Remarks by Ambassador Marcie B. Ries - National Conference on Social Cohesion, Gender Equality, and Equal Opportunity (February 2, 2007)

Greetings Mr. Prime Minister, Madam Westin, Ms. Lubrani, ministers, members of parliament, and distinguished guests. I want to extend my personal congratulations on the launching of the first draft of a National Strategy for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women and the organizing of this important national conference.

There are those who will say the reason why I am here is because I am a woman, but that isn’t quite right.  The reason I am here is because the U.S. strongly supports the principle of gender equality and the empowerment of women.

The elaboration of this strategy is a meaningful milestone for Albanian women—indeed for all of Albanian society—and I encourage you to finalize it as quickly as possible and move on to the important work of implementation.

I would like to highlight briefly three key areas in which ensuring gender equality directly benefits society at large:  economic empowerment, women in government, and social and health services.

Experience shows that greater inclusion of women in a nation’s economic life, as both consumers and business owners, is key to economic growth and development.

It is no accident that the rise in participation in the American economy, in the workforce and more recently as business owners, coincides with increases in our economic prosperity.

Much of this has happened in my lifetime. Early in my career I had the experience of walking into a business conference in New York and being one of only two women in the room - there were 798 men. Today that same conference will probably be half and half.

In the U.S. women own roughly 9.1 million of the 24 million small businesses, providing 27.5 million jobs and over $3.6 trillion in revenue for our economy.

A more active role for women in government and policy-making also offers rewards – including in the fight against corruption. I hope that the implementation of this strategy will bring about an increase in the number of women standing as candidates in future elections. Studies have shown a strong correlation between higher participation of women in government and lower levels of corruption.

Increasingly, international organizations such as the WB are recognizing that women are important not only to economic development, but also to solving some of society’s most difficult social problems. 

Not only are women disproportionately affected by poverty, but they also, more than men, tend to parlay improvements in their own lives and into those of their children and communities. Increases in female income typically translate into greater investment in children’s education and health case. It is for this reason that many poverty reduction strategies around the world now target women.

The national strategy that you have elaborated aims to promote policies that redress social, educational, and economic inequities. Thus, its implementation will not only help end gender inequality, but also bring Albania more in line with the Euro-Atlantic community it wants to join.

This country has women who are talented, educated and eager to make a contribution to society. Let’s give them this chance.

Faleminderit.