifth of the role and what palestine be placed under the protection of the certain areas of afghanistan lacks what it be for a limited duration when dependence is achieved these are difficult to answer and therefore due to the complexity it is unlikely that they would actually act on the application. very much i think you for your attention. [applause] >> thank you both so much for coming. we have about ten minutes for questions and we ask that you keep them brief and limited them so that we can get in as many as

possible. after the questions you are welcome to stay around and have discussion. they are calling the shots on washington and the un and representing the conflict they will be up front at the desk if you want to get those afterwar afterwards. we have a microphone coming around. >> i appreciate the presentation. i just have a question for both a particular. israel throughout the news media seems they bombed the hamas property. there are adjacent housing to every house bombed. i should introduce myself first. my name is omar and i was born and raised in gaza.

in 1997 i bought an apartment house. the house next to it was bombed and due to the shockwaves my house collapsed. now, this is just one house. there are complete districts that do not belong at all in the infrastructure and whatnot. is there a recourse that could lead to israel and if the answer is yes it looks like we are in a straitjacket actually due to the un and the dysfunctional capabilities. every time the house is bombed we have to rebuild it ourselves.

is there a recourse and who do i contact to sue these people? [inaudible] >> the icc statutes would get some justice -- it is enforcement and finding where you can take your cases for the international law. and also mayb may be where the s can be brought our affair

concerned to be brought into the other criminal prosecutions of crimes. now come in the 2008, 2009 the united nations did receive some compensation for some of the damages that were inflicted on their property in gaza so technically there is a way to pursue the competition from these durations, but it would be diplomatic unless you could find these cases and educate them. this picket is problematic and the focus is more of a criminal prosecution and less so that is going to be limited to take th that. >> i don't think there is a legal claim to be made.

it's what you're up has played over and over again when there have been attacks on gaza and they've rebuilt some parts. israel goes in again and europe comes back and they've already said there's talk of a $23 million starting fund to rebuild and they said they would put some money in but what does it show up goes to the rather corrupt elements of various sorts on various sides. this is a huge problem. the possibilities for individuals getting reparations is graceland and that is the reality. that's why focusing on ending the occupation which requires ending the u.s. military aid and the impunity is much more iman