Have you ever woken up and not knowing where your next check was coming from, not none of you would have enough water and oil to feature entire family. There is common here. We are people struggling, fighting for vitality. That night our windows travel burst through her street to split open a crack battlelines into a community. Turn our neighbors and to warriors who are then too blinded to see that day, we are fighting on the same side. We are survivors who are tired of surviving. We want to live, refuse to be our humanity any longer. Good health, nutrition is not primitive clear that health is not a luxury. Water is not a treasury. Sunshine in you and you. Solidarity starts an open palm, shoulders above steps towards action to care, to offer yourself as a resource can help support a foundation that was already there. And im an important part of the culture is to share. So now, let us share the work, the accountability, and how healthy can you really be adhering to extending the hungry, the thirsty, the resisting to care is to offer partnership, teamwork can invest in the lives that youre already living. Dont wait to support the ones that will come after us. The drought isnt over until every cup at the table is full, overflowing. Now is the time to be intentional about her abundant. I pray that we are rich in compassion, rich enjoy, rich and support. Peace has always been within our reach. We cannot afford to waste any more time reaching to the sky, to each other. The time is now more than ever. I used to have dreams of supporting others, steady income and join in having a better life. Survival is only think about every day. A country that loves people with thousands of women and children every day for Different Reasons. I used to have imagine yourself. You wake up in the morning and not you want to do is grab your kids can run for your life and survived. Thousands of people in young men find themselves in this situation. All they think about is what will be next. Will they find that they and be able to get clean water to drink and what they have access to facilities would make a thick beard the majority of the people are going to the tragedy daily in their daily routine. I know many women and men who wish they wont wake up the next day so they dont have to go through the same thing of suffering every day. At a certain period of my life i know what it means to be homeless, to be displaced, and youre not supposed to say this. I know what it means with family members that she wont ever again. I know what it means to be scared to death if you let your child go to school in you may never, ever seeing him again. I seem child disappear every day. Their dreams about their future has significantly changed. Millions of people are going through condition with the worst, another crisis upholding now as an outbreak of cholera. Who could imagine her in the 21st century people in yemen dont have access to very basic right that you all enjoy here. That we should have the right to as well. My people are dying. Now more than ever in yemen coming attention before its too late. Is welcomed president and ceo of care, michelle nunn. Join in thanking for sharing her story. 18 million men, women, boys and girls. Thats how many people are in need of humanitarian assistance in yemen right now. Today as you all are here, you are Standing Shoulder to shoulder with them in your everyman voice for their name and seeking to their hunger in half to continue education. The requirements of access to lifesaving medication when they need it and their desire to have some form of normalcy, to have a safe haven of home. Today he signaled that someone remembers and you insist that our nation with the most vulnerable around the world. Ordinary citizens have always shaped our nation and efforts to let that our values and a promise to one another and for the world. From the abolitionist and civil rights heroes to the ordinary citizens who firsters onto the refugees of world war ii with the creation of the worst care package. Today you join in this course citizens about history who in moments of importance have responded with compassion and generosity and pave the way for people everywhere to live for free and more dignified lives. In fact, there has never been a time in the sevenyear history where this has been more important. There are more People Living in the world than ever before. More people facing famine and more people facing natural disasters and Climate Change than ever before. So truly, our theme now more than ever is true. Your voice and leadership are required. We welcome you and thank you for participating in this years annual care conference. Give yourself a round of applause for being here. We want to thank our sponsor. We wouldnt be here without them. Douthat and ups and dove chocolate and cap and walmart. Over the next few days still had the chance to be inspired by humanitarians like change agents like solomon who is here with us. An amazing growth like beyond good. We have reminded that behind all of the big numbers for top about sometime can be overwhelming. He high nietzsche does numbers are individuals with unique and really powerful stories. Amazing potential. We know and the reason we are here is the world will be definitely help them to realize their full potential. We have someone here today who embodies that truth and the truth is we all have the capacity to be enormous agents of change and that person is an immigrant who came to this country from asia at the age of eight speaking no english. Her family came to the country to build a better life for themselves with six daughters. I was talking to her backstage. Her experience coming to this country in this way has motivated her to invite her entire career trying sure everyone has the opportunity with the better life for themselves and for their family. Shes done not really powerfully and really profoundly if you look at her resume. She served as the president chief operating officer of united way of america. She went on to be the director of the peace corps and she then went on to beat the u. S. Secretary of labor. She was the first asianamerican woman to be appointed to a cabinet position in all of American History. Today the 18 secretary of the treasury of the United States. We want to think her for her extraordinary leadership. Along the way with that in a lot of other things, she has received 36 honorary degrees. Please join me and warmly welcoming and appreciating secretary elaine chao. [applause] thank you. Well, hello, everyone. Its really kind of intimate and i love that. Theyre going to receive two days of workshops and training and the third day youre going to be going throughout our government to share your experiences about care and issues that you care about to members of our congress, senate and house of representatives. You are participating in said rain so fundamental that is so much a hallmark of who we are at the people on what democracy means. I was told for some of you its the first time. You might be a little scared, but dont worry. Youre going to do fine because most of all, you have a story to tell and that is an important story that you are sharing with important policymakers. So i am so pleased to be part of this forum on empowering and to have the opportunity to make a difference. I think my goal of helping women started very early when i was a young child when i heard about my mothers story. My mother, her name is ruth chew chao. She was among the few women of her generation in the wartorn china at the early 1900. She came from a distinguished family that believed in the education of daughters, women. She received an education. Because of the education, my mother was so much better prepared to be alert to face the turmoil and challenges of her later life. She returned home to the lord on august i cant come the 2007, but her spirit and good for continued to inspire me and my sisters everyday. As you heard, im an immigrant to this country. I came to america when i was eight years old. I didnt speak any english. We couldnt get used to so many things in this country. We have difficulty with american food, hamburgers, hot dog. I mean, we didnt put me between brad. We do need read, so we didnt understand so much about the culture, about what mainstream america was like. Like so many other newcomers, my parents were so brave. They were incredibly hardworking and they were determined to build a better life for their daughters. The fact that there are six children were all girls was never an issue. They taught each one of their daughters to work, to fulfill our potential and contribute to society. They believe with hard work, a positive attitude and perseverance we could achieve anything we wanted to do. That was their recipes. One of the most important attribute my parents also taught their daughters was to always help others. And to appreciate the value of Financial Independence for women. So whenever i had the opportunity, ive tried to launch programs and empower women and help them achieve the very important goal that broadly speaking we now that education is the key to success in all countries, rich and poor. The literacy means that there is a huge impediment to reducing poverty rate especially for women. Nearly a billion adults in this world today are estimated to be a letter read. Two thirds of them are women. I was once director of the peace corps and i had so many efforts, and again small to help impoverished people around the world. One that stayed with me as a young peace corps volunteer experience helping rural women fill their own small businesses. Do you know what these women told her they needed the most . Most was they needed to learn how to read and write and account numbers. Basic math skills are something we take for granted and developed countries, but it is worth remembering that women in developing countries need the basic skills to access opportunity. But it takes more than math to run a small business. Entrepreneurial skills are critical as well. As secretary of labor, i had an opportunity to help make a difference for women in the middle east . In the middle east, rebuilding iraqs economy and were priorities after the fall of saddam hussein. As part of the plan for iraqs reconstruction, the department of labor under my tenure provided 5 million right away to rebuild the Iraqi Ministry of labor and social affairs. This ministry has a very important task of creating job Training Programs and Employment Services so desperately needed after the war. Ensure that women were a priority for the new Iraqi Ministry of labor. Do you know what i did . I was kind of proud of myself. , wethe first three iraqis chose to participate in a Leadership Training Program at the u. S. Department of labor, where were women. [applause] ms. Chow and i was so important because it sent out a note to the rest of the Iraqi Ministry, of the majorne challenges around the world is the Economic Empowerment of women. I was also honored to support the efforts of First Lady Laura Bush to provide access to education to afghan women and girls. Her daughter, barbara bush, i understand, is i understand she is going to be here today, and she is carrying out her mothers work on the half of the most vulnerable population. I am delighted that barbara is on the program this afternoon. Boy, are you lucky. The First Lady Laura Bush, the Labor Department provided funding to purchase , School Uniforms for girls in afghanistan, something so simple so that impoverished afghan families can send their daughters to school. As you know so well, girls could not attend schools under the taliban, and today, hundreds of thousands of young afghan girls and young women have access to education. Also the i nations Interdepartmental Task force on child trafficking. Our goal was to strengthen against child trafficking, which is another manyhed that devastates so of the worlds most Vulnerable Women and girls. I will share one more story, a wonderful story. We achieved gender equity in our during myship team tenure as the u. S. Secretary of labor. [applause] chao when i had the opportunity to travel to iraq in the middle east, i presented a group of iraqi women with an autographed photograph of the eight top women executive leaders at the u. S. Department of labor. The iraqi women couldnt believe it. They cannot believe that women held half of the top leadership positions in a Big Government Ministry Like the department of labor. ,t was a small but significant an inspirational gesture. It was a touchstone for these women. I told then this is their goal. Achieve thesel to leadership positions so that the organizations they enter into would have gender equity as well. It was a reminder that even in the most advanced economies, there is always more that can be done. I am here to thank you so much for everything you are doing globally to ensure that each sister, andhter, wife can grow and reach her full worldial, so that our will be a better place. Thank you for all that you do. [applause] have a great conference. Thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity to share my story and music with you all today. It is truly a great honor. Four years ago, while i was still in aleppo, i studied at thes Administration University of aleppo. I was also employed as a fulltime filing teacher violin teacher. I remember walking to the Music Institute to teach. Marchers were falling everywhere randomly. Mortars were falling everywhere randomly. Every day, we risk our lives by being there. However, this did not scare me. We did not have electricity or power, so i was running under bombs, falling through internet cafes. After six months of work, i was beyond happy to receive and email from Monmouth College in illinois, offering me a full tuition scholarship. Although i feel safe here now, i live in constant fear about my family and friends who are still struggling and surviving without the basic necessities of life. Aliveer if they will be tomorrow, and i wonder if i will get the chance to reunite with them one day. To behoping for my mom here with me as i am graduating in two weeks. [applause] thank you. But she did not come as she did not get a visa to come here. Being a refugee here taught me to be strong, independent, and to never give up. Since i arrived, i have been working so hard to achieve success in the music world, and to advocate for my syrian colleagues and friends. I was humbled to be honored at the white house as champion of change for world refugees in 2015. I feel this is a huge responsibility, and i would like to be an ambassador for syria in the u. S. , and conversely to present all the great values i learned here worldwide. Theel powerless to change tragedy ongoing in my country. I believe so much in the power of music to remove barriers between people and nations. I would like to get to tell the story from my country and people. Thank you. [applause] you and [applause] please welcome the founder of more than me and 2013 time person of the year. [applause] she is my promise, so i am on this bathroom floor again, and it is the middle of the night again, and flashes of your face keep me up again. It is you, abigail. Ou have seen my soul is it a street worker, a sex worker . You tell me, what is the politically correct way to say that my 11yearold son is a war orphan prostitute . , this too