Hillary Clinton took on a bit of an iconic mantle with human rights and women rights activists when, as first lady, she delivered a dramatic speech on women’s rights at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995.  Speaking truth to power, Clinton boldly criticized the host country and other nations for abuses of girls and women saying: “It is no longer acceptable to discuss women’s rights as separate from human rights,” she said then.

President-elect Barack Obama’s nomination of Hillary Clinton as the next secretary of state has energized human rights and women’s rights activists, who expect the former first lady to bring a dramatic new focus to the plight of women around the globe. I am also hoping Clinton will continue her staunch support of women’s economic progress, as I believe she will.

Clinton, a champion of global micro-credit, has said: “Although the economic plight of a poor woman in Bangladesh who wants a loan to buy a second milk cow or sewing machine may seem worlds away from that of a technology entrepreneur in San Francisco, the bottom line is this: No matter where they live, women need help breaking down the barriers to capital.”

Women have a notoriously hard time borrowing money, and we’re often forced to rely on high-interest, short-term credit, if we can get loans at all.

During Bill Clinton’s administration I participated in a White House conference on improving Latin America’s economy by counseling with and supporting women in the creation of small businesses.  What came of that was women who received a few hundred dollars to buy a sewing machine, then grew to have a factory that employed most of a village.  Women in a remote mountain village who raised geese, were empowered, with the help of an Internet connection, to begin selling goose down pillows to the United States and goose liver pate to France.

I know the Clinton’s believe deeply in economic support for women and I’m energized by the prospect of Clinton bringing that perspective to her new position.

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We thought you might want to hear more from the co-founder of The New Agenda., a new non-partisan group for women’s rights.

Amy Siskind, co-founder of The New Agenda

“On September 10 our own Amy Siskind was the guest on Tommy Christopher’s Unusable Signal on BlogTalkRadio.
Amy talked with co-hosts Tommy Christopher and Tom Fitzsimmons about the founding of  The New Agenda and explained the group’s non-partisan mission and goals.

We’ve excerpted a few snippets from the hour-long interview to share here. Just click on each link to transform it into a tiny little in-line mp3 player” — to listen, go to The New Agenda.

( Disclosure – I am also a co-founder of The New Agenda, a group characterized as a “big tent”, with members having a whole range of different idealogies but joined in their commitment to women’s rights.  So I guess it would be fair to say, like all members of The New Agenda, I am a committed supporter of women’s rights and the goal of advancing women…. as if that weren’t perfectly clear to all who follow AdvancingWomen.com and this blog.  However, the reason I will be following and reporting on The New Agenda from time to time, is because the group has formed and taken a bold, activist and leadership role in protecting and advancing women’s rights in multliple venues and on many levels. For women everywhere, this should be extremely newsworthy and relevant to their lives.   If you have comments or feedback, agree or disagree, we invite you to share your thoughts )

“We cannot and will not sit idly by while another qualified candidate goes through what Senator Hillary Clinton had to endure. Issues are fair game. Sexist treatment is no longer fair game,” said Amy Siskind, a co-founder of The New Agenda.

The New Agenda members are monitoring the airwaves, blogs, and print reports for derogatory language, misogynist attacks, and denigrating statements. The New Agenda will respond swiftly against any perpetrators of such attacks.

“Our members were outraged that within 24 hours of Governor Palin’s historic candidacy she was dismissed as “tokenism,” she was referred to as a “MILF” (mother I’d like to f*uck), and chuckling male commentators said:” The only thing she didn’t say was who needs some pie I baked this morning?” added Siskind.

The New Agenda members are committed to promoting women’s leadership and ensuring that women candidates are treated with the respect they deserve. We are confident that the media, the campaigns, and campaign surrogates can turn this historic election into one we can look back on with pride.

For more information contact:

newagendapress@yahoo.com