Women are certainly a force to be reckoned with these days. I’m a little buoyed up with the election of Allison Redford as the new premier of Alberta (our first premier in decades to have an education beyond high school), and am looking around at how women seem to be breaking the glass ceiling more and more. However, in the developing world the vast potential latent in 50% of the population is often held back – the women and girls are not educated, not valued, and are often not even considered in development planning. The roles of women can often be integral to the working of society – they are the farmers, the water collectors and the family organizers, and mobilizing them can lead to fast and effective social progress (today’s post is inspired by an article in The Guardian). Women can become powerful forces for environmental protection – for example, the women of the Chipko Movement in India were the original tree huggers.
Addendum: News is that the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize has gone to three female activists – the first time aside form Wangari Maathai in 2004.
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