dollar hooker twodollar hooker, this child. She opens her legs to men, and right now i am not sure she is alive. Abigail is missing, she is gone, she is nowhere to be found, and when i pull her name, no one knows her. Her Community Tells me she is banished. Her country tells me it is not good for her reputation. My country tells me it is not polite to talk about her. Here she is, the blame of a corrupt government and a country that people know nothing about. She is another abstract thought that would never crossed someones mind on a line to purchase a cup of coffee that costs more than she would make selling herself for one day. She is another facebook cause that people might check they liked because it is trendy or easy. She is the bottom of the air to up and that has beat her raped her in ways that people who can read would never be able to pronounce. This small child is gone. I promised her that i would come and find her, and i can, so i am again. Nst up on this bathroom floor again, and its the middle of the night again, and i need to scream her name. Abigail . Where are you . Im trying to find you i am struggling to find words to talk about you. People here are offended by you, disturbed you. I am, too. You keep me up at night, and i hope that you always do. W, myre my vo promise. I am coming to get you. So, i moved to liberia almost 12 years ago. I was 23 with my first job out of college. It was almost like a peace corps situation. They said, you are going to liberia. I got there and i was in charge of running Adult Literacy programs. I came to the city probably because i wanted to get pizza. I did not like the food. Now i like the food too much. I would come to the city and meet kids like agnes and abigail, and we became friends. I am like a big kid myself, so i would hang out with these children. We would draw donkeys in the sand. I asked these kids, if you could have anything in the entire world, what would it be . These kids said the same thing, we just want to go to school. One kid turns to 30, and they kept coming. I was using myspace to tell the stories. People from my town were sending me money and i was paying school fees. The new York City Tax attorney said, you need to make this an organization. I remember thinking, i dont have a masters degree, im not a celebrity, i cant do it. I got the best advice of my life. My friends said, get over yourself. Its not about you. And so i am in the organization. I play that over and over again. I get up here and tell myself, its not about you. Thats where the name more than. E ended up coming from if i cant do all these things, i can get other people to help me. There is no time to waste. We have to help abigail and girls like her get to school. Of the president of liberia, who is the first female president in irica, she heard about what was doing and invited me to her house, and she said, as long as you are serving the children of liberia for free, you get this holding. Oh, yes. How am i going to fix this up . We did not have a big budget. I ended up on this Primetime Television show, and we got the most amount of likes through a campaign called i am abigail. They went viral through facebook and instagram, and we won a milliondollar grant. [applause] katie i am struggling with the clicker. We ended up winning this milliondollar grant, we ended up starting the first allgirls school post the war in liberia for girls. My mom flew in from new jersey, the president was there. It was the best day of my entire life. It was not just a school. Cutting the ribbon and we addressed every challenge that god women face to getting an adjective thats young women face to getting an facation that young women ce to getting an education. And then ebola gets. Hits. We did not have a choice. I had not even heard of ebola, and before we knew it ebola was that at the center of the epidemic was where my students lives. Epicenter of the epidemic was where my students lived. We had to fight with everything we had. We turned our school into an ebola outreach center. We were able to work with the Community Tech foreign gene families and lead health care teams. Our team was changed and will never be the same. I dont have time to get into all the stories, but afterwards we realized those children had changed us, and we realized that the root cause of sexual exportation is similar to the root cause of the toll that ebola has, which is broken infrastructure, and how do you build infrastructure, the health care system, if you dont have basic education for all . I went to the minister of education. This is a country where 100 of people fail the entrance exams to universities. The literacy rates is one of the worst. I went to the minister of education and said, how can i help her with you to rebuild the Education System . She said, you have done a good job with the academy, can you put what you have in the academy and the Public Schools . That turned into a Partnership Schools for liberia. We had seven. Next year, our goal is to have between 18 and 30. We have the goal of 500 schools in the next five years in partnership with the ministry of education. [applause] katie together we can. Motto, we have boys and girls at our Public Schools, and the motto is, safety, health, and quality education for every child. The way we are doing it is something called every girl collective, and we believe that young women will not be able to have their basics and less young. Oys do, too if you are interested in being involved, there is no better time like today. Liberia was a country that the United States helped to form. There is no time like today to get in partnership and fight with liberia to help, and we have to do this. We refuse to take no for an answer on behalf of abigail and for those children. Here is no time like today if you are interested in learning more, you can look up more than mes facebook page. Thank you all. [applause] announcer please welcome back Michele Knight on michelle nun, president and ceo of care. lets give a round of applause for katie. Amazing. [applause] thank thelets extraordinary performers we have already heard. I think they all gave us the wisdom and perspective. Thank you. [applause] michelle for 70 years, care has been responding to the needs of the most Vulnerable People on the planet. It has been with the support and leadership of american citizens that we have registered rescued people from the devastation of earthquakes, we have helped people rebuild after typhoons and tsunamis, we have protected people from war and violence, and we have also been a critical actor in the longterm work of overcoming poverty. Toe has partnered with usaid implement programs and 30 countries, and together we have saved lives, empowered women and girls, and foster stability in some of the worlds most challenging places, and we have seen amazing results. There is a lot of progress. There was recently a poll put out that asked people, how many of you think that poverty has been decreased in the last 25 peopleand how many increased . Is 70 said they thought poverty had increased. In the last 25 years, it has been cut in half. The number of children surviving to age five has been doubled. We have a lot to be thankful for. For the last 15 years, care advocates have gathered together to learn about this progress and to lift up your voices to congress to advance Legal Resources and often reform to continue to save the lives and lives millions of people out of poverty. Our advocacy work dramatically multiplies our impact and our ability to create scale in our reach. , ifme ask, how many of you you have been to this conference before, can you stand up . Mazing stay standing for just a minute, because i want to thank you for your extraordinary commitment. When you have stood together, we have really made important progress. You helped us advance issues around health and safety and wellbeing of women and girls, and men and boys, around the globe. And you all know that we have passed the global Food Security act as a result of your work. [applause] we have seen the adoption of the adolescent girls strategy in this past administration, and we have seen important to date reform that has literally enabled us to feed hundreds of thousands of additional people at the same level of investment. Thank you very much for all you have done. But it is not enough, so you can sit down, but we need you to keep standing. His karen in the room . Her nights is conference. She is ninth conference. She is 15. [applause] need the next generation of energy a lot more, and we need the experience and wisdom of all who have been before us, because we stand at a critical juncture. I think it is one that is truly new in our 70 year history. It is a moment when americans role as a humanitarian leader is being called in the question. This is an inflection point. Is you, citizens and advocates, who will do fine our path forward you will define our path forward. We have these enormous challenges that are before us that are really unparalleled in the last 70 years. The administration has proposed budget cuts that would dramatically reduce foreign assistance. It would got our ability to defy poverty. This is happening at a time where 20 Million People in four Different Countries are facing starvation because of faminelike conditions. That is this is also a time when the refugee crisis, the worst ever recorded, 65 Million People displaced and creating enormous suffering and dislocation. So this week, this time, this moment in fact, tomorrow the budget will be released in the full extent of these cuts will be known. We have a clear message to congress and the administration. It is dont cut girls education. Dont cut food assistance. Dont cut our security. Dont cut supplies. The message we will be carrying forward to the next few days. Americas role is not on the sidelines in times of crisis. It is in the arena, and it is our role to lead. Over the last 120 days we have been sending this message coul e have mobilized hundreds of thousands of voices calling on the administration and congress urging them to reconsider the counterproductive executive orders and misguided cuts in foreign assistance. We have to remember, it is 1 of our federal budget. That is one penny on the dollar. All of you have said that saving lives and combating social penny. Ce is worth that where urged that america is we have urged that america is much better than the attempted travel bans that prevent people from unimaginable horror from coming to our land of opportunity. We said it was untenable to zero zero our food aid when millions of people are facing famine. Through this work and advocates in organizations, we have seen meaningful results. We have to know this does make a difference. That we have good news at this time. Two weeks ago, thanks to the work of care and our advocates and many partners, theyve passed the spending bill with almost 1 billion earmarked for famine relief. [applause] michelle that will go to south sudan and somalia and yemen and nigeria. Also 1. 7 billion worth of food aid. Its the First Time Congress has passed additional humanitarian aid that has not been asked for by the white house. Its a huge victory. [applause] michelle it would not have happened without the coalition of care and other ngos and the voice of citizens like yours. This response to crisis and this additional funding really embodies the American Values and the bipartisan leadership that we are working and must fight to achieve. Our congressional leaders should be applauded for what theyve done, but we cannot stop with this victory. Because the reality is we still face massive general cuts in foreign assistance in the 2018 budget. It would literally cripple our aid efforts and millions of people would suffer as a result. So, by now you know this conference is titled, now more than ever for a very good reason. That is because now more than ever, your voices are critical to preserve americas leadership in Global Development. Now more than ever, we are facing problems we can solve if we stand up instead of stepping aside. And now more than ever we need our congressional leadership to know we will not be silent. So we must lift up our voices. We need your voices to lift up and also lift up the voices of people weve heard from today. People you will hear from later today, and that voice, that request is dont cut food for people who are starving. Dont cut medicine for people who need the lifesaving assistance. Dont cut girls and women out from opportunity and equality. And dont cut hope, and dont cut lives. Are you ready to lift up your voices . [cheers and applause] michelle thank you very much. [applause] when i was growing up in rural alabama, 50 miles from montgomery, i would see those signs that said white waiting, colored waiting. I asked my mother and my father and my grandparents and great grandparents why, and they said thats the way it is, dont get in the way, dont get in trouble. But i was inspired to get in the way and get in trouble. It, said we couldnt do bring down those signs, and the children will see the signs in America Today in a book and in a museum. So when someone tells me changes youge is impossible and cannot bring about change, i said come and walk in my shoes. I said to you tonight that you must never give up, you must in you must must keep the faith, and keep your eyes on the prize. Carry the message. Stand up. Speak up. Speak out. And find a way to get in the way. There are too many people all on us r world depending for food, for shelter, education for their minds. We need to use our limited resources to take care of the basic human needs here at home and around the world. As dr. King said, you must learn to live together as brothers and sisters. If we can get it right, maybe it will serve as a model for the rest of humanity. [applause] michelle nobody says it better than john lewis. We have to get in the way. I think all of you have come in here to get in the way and to live out your own calling to follow your moral compass. You have chosen to be the change you want to see in the world and i believe, really that choice will make all the difference. Your voice in washington and your home district has resonated and has already saved and changed lives. It is hard to quantify the differences in the world between when we gathered here last year and today. Its a lot. And so i think we need new tools and new forms of inspiration and new forms of connection and partnership, and we need to pair that with the wisdom and experience of history with voices like john lewis. So today weve organized leaders and change agents to help us navigate this new world. We want to engage them in a conversation to help us focus on what it will take to help women and girls at the forefront and to maintain our commitment to overcoming extreme poverty and social injustice. So i have the honor of bringing you together with an amazing panel. I will introduce them quickly and we are going to have a really dynamic conversation. The president and ceo of the global fund for women, which is an organization providing support for grassroots organizations that focus on women around the world. She is also a care board member, and her accomplishments and awards are too many to name, but she has spent her entire life fighting for the rights of women and those who are marginalized. The