 A little daunting this morning. I've got two mics on. I've got a vega mic and the, I guess they're afraid you wouldn't be able to hear me. So Gardner, thank you for that kind introduction and Dr. Rom, I also need to add my appreciation because I know how much work it is to bring together this many people and and I am not just honored, but quite happy to be here for the third conference on women peace and security. The theme for this year's conference critical pathways stimulating and safeguarding components of women peace and security You've you've done great work. You've got wonderful panels lined up covering a range of issues related to this topic But how does one actually build a critical pathway and what does it take? I'll start with a story about a man who was new to his neighborhood He wanted to get himself acquainted with his surroundings So he decided to walk down the street and as he was walking he came across another man carefully building a foundation He watched the man expertly lay the mortar smooth it with a spade and place his brick Wow, he said that's nice work. Thank you says the man I'm a bricklayer and my work has to be absolutely perfect So the man keeps walking around the street thinking the whole time about how impressive the bricklayer was Until he gets to the end of the road and sees the corner of a building being built Though unfinished it is one of the most beautiful structures He has ever seen and he is astonished that it was even better than the earlier work Wow, he says to the man next to the corner. That's amazing work. Thank you says the second bricklayer It's important work. I'm building a hospital Purpose Purpose matters to us and purpose is the reason we serve and purpose transforms bricks into hospitals When we consider critical pathways for woman peace and security, we have to think about the end goal What is our purpose and what will our bricks become on December 10th? 1948 the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights This was one of the most important bricks in the foundation of global women's rights The first article states that all human beings are born free and Equal in dignity and rights and with this document the United Nations defined its purpose to safeguard The universal rights of all human beings Yet despite this charter human rights eludes millions of women across history and around the world Women have been died have been denied rights voting property and freedom of expression more bricks are needed The United Nations placed an important brick in 2000 when the Security Council adopted resolution 1325 After numerous conferences and increasing conflict around the globe this resolution finally addressed the dichotomies women faced in the 20th century increasingly the target of violence and increasingly denied participation in efforts to end war So vice being the means to end that violence and secure the peace Resolution 1325 changed the way the international community approached issues regarding to peace and security For the first time we talked about conflict not as something happening to women But as something that requires the active involvement of women from conflict to resolution In the 15 years since the resolutions implementation the UN documented reasons why it's vital to involve women in peacekeeping and security roles These roles empower women in the host community and they help make the peacekeeping force Approachable to women women are able to interview survivors of gender-based violence They mentor female cadets at police and military academies and they are able to interact with women in societies Where women are prohibited from speaking to men Here in the United States. We placed our own brick four years ago with the implementation of a national action plan And this whole of government approach to fully implement resolution 3025 across the country We recognize that when women become equal partners in all aspects of peace building and conflict Prevention many of the challenges we face can be addressed The effort to fully execute the national action plan is the purview of all the branches of our government and In order to ensure women are equal partners in all aspects of peace and security The military must be a part of the interdependent inter-agency efforts as Military service members our work can have great influence on international diplomacy Policing and often literally help others build homes schools and bridges Brick by brick sailors Marines soldiers and airmen are all doing the hard work enunciated in our national action plan Yet we still need more bricks in order to ensure the plan is a strong foundation for change Tragically since World War two more than 90% of the casualties and conflict have been civilians and more than 70% Of those are women and children yet around the world women have limited roles in defense peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance Unfortunately, the only role commonly accepted for women is that of being a casualty If our purpose is to build a society where all women enjoy their inherent universal human rights Women must be involved across the range of peace and security issues To accomplish this women must build with bricks from three crucial areas defense diplomacy and development a Future edifice of strength can be envisioned by the stories of three proud women who have done incredible work The first comes from Afghanistan in defense Latifah Nabizata and her sister did