 leaders from Nigeria, Liberia and other West African countries present, New Excellencies of the Diplomatic Corps, International Organizations present, members of SHIROs, SHIROs International, honored guests, ladies and gentlemen. As I walked into this hall this morning and saw that every seat was occupied by women, I immediately understood how women in leadership, or aspiring for leadership, feel completely outnumbered. I think that today we men also feel completely outnumbered in this place. I think I must, I think notice to men in leadership in Africa that African women are very serious about this business of equal participation in leadership. A few weeks ago a group of women came to visit our president in Abuja, and one of their many demands was for the position of vice president to be allocated to a woman. I had to politely inform them that there was no vacancy in that position at the moment. Let me say how deeply honored I am to have been given this very special award, accepted with a mixture of pride and humility. Pride because of the recognition, but great humility because of the very great responsibility that it thrusts upon me and upon my co-awardees to be faithful to the cause that this has been given, which is that of ensuring that women are given not just their rightful place, but an equal place at the table. Let me say again how deeply honored I am to have been invited to be a part of the first Shiro's Forum to hold here in Liberia. And it is appropriate that it should be celebrated here in Liberia. This is the nation that has the distinction of producing Africa's first elected president, Her Excellency Ellen Johnson-Seliff. And I might add for good measure that she is also the first African woman to be elected twice as president of her country. Seems to be going on. Even as we await the second coming of Her Excellency Joyce Banda, she's also, and I mean Madam Ellen Seliff, but she's also the first female chairperson of Echoes. And of course, Liberia must also take pride in the fact that our host, my dear sister, Her Excellency Joel Howard Taylor, is only one of four female vice presidents in Africa. Let me also bring you the warm personal greetings of Nigeria's president, President Mohamed Buhari, to this historic gathering. Incidentally, he also enjoys the distinction of the winner of champion of the He For She campaign in Nigeria, conferred on him. Indeed, as the father of seven confident daughters, he really does believe that he, more than anyone else, should be a passionate advocate of gender equality. And so should I. I have two daughters, Damilola and Koinsola. They're both out of university now and have been entrepreneurs even from their days in school. But more importantly, from the days that they were born, they could assume that they would have equal legal, social, and political status and rights as their only brother and as any other male. This is so because they were born to an educated and perhaps modestly successful parents. I'm sure that this is the case for many of us here in this room who have daughters. Our daughters are educated or being educated and can and will compete favorably with their male counterparts anyway. Aspire and can attain political leadership by virtue, this is by virtue of the privileges of their birth. They are positioned to break the glass ceiling in commerce, in the professions, and in politics. But the story of the daughters of those of us in this room is not the story of the large number of girls in our country all over Africa. Over 40% of girls in Africa on the average are illiterate. Over 40% of girls in Africa are illiterate. Illiteracy means that they will not find decent, well-paying jobs. They will, in many cases, be married off early and have children while they themselves are still children. And many will be discriminated against in inheritance rights or punitive widowhood practices. It would work the hardest on the farms and long hours in the markets, but would earn far less than men. These historical deficits ensure that women will be underrepresented in all levels of leadership. But even the educated will probably several times in their working lives be subjected to one form of gender-based discrimination or another. Many may even add to the growing statistic of victims of domestic violence. For many generations, women have fought these manifestations of gender inequality. Over time, the struggle has been refined to the level of a right to gender equality, the notion that men and women should have the same legal, social, and political rights. This body of rights is the public law basis for what we now describe as feminism. Feminism initially attracted suspicion and hostility, especially from men. A feminist was seen as an aggressive, man-hating, over-liberal woman. But something has changed in the past few years. Women are now saying that the fight for gender equality is not one for women and girls alone. It is also a fight for all fair-minded and just men who believe that men and women must have equal rights. But the campaign is much more important in shaping the future. Men are now being challenged to stand shoulder to shoulder with women in the struggle for gender equality. They are learning that insisting on equal rights for women is not a favor being done to women. It is an imperative of justice and fairness. It is an entitlement. It is a debt that is owed to women and girls and it's not a gift. This is perhaps, in my view, one of the greatest leaps in development in our contemporary history. When boys and girls today can take gender equality for granted, when women and girls are free to reach their full potentials, to get education and to earn equal pay and to aspire and attain the highest political positions, not once in a while, but all the time, then the full potential of the other half of the population of the world will be unleashed. The implications of such a development for a vastly improved quality of life for all of us can only be imagined. It is this ideal that has informed the great work that the Shiro's Foundation has been doing and for which they deserve all our commendations. I really commend the co-founders of the Shiro's Foundation today for the excellent work they've done so far. Let me say that we all, especially African men, are coming to the realization that gender equality is in our collective interest. It just makes sense for everyone, regardless of gender, to contribute their bit to the social and economic good of our continent and our world. And secondly, that we cannot truthfully speak of our respect for the dignity of the human person without a commitment to the rights of women and girls. The concrete expression of that commitment is the full and equal participation of women in the commanding heights of commerce, the professions and government. I want to thank you all again and thank the organizers very much for the kindness and the honor of inviting me to this meeting. Thank you and God bless the work of the Shiro's International.