U.S. FIRST LADY HAILS WOMEN OF N. IRELAND FOR ADVANCING PEACE
USIA
02 September 1998
U.S. FIRST LADY HAILS WOMEN OF N. IRELAND FOR ADVANCING PEACE
(Delivers keynote address at "Vital Voices" conference) (600)
By Berta Gomez
USIA Staff Writer
Belfast, Northern Ireland -- U.S. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton
arrived in Belfast September 2 and voiced her unwavering support for
the women of Northern Ireland and their role in pressing for an end to
the strife that has long torn at the fabric of their society.
President Clinton joins the first lady in Belfast following his summit
with Russian President Boris Yeltsin in Moscow. The U.S. president
will address members of the New Northern Ireland Assembly on September
3, after which he and Mrs. Clinton will visit Omagh, the site of a
terrorist bombing in mid-August.
In her keynote address at the closing plenary of the "Vital Voices:
Women in Democracy" conference in Belfast, Mrs. Clinton said that
Northern Ireland is undergoing a "stunning rebirth," and showing "a
new openness, a new community, a new awareness of the road that has
been traveled and the road that lies ahead." Implementation of the
historic Good Friday Agreement offers "real hope," she said, that the
dream of peace "will finally become a reality for the children of
Northern Ireland."
Mrs. Clinton added, "None of this would have been possible were it not
for the courage and strength of generations of women."
The three-day conference in Belfast drew more than 400 women leaders
from Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, England, Wales,
Scotland and the United States. The workshops focused on ways to bring
the women more fully into roles as decisionmakers, community
activists, political leaders and business executives. The conference
produced "a powerful chorus calling for women to become full
participants in a secure and democratic Northern Ireland that people
have hoped for, lived for, died for, and -- yes -- finally voted for,"
Mrs. Clinton said.
"When we go to Omagh tomorrow, we will pay tribute to those who were
murdered by the enemies of peace," Mrs. Clinton said. "The terrorists
targeted the people of Northern Ireland and, in response, it was the
people -- all the people -- who bravely stood side-by-side to say:
'Hatred and violence will no longer have a place here,'" she said.
"Please know that America will stand with you," she declared.
The conference was itself a sign of U.S. support for peace in Northern
Ireland. It was co-sponsored by the United States, the secretary of
state for Northern Ireland, and the first and deputy first ministers
of the New Northern Ireland Assembly. The gathering was part of an
ongoing initiative to bring women's issues into the mainstream of U.S.
foreign policy.
The first "Vital Voices" conference was held in Vienna in 1997; a
third conference is scheduled to be held in Montevideo, Uruguay, in
October 1999, and will bring together women from all parts of the
Western Hemisphere.
In Belfast, most of the emphasis was on workshops designed to create
partnerships among individuals and organizations that can combine
their resources and expertise to create new opportunities for women in
Northern Ireland.
Mrs. Clinton said that the conference had produced more than $2
million in partnership commitments from companies that include Xerox,
MCI, America Online and Marriott. Those partnerships will be dedicated
to areas such as political leadership, media training, mentoring, and
economic development, she said.
"We leave here," Mrs. Clinton added, "with commitments from the
president and Secretary of State Albright (that) the United States
government will be vigorously engaged as we turn this conference's
partnerships into results."