Women on the Move –

Wangari Maathai

In commemoration of International Women’s Day, March 8, a day that celebrated the economic, political and social achievements of women around the world, it should be noted that women’s activism is on the rise despite government and individual opposition, e.g.

· 
Hina Jitani in Pakistan, giving aid to abused women
· 
Activists like Giulia Tamaya Leon in Peru fighting forced sterilization
· 
Groups like Organizacion Femenina Popular in Colombia, which despite attacks from paramilitary forces continue to deliver services to poor women in local communities

and so on and so on.

Wangari Maathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, former member of Kenya’s parliament, and founder of the Green Belt Movement, an idea that developed into a tree planting service to sustain and restore the environment that eventually branched to include human rights issues and the rights of women, said:

“In the process of education that takes place when someone joins the Green Belt Movement, women have become aware that planting trees or fighting to save forests from being chopped down is part of a larger mission to create a society that respects democracy, decency, adherence to the rule of law, human rights and the rights of women. Women also take on leadership roles……….All of these experiences contribute to their developing more confidence in themselves and more power over the direction of their lives.”

Maathai and fellow Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Jodi Williams (1997), accompanied by other notable women including actress-activist Mia Farrow traveled last year to the Sudan and Burma to spotlight and raise awareness of the massive violations to women’s human rights in addition to calling upon citizens around the world to take individual and collective action to build sustainable peace and to insist that the international community implement existing commitments for peace, justice and equality in those countries.

Like Obama’s father, Wangari Maathai was one of those chosen for the Kennedy airlift in the 1960’s for which the United States gave scholarships to young people from Africa’s emerging nations (in this instance, Kenya) to study at U.S universities.

In her forthcoming book “The Challenge for Africa,” motivated by the U.S. airlift and Obama’s ascent to the presidency, Maathai offers a powerful and compelling look into the problems facing Africa and the promises of the future, not only as they apply to men but also to women. As she writes:

“Africa has been on her knees for too long…at the top and at the bottom all Africans must believe in themselves again: that they are capable of walking their own path and forging their own identities; that they have a right to be governed with justice, accountability and transparency, that they can honor and practice their cultures and make themselves relevant to today’s needs, and that they no longer need to be indebted – financially, intellectually and spiritually – to those who once governed them. They must rise up and walk.”

Valerie Anderson

March 29, 2009