not grow up playing with dolls. They grew up playing pilot There was only one problem Her country of Afghanistan had never had a female pilot and despite their initial shock the girls parents were supportive Which was vital for their success at the time when women in Afghanistan didn't even work outside the home in 1988 Latifah and her sister Laluma were accepted to the Afghan Air Force Academy at that time No women had ever graduated from the institution and in addition to that burden They had to endure men throwing stones at them in school and frequent intimidation, but they did not run They took these stones and paved their own way. They graduated in 1991 Realizing their dream and becoming helicopter pilots Latifah's favorite flights involved those where she would be among women Sometimes she would land in Afghan villages and be surrounded by women Latifah recounts that these village women showed an incredible interest in me and my success I hope I encourage them to follow their own dreams She even continued flying after the birth of her daughter Malayla Within months Colonel Nabizata was back in the helicopter There were no childcare options for her so she brought her daughter along She explained Malayla has grown up in a helicopter and sometimes I think she's not my daughter She's the helicopter's daughter Now Malayla goes to school during the day But Latifah has asked the military to establish a kindergarten to assist other women in the military the children Time in the helicopter seems have made an impression on her daughter Malayla She says she wants to be a pilot like her mother And Colonel Nabizata serves as an outstanding example of the tenacity and determination with which women have pursued a Role in the defense of their nation in a country with very few examples and of women and positions of strength The courage of Colonel Nabizata gives women a reason to dream to strive and to never give up She has proudly taken her brick and placed it in the future for a more secure Afghanistan And diplomatic inspiration comes from Great Britain Catherine Ashton worked for most of her life on issues of nuclear disarmament Education and training and families She's had one of the most remarkable diplomatic careers of the 21st century in 2009 Lady Ashton was appointed the European Union's first high representative for foreign affairs and security policy She was the source of ridicule by some who said this woman was out of her league Yet she proved her doubters wrong after her first year of work in 2013 She helped Serbia and Kosovo reach a deal normalizing relations after decades of conflict in July 2013 She visited Egypt in the midst of the Arab Spring one of the first of the Western diplomats to do so and in November 2013 She chaired negotiations with Iran that led to the Geneva interim agreement on the Iranian nuclear program in the span of just seven Months she taken on some of the most difficult issues in the world and produced unbelievable results Judge me on what I do, and I think you will be pleased she says Women and diplomatic leadership roles provide essential perspective to some of the most deep-seated conflicts around the world Brick by brick Lady Ashton and women like her build the structure of a more peaceful world in Development is the story of a girl who grew up in a refugee camp in Uganda She always dreamed of going home in 1994 genocide ripped Rwanda apart at the seams Alosia and Yamba and many women like her fought to end the genocide and raise a country out of corruption poverty and disease in a country that afforded very few rights to women and Yamba did not hesitate to risk her life to save her people in 1994 at the age of 30 She was appointed Rwanda's minister for gender and family promotion one of the first females in government after the war She was also created a national women's movement which lobbied the new Rwandan government for greater female representation And she grew to be an influential force in national affairs Thanks to her efforts progress has been remarkable Two decades after genocide females comprised 64% of parliament making Rwanda the only country in the world with a majority female representation Half of the country's 14 Supreme Court justices are women Every indicator from malaria contraction rates to sanitation to poverty has dramatically improved Rwanda leads many of the sub-saharan African nations in achieving the Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations In Yamba's life's work was to ask how do we tap into the population through education through economic empowerment and political Opportunities for the women then they will serve and contribute Before her death in illness in 2012 She placed her brick for the future of Rwanda and inspired thousands of Rwandans to do the same Latifah Navazada Baroness Ashton and Alocia Yamba are sources of inspiration for bricklayers They show us that anything is possible with purpose and with action We must remember our purpose as we go through our own lives We must remember that we can lay bricks that put an end to destructive cycles of violence We can lay bricks that support leadership opportunities for women. We can lay bricks that create lasting security The future must include a citizen walking around a secure neighborhood Who comments to the bricklayer on the wonderfulness of the edifice and in that future that bricklayer? She must respond back. It is important work. I and building a nation Thank you