founder and editorinchief of muslimgirl. Com, and she raises the voices of muslim women and helps define them in our society. She is a vocal supporter of marginalized communities and the author of muslim girl, a coming of age. Barbara pierce bush is the ceo and cofounder of the Global Health core, globalizing to helping emerging leaders to build a movement for Healthcare Access and equity around the world. She is a huge proponent of female leadership both in her own organization and around the world. She has worked to combat aids in africa and a supporter of the Lgbtqi Community and of marriage equality. Chelsea clinton has helped lead Vital Development initiatives worldwide, including years of work on behalf of women and girls and on a project dedicated to the belief that full participation of women and girls is medical critical to Global Development and security. On top of that, she has completed her third book, which is coming out later in may called persistence, and its a portrait of 13 inspiring women. Please join me in welcoming these extraordinary change agents to a conversation. [applause] michelle so, we have a challenge because there is so much wisdom in this group. I want to make sure we get to hear as much of it as we can in an interactive conversation. I wanted to see if at least a couple of you might share a but a vignette of something that is maybe a personal touchstone for you that inspires you and might inspire our advocates and the work they do. Thank you, michelle. Every time i visit a country and meet a girl or a Woman Working on a project or problem, i see a problem supported by care, or any organization, i see myself. I grew up in a village just like most of the girls that we reach. My mom was a midwife and at the age of nine i accompanied her when she was helping a woman give birth to a child. I saw the birth of a child at the age of nine years, and i saw many kids thereafter who survived and many who didnt survive. I do the work that i do because it reflects my life, and the most important thing about what inspires me is because i know that Everyone Needs an opportunity. And when people have opportunities, they thrive. They find alternatives and they become who they may never have become without the opportunity. So, michelle, i am in this because i think of all of the girls that look like me in bangladesh and in top one new pua new guinea and in oakland and in california and in colombia where i visited three weeks ago and i said those little girls can be on a platform just as i am today if they get an opportunity. So im inspired every day, and i love what i do. Michelle i love the idea of to. Le miss growing up barbara, how about you . Barbara bush i think im really lucky in that the work that i do, i get to work with Young Leaders from around the world that are passionate about social justice and believe that health is a human right. So for the past eight years ive worked with almost a thousand Young Leaders and i know some of them are here. I cant see any of them. Yeah, there they are. And so i have 750 Different Reasons that i am excited and thats because every morning i wake up, i know all our 750 fellows and alums are waking up and i know we are here to talk about activism and it looks different for each person. And so, for instance, one of our alums that i am recently proud of because she got a lot of media attention. She is nigerian and when she was giving birth, she needed a blood transfusion and there was a shortage of blood in nigeria, something that should be a tool in making sure that women can survive childbirth. She luckily had her baby, and she started a Company Called life bank. She had to work really hard to change prejudice and stereotypes around giving blood in nigeria. But i am proud of her because this was her passion. It wont be everyones passion but it is her passion and she started the company and she was just on a forbes list and Mark Zuckerberg just visited nigeria and she was one of two women he called out. And the reason that i mentioned her is that is her form of activism and problem solving and it looks different for each one of us. But if if ever yone of us does that, and i know our alums are all figuring out their way of contributing, thats how you make a different world. Michelle thats wonderful. Following your passion and your special gifts. How about you . Did you all know this is being livestreamed on cspan . [applause] tweet it, facebook it, i say that because i have a intricate relationship with cspan. I remember when i was in high school, before muslim girl existed or anything like that i , was just under a lot of extreme alienation from all of the islamophobia unfolding around me, especially in the media and the fact that every single time i turned on the television, it was always a conversation about muslims and in particular muslim women, but it was never a woman that looked like me that was doing the talking for included in the conversation. I remember at that time when i was in high school, i would watch cspan religiously. I would keep it on my tv for hours. Im talking during the height on the war on terror when all the conversation was about islam and i was aggravated because it was white, nonmuslim people who couldnt speak to my experience or how this was impacting me and they were the ones doing the talking. And i remember i would call nonstop for to try to get on the hours line. I had really great aspirations. It was really exciting. I would spend hours trying to get on the line just to have my voice in the conversation as theyre doing these conversations live, and finally one time i call got through was in 2008 on the first night of the Democratic National convention when Michelle Obama was giving her speech. I made a comment about how i believed having a strong woman of color in the public eye is going to have a tremendous impact on girls like me and how i felt about myself. Fastforward to last year, Michelle Obama invited me to be a speaker at the united state of women summit here in washington d. C. I remember within my first five minutes, a muslim mother recognized me and she ran up to me with her daughter around four years old, and she said, excuse me, can i take a photo of you with my daughter because i want her to know she can be anything . [applause] michelle and now you are a regular on cspan. Cspan, you can call me after this. [laughter] michelle thank you. Chelsea, how about you . Chelsea clinton thank you for sharing that, and thank you for hosting this conversation today. All of the conversations that im sure will catalyze important work over the next few days, and most important way for all that you are doing every day to ensure not a lot i was listening to your remarks earlier and you said something i reflect on often, which is that behind every statistic are as many stories as represented in the numbers. Listening to barbara share her story about the young woman who continues to galvanize her passion for Public Health in nigeria and around the world, i was thinking about our work at the Clinton Foundation and how fiercely proud i am of the fact that weve helped almost 12 Million People access drugs around the world and close to two thirds of the children on pediatric and retrovirals access them through agreements we helped negotiate. There are still more people who are, adults and children alike. For me, its always what more can and should we be doing. I think once you have figured something out, whether its how to ensure you make yourself visible or that people know how to do things or issues like marriage are not on the sidelines and left in the shadow because it should make us uncomfortable. I think once we know how we have to keep doing more of it. I think every nominal success reveals how much more work there is to be done. Also, it creates opportunities for us to bring more people into the work, which is something you and i were talking about earlier. Just to end briefly with a direct answer to your question, i recognize many people here today and i know you have all heard me talk about my grandmother before. My mothers mother had a life i couldnt imagine. She was born to unwed teenage parents and they abandoned her multiple times. For the last time when she was eight, and they put her on a train with her 2yearold sister. There was a twoday journey. She went before her 14th birthday and they told her as soon as she turned 14 she had to support herself because they considered her to be an adult. She went and worked as a maid and nanny in someone elses home and she still managed to graduate from high school with honors. What made the biggest difference in her life was a counselor who repeatedly told her you have value and repeatedly brought an extra sandwich for lunch that she just happened to have , so she didnt make my grandmother feel stigmatized for her hunger and she didnt make her feel stigmatized for the fact that she had to work to support herself, but she kind of gave her the dignity of a shared meal and a shared faith and ultimately what became her confidence that she could create a different life for herself and then what may be would have been expected to someone who had been abandoned at such a young age. Not only do we have to keep going, but we dont know what may seem as a small action has very large ripple effect. Thank goodness cspan picked up your call. And all of the times you kept calling until that moment were worth it. [applause] michelle i want to throw this out to all of you if you have some ideas. This is a particularly different moment in time for activists, so its different than it was five years ago in terms of mobile technology and equipping people to be change agents individually and globally, more young people are global citizens than ever before. Its also particularly difficult the difficulty of this moment from a political perspective as it relates to the agenda for foreign assistance. Can you speak to how you see this moment as being different as an activist, and what do you think is called upon for all of us to Carry Forward . Musimbi kanyoro i want to talk about technology and how it is translating in the lives of women and girls. We have to know the immenseness of what this means to the world. If i told you the place where i was born, the rivers have dried because of lack of rain but almost everyone has a phone. Mostly nonsmartphones. But what do they do with them . I think thats the more important question. People are able to get health information. People are able to get information about their own conditions, etc. When i see a global sign for women, we support women and girls in more than 175 countries. One of the areas we have found most exciting is the ability to support women to use technology in the way that is most suitable to them. It is the access and use that are really important and appropriately. The second thing that i have found that technology has done for a lot of young people that we work with, it has gotten them excited to do something because they do not remember a world where there was no technology. There is no status quo. You belong or you dont belong they just belong to the era of technology. This lack of fear to use technology has really broken the barriers. We ran a program and it was i told my colleagues about it, it was actually muslim women talking about their own life and programs, campaign and the participation was just amazing. I want to say, for any other time in the life of the world, we have opportunity to really reach out and expand and have connections all over the world. The other side of this is that its also a time of great danger , great danger of Different Things that are happening. Migration i think we have to really take into account what is the disrupting lives of people is important. We have to really take into account what is happening in terms of Climate Change and disaster. My own continent is going through famine now. That is a reality, and that really affects the lives of people. We have to take into account the fact that more than 66 Million Girls dont have access to schools, and we have to ask why is it that we have technology that can do everything and we can celebrate it, and yet the simple things people really need in life, they still dont have. They dont have clean water or schools, they dont have safety and security. s so these are things we should think about, and now more than ever we can do something about it because we know we can be changemakers in these areas. Chelsea clinton i would say two things in response your question. One, i think we all have to somewhat a segue from what i said previously not mistake progress for success. That doesnt mean we shouldnt feel validated in our efforts when we are able to make progress on various Development Goals, but we cant confuse the two. The second i would say is we cant take progress for granted , either. Progress has to be defended as well as advanced, and i think we are seeing that challenge in many ways, including here in our own country. The third reflection is one that im sure we each struggle with if that is not too presumptuous, probably all of us struggle with on a daily, sometimes even minute by minute basis, which is to be able to carry multiple concerns in our head and our heart. Im just listening to the concerns around education and Climate Change, Womens Health, child marriage, access to technology, all of those are interconnected. We have to focus on each of them in their interconnectedness and also as individual outreach that individual outrages that demand our attention. While that can be exhausting, i just dont think we have time to be exhausted right now, particularly because of some of the human suffering unfolding across the globe, and also the real threat to Womens Health and girls in particular around the world, but also here in the United States. I would end by saying for those of us who spend a lot of our time thinking about the rest of the world, i think we also have just been realtime thinking about whats happening in our own country because as you talked about the potential cuts to foreign assistance or the global gaggle and the effects it will have for Womens Health around the world and we have to look at the cuts to medicaid and Health Insurance program. Here at least it is rumored, and the consequences that could have in world health. This is a moment of great challenge, partly because there is so much to focus on, but we know we can and must focus on it because of all the young advocates ive met in the people i know that continue to inspire all of us. I am optimistic by how many people continue to surge forward even though we have a tremendous amount of work to do. Michelle we do have a lot to hold and i do think, as an advocate you can sometimes feel like you are competing with one another around different agendas and i wonder if you have any thoughts between domestic agenda of social justice and the global agenda for social justice, and how we might create more solidarity in our efforts and articulation. Amani alkhatahtbeh absolutely. First of all, i think we as a country, our founding principles were built upon activism and yet the American People embody the spirit of activism though historically, institutionally, america has always been very reluctant toward accepting activism. We tried to drive it out. Not just at home but overseas. If anything, i feel like i and muslimgirl. Com are a direct product of this huge problem that we as americans have and i feel like its time for us to finally own up to it if we actually are committed toward advancing women and girls in global good, which is our issue with american exceptionalism. We have activism going on right here at home. A lot of things get lost in translation about what the tenets of it are. I see it, i was personally victimized by the stamping out indirectly through our policies on the war on terror and the way that we have kind of spoken on behalf of of so many people around the world. If we are going to be involved internationally, we have a mission and responsibility to provide resources and empower communities around the world. I say that because as americans, we are responsible for a lot of problems, too, and we have to own up to it. First in afghanistan Lady Laura Bush gave an iconic. Peech in 2001 for a really remarkable reason, recallradio address, i were using words like uncivilized talking about afghanistan coul regardless of e intentions can we forgot about the activism of afghan women on the ground that was taking place. Yesterday President Trump gave a speech basically saying that the middle east is a place people should flock to an iraq is a beacon of modern civilization and things like that, but we think about the fact that because the problems to happen. Part of the reason we created the platform was because we are hoping that by cultivating a presence for the media especially for people like me, im a jersey girl boy and raised in new jersey. We can prevent that from happening. Especially american women and how these policy issues impact us then it would be impossible for our horses to be stamped out again and that maybe in the long , run we would be impact those policies of the next domestic and abroad. Chelsea clinton i think, michelle, in some ways the responsibility always has to. Ome with listening first to and so i think it is tremendously important when you asked about solidarity is that we have to stick with one another because when i talk about Womens Health or girls education, that may mean the not mean theat may same thing to someone talking about Womens Health or education, so if i am wanting to help advance that around the world, we have to listen to what people kind of think really are those right answers that taking for granted certain human rights parameters to help in the human race as a starting point. So i think what you say is so important, michelle, in your question which is that this really is a time for us to try and create solidarity and community with one another. We have to make sure we are clear about what our shared goals are. Michelle and listening is part of it and a piece that we would all be well served. Any thoughts for you . You worked at the domestic level in certain ways in terms of lifting of voice, and you clearly have a global mandate. Barbara bush our volunteers live in the United States and work in the United States so when we were starting Global Health core, we currently work in five countries but one of them is the United States and people would be so surprised when i would tell them we were working here, as if Global Health issues only affected other parts of the world and we are part of the globe. [laughter] bush it was intentional for us to start here and in other countries, because if we are going to address Global Health issues, we need global groups of Young Leaders. So our fellows are from 40 countries working together and thats part of the beauty that we saw what happens in west Africa Matters in the United States. Same goes for everything and hopefully the luxury of living in such a connected age is that we can learn from at least the Global Health models that have worked in nigeria with the health core and implemented them in new jersey and theres humility and understanding there are answers everywhere and we certainly need to know them too , but i think a lot of the , and this is something you are implying slightly, leads to an us versus them which doesnt make sense that we are all human beings really. I think understanding that we are part of the world is the first part perhaps. Of understanding the connection and the imperative for us. Going forward. So i want, you all have at some level had girls as a centerpiece in your work so as we move forward, any thoughts about how we keep it in the center and what we need to do to ensure that women and girls are a priority . The United States and its policies but also an institutional sense . I think we are lucky we are living in a time when we have to build these contacts, and develop those goals and the drifting about our center of Development Goes to the part of the world. So the question of our Development Goes to all countries, not only the western part , and there we have many opportunities , the opportunity , we have opportunities to walk outside and make change and we had the gender equality a direct , area because theres our Development Goals did come up on goals which caucuses, there are women and girls and it enables , us to see those things that we know about women in india and expend these issues, when we did these. And perhaps for me what is exciting about being able to do this Global Compact is this that so many people are walking on this Global Compact. Thats from governance, from business, from nongovernmental organizations and their womens the Womens Movement is really tough and walking in the Global Development goals so we have some things that unite us here, and we can actually make it down to areas where we are strongest, while also expanding other people in other areas. I didnt remember that theres falling and therefore being committed to finding global and the essence of walking outside to priorities for the world and i think that this is where the United States could have more strength because its the more that you place, the more that thats conductivity. Barbara bush the one thing that i was going to add as we are talking at a macro level about things too. We actually have a problem at Global Health where the team is only women, like we need some guys. [laughter] and 70 percent of our fellows and alums are women and thats who wants to work on Global Health and were hiring on talent. And that is good news. But i think the reason that i say that is sometimes it can be such a big thing, how do we do this on a macro level with each on a macro level when each of us needs to invest in our daily lives and its not hard to find really talented women everywhere. So we only have a couple more minutes. I want to see if maybe each one of you, and lets start with you would just give a word of wisdom, one word of wisdom to our advocates around the journey ahead. In just a few seconds. Wisdom and in a few seconds. All right, i would say that basically i dont believe that anyone is voiceless. I believe everybody has a voice and some are just systematically silenced. My conversations, i think its their responsibility of those of us with a platform to share that platform by elevating those voices, passing the mic, inspiring each other on their behalf, and allowing them their own presentation. I want to use the trouble to go fast. And also to add literally one collaboration. Lets really walk together, collaboratively, to make the greatest difference. Barbara . Barbara bush lets see. Theres a quote i really love. I might get it wrong but its something along the lines of , theres no one you can love once you know their story and its important for all of us to come close to the idea of listening but authentically sharing our histories and not thinking of the way people should know us. You will not know them until you look into their story to and that is really where the connection lies. Chelsea clinton im going to have you close us out and you have a new book that might fit into this game. Im going to add a slight coda to what i said but end on a more optimistic note. I completely agree that we have to always start by listening and calling out and giving and encouraging those who are and have been structurally disempowered and often forcibly silenced. And i think we all have a vested , our first really principles always moving toward a more perfect union. I think though that we also have to recognize particularly at this moment that sexism is not an opinion. Racism is not an opinion. Homophobia is not an opinion. So i think that we and our posture of listening also have to get comfortable with standing up and speaking out. Because i also agree that those of us that have been blessed and by definition all of us on the stage today have been blessed. There is a responsibility with giving voice to the voiceless , but also using our own voices. Were good enough to mention a book that i recently wrote called, she inspired by recent events in the United States. And one of the women that i highlighted that i have admired as long as i can remember, sally ride who was the First American woman in space. I had the pleasure of hearing from her act might space camp when i was a super awkward 13 or 14yearold and she said something that he had said before and said this throughout her all too brief life , it is hard for each of us to imagine what we cant see. Ive just been incredibly grateful that all of you on the stage for helping us see what might be uncomfortable because there are too many People Living in circumstances that should be unimaginable. And im so grateful to all of you women on the stage for showing us the most affirmative positive things what is possible. So, michelle, thank you so much and thank you so much to care. Thank you all, please join me in thanking these extraordinary changemakers. You. [applause] i think we have roy and together and story and persistence and just an ongoing quest for justice so thank you very much, each of you. [applause] and it as a role model for others. This year, care honors present this award to a young woman who has defied the odds, who has inspired her own community, and who will inspire all of us, and who has never taken an opportunity for granted. Priyanka harijan. [indiscernible] [foreign language conversation] [applause] please join me in presenting this award to priyanka. [applause] thank you. [foreign language address] thank you. Thank you, a lot. Thank you for this award, michelle. I would like to thank care america and care in nepal. [foreign language] i am coming from a village and up along to a poor family. People go to work between the age of 12 to 14 and have to take responsibility for their family. [foreign language] voice of translator right now, youngsters, with boys and girls, to stop the early marriage, child marriage. I am very happy that i am dealing with this kind of work. Foreign language] translator in this situation i am very happy that i am working with these kids. Them am trying to control and make them stronger. I would like to tell all the want to reach you your goals you can reach it by working very hard. I went off at a very early age, which i missed. Married atant to get a very early age and i am very happy that might parents mytened happy that parents listened to me. And i would like to thank the host program for giving me this opportunity. And again, i would like to thank michelle. I would like to thank care usa and care napalm. Nepal. [applause] thank you. Why dont you all stay with me because this is the last call to action and they will be inspired if you are here. Last year we relaunched care action, part of early energized effort to make sure you have the tools that we have, a power from a powerful network of citizens ready to move forward on the issues we talked about today. Not only is the work you are doing in the next few days critically important, your voice in congress, but we also want you to go home and talk to representatives in your communities. Last year, we had over 80 meetings in home districts. Heard today, and what you know is coming tomorrow, i hope we will be able to double that. Lets double, lets double. I want you all to think about what can you do to extend your voice, to bring somebody else into this movement. Lessons wee of the to lift up that voice to our congressional members. This is incredibly important today, and this week, but this is incredibly important for the longterm. Now, more than ever, we need your voice. You can change lives and make an extraordinary difference in this world. Thank you for being part of this and we look forward to the opportunity of working together and going far together in our aspirations, to ensure that everyone, all women and girls around the world, and the opportunity to realize there potential. I want to ask for one more round of applause for our sponsors, delta, ups, walmart. And lets do an extending lets do a standing ovation for all of you, for your outstanding commitment and leadership. [applause] with the government is arguing for is that the Tech Companies have to go further and organize themselves so that they can correct, with a duplicate key, all the data that gets transferred. So they have the ability to store things you think you have deleted, so that they can turn that over when there is a request. In thise constitution country, we do not require people to organize their lives so that they store everything that they say and everything that they write, so that he can be available if somebody wants to come along later and investigate. Says theurth amendment right of the people to be secure in their houses, papers and effects against unreasonable notches and seizures shall be violated. Notice it does not say all searches and seizures, or some searches and seizures. It just says, unreasonable searches and seizures. , hope everyone here will agree it is about what is reasonable. We may disagree on what is reasonable but ultimately it is for our elected representatives in washington to decide what is reasonable. Changeshow we decided in technology, like the telephone, like money transfers. Everyone said, it is known it is so different, we should have it no rules. And what we did was we adapted the rules that we had in the past, in a reasonable way. And that is what he think we should do with data health highTech Companies. That is a portion of an event held recently. You can watch the entire program tonight being beginning at 8 00 eastern, on cspan. Weekend, on American History tv, on cspan3, tonight at 8 00 p. M. , pulitzer prizewinning historian David Mccullough talks about how the founders valued education, viewed slavery, and persevered in the face of hardship and how these ideals shaped american society. He grew up on a farm, his mother was illiterate, his his name. Ld sign maybe he could read because there was a bible in the house. It was the only book. And they work hard every day, from childhood on. Scholarshiphe got a at this Little College in cambridge called harvard, and as he said, discovered books and read forever, he became the john adams to change the world. Go to cspan. Org. Joining us from new york is alexandra pelosi, director and producer of a new hbo film, the words that built america. Thank for being here on cspan. Thanks very much for having me. What is the premise for this film and what did you learn putting it together . I started it day after the election. The idea w,
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