From OneWorld.Net: Focus U.S. Aid Efforts on Women, Say Experts
“Yolanda Richardson, president of the Center for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA), told Hill staffers and others that implementing policies that recognize the vital role women play in poor communities is the best way to ‘improve the quality and effectiveness of our global development assistance.’ ”
“CEDPA’s Richardson agrees with those calling for a new approach to foreign aid, but is convinced that unless new policies and strategies place a special focus on women, they will fail to address the very basic issue of poverty reduction in developing countries.”
In a previous post I highlighted a wonderful project, The Girl Effect.
Check out the links above but, in brief, the post and the project have one central premise: if we want to aid the future of our global civilization, the most effective way is to aid young women.
There’s really no way around that clear truth. Women are the first educators, possibly beginning in the womb. What can a woman teach her child about how to get along in the world if the woman has multiple barriers to her own way in the world?
Barriers like:
» not enough to eat
» no personal security
» lack of money
» no opportunity to earn money
» no input to local decisions
I understand that many men suffer the same oppressive circumstances, yet the toll on our human family and its civilization is much greater when women are held back.
Imagine: a man suffers oppression and can’t contribute to society.
Imagine: a woman suffers oppression, has babies, and has no chance to help them learn the rudiments of more than a squalid existence.
Which scenario hurts all of us more?
Here are three pertinent documents you can download:
Women and Development
The Girl Child
Women and The Peace Process
“Women have equal rights with men upon earth; in religion and society they are a very important element. As long as women are prevented from attaining their highest possibilities, so long will men be unable to achieve the greatness which might be theirs.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 133
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Our Evolution 
Whatever words you think, write and utter, are creating the world in which you live. They influence your perception. If you choose words with negative slants, then this generates and reinforces things like lack, negativity, pain and suffering. However, if you only choose to think, speak and write about the flip side, then your life will differ.
Liara,
Can people who are suffering, from birth on, because of oppressors, just think their way out of the suffering?
A brief short comment..I thank God,it’s never to late to become what He intended us to be.!!
Catherine,
Thank you, Catherine. You have a way of taking the discussion to a higher level . . .
amzolt, my answer to your question is yes. Consider Viktor Frankle, an American survivor of the Holocaust. He wrote a book called, “Man’s Search for Meaning” in which he pointed out that no matter what anyone did to him, they could not control his thinking. No matter what his circumstances, he could decide within himself how he wanted to think and feel.
You go against yourself when you judge or blame anything. If you believe you are suffering, in your mind, you mistakenly believe that you deserve punishment. When you are impeccable with your word, as suggested by Toltecs like Don Miguel Ruiz, the whole concept of sin or suffering changes from a focus on religion to a focus on beliefs about self-protection or self-abuse. If you love yourself, you will express your love in all interactions with others, regardless of what they do. Use your energy in the direction of truth and love for yourself. This helps clear out emotional poison that exists within you.
Liara,
So, if what you say is true, how do we help all the suffering people who don’t seem to have the strength of character to accomplish this mental magic?
One other thought,that I want to add to this..
The most important trait that must be cultivated to walk The Path of power,is the trait of self discipline.How can you expect to marshal Universal Energy if you cannot control your own?
Brilliant response, Catherine !
amzolt, it is not your job to seek to control or influence the thinking and behaviour of other human beings. It is not your job to change anyone. You ony control your reactions to your own perceived situations. Catherine makes a relevant point in encouraging each person to rediscover his or her own inner power. What other people choose to do is based on their free will and intent.
Liara,
So, if I understand you correctly, we just let all the people who our suffering in our global family continue to suffer, not doing anything to ameliorate it?
amzolt, you do not permit anyone to suffer but yourself. The nature of your thougths and actions influences the energy grid of the planet. Although you may not see this, you can feel how your attitude and mood affect the attitude and moods of people immediately around you. Some will feel uncomfortable and others will be uplifted. If you view everyone and everything as interconnected, then you begin to grasp that any positive thoughts you generate or behaviours you initiate positively affect the big picture.
A practical example is that if you choose to sponsor a foster child in a foreign country, that gesture will not feed, clothe and educate all children in poverty. if you donate time or effort to a charity of choice, again, that in itself will not alleviate core problems. However your gesture and sense of hope can inspire a child and his or her family which, in turn, will inspire and motivate people you have never met to think and act more positively. Its all about raising awareness of your own energy and inner power to make a positive difference. If you choose to love and accept everything about yourself, if you do your best in whatever you do, then these things reverberrate positive energy throughout the planet, even if you do not see this.
Liara,
I am a firm believer in keeping my mind and heart at the highest spiritual vibrational level I can but I also am a firm believer that we need to *help* as many other people as we can–with Action not just thought and feeling…
You echo what I am saying. Some people think positively and take some action but feel what they do is never enough. Its useful to realize that every thought, word and gesture is affecting the bigger picture even if you are not attuned to energy at levels where you sense immediate positive changes. You can also be content and believe whatever gesture or thoughts you have are sufficient at this time.
I agree more should be done, There is a lot of talk for the breaking of certain cycles, mostly in the direction of male influence and attitude towards women , yet little or none in creation of new cycles for woman themselves.
When building a house one must start with the proper Foundation, if not the walls will FAIL!
This is true in society as well, The mother is the not only foundation, but the Builder as well, yet we persist in not leveling, and withholding Her tools!
In regards to the previous comments, The personal struggle to “Heal” ones spirit, Most often brings the recognition, that their wounds no matter how personal, are not always exclusively theirs.
Understand that the byproduct of your empathy, is not only what has encouraged~ you to reach out, but encouraged other commentators to reach out, to you. Thus a true example of how you and they have effected a positive change for all!
~Kem Shahol
Kem,
Much to ponder in your comment . . .