Stephanie Okereke, who played Hafsat Abiola, and Meryl Streep after the reading of the play, Seven, which was written after the 1995 women’s conference in Beijing based on the real life stories of seven different women.
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Shohreh Aghdashloo played Farida Azizi (left) in the dramatic reading of Seven. Six of the seven women whose stories are told in the play were in the audience, and joined the actors onstage after the reading.
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Julyana Soelistyo, Mu Sochua, and Lauren Velez after the Seven reading. Sochua’s story is one of seven in the play – she is currently at risk of serving jail time due to her efforts to bring about political freedom in Cambodia. She was photographed with Hillary Clinton to publicize the cause during Clinton’s time as first lady and asked her at this weekend’s summit, “Secretary Clinton, may I take another picture with you?”
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Suraya Pakzad, founder of the Voice of Women organization, sent a stinging rebuke to the American and Afghan men leading her nation’s rebuilding efforts: “When there is a security issue or development issue, women are not at the table at all,” she said. “They only call us when they want to talk about gender equality.… [But] we have to be everywhere.”
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Fatima Bhutto, author, activist, and Pakistan correspondent for The Daily Beast, didn’t mince words during the discussion of women in Afghanistan and Pakistan: “It would be useful for [the United States] government to stop propping up governments like Hamid Karzai’s,” she said, “which is infamously corrupt.”
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Christiane Amanpour, CNN Chief International Correspondent and Leymah Gbowee, Executive Director, Women Peace and Security Network Africa spoke frankly during the panel on the prevalence of rape in war torn countries. “The most dangerous thing to be in the Congo today is a woman, not a soldier,” said Amanpour, while Gbowee advocated that the U.S. embassy pull out of the nation in order to draw more attention to the problem.
Annie Rashidi-Mulumba discussed the gruesome reality of rape in the Congo, explaining that sexual assault is often conducted in public to increase the humiliation and trauma for the victim. She works as a Consultant on Human Rights for the United Nations in Cameroon, and is a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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Barbara Walters sat down with former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright for an interview that covered everything from foreign policy to Twitter. Albright had supportive words for President Obama, saying, “I know people get tiring of hearing he was dealt a very bad hand, but it was a terrible hand. America’s reputation was in the gutter […] He would have had to be a combination of Jesus Christ, the messiah, Buddha, all of them rolled into one in order to deal with the problems he was left and do it all in one year.”
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Sunitha Krishnan, Dao Tuyet Lien, businesswoman and victim of forced labor; and Luis CdeBaca, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons encouraged businesses to provide women with options after they escape the trade, and said, “They are so talented. Hire them, invest in them, and support them.”
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Sunitha Krishnan works with girls in India as the Chief Functionary, Prajwala, and is herself a survivor of human trafficking. "The two years of isolation, the two years of ostracization, two years of stigmatization was the first knowledge in my mind that a woman could be victimized for being a victim in this country,” she said of her experience. “I understand the pain of being stigmatized for no fault of yours.”
Kiran Bedi is India’s first and highest-ranking woman in the leadership ranks of the Indian police service, and transformed one of India’s most notorious prisons with an unconventional and progressive regime consisting of education, yoga, and meditation for prisoners.
Anchee Min, bestselling memoirist and author of Red Azalea and Becoming Madame Mao, drew inspiration for her writing from unexpected sources. In the 1970s Min worked as a filmmaker for Madame Mao until her fall from power, and has since spent much of her career writing about real Chinese women including Pearl S. Buck.
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Wei Christianson, CEO of Morgan Stanley China, shared the stage with Min, where she discussed the ramifications of China’s notorious one-child policy: “In 15 years time, there will be 40 million men without Chinese wives,” she said.
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French Minister of Finance Christine Lagarde sat down with New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman for a discussion of gender and economy. Her advice for other women in business? “Never imitate the boys. Don’t assume that you’re going to be better heard because you shout louder, use slang, and behave like the boys.”
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Tina Brown, Cherie Blair, Christine Lagarde and Lynn Forester de Rothschild
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Mika Brzezinski moderated a discussion between Cherie Blair and Ann Livermore, executive vice president at HP Enterprise Business about the importance of technology for empowering women with information, financial independence, literacy, and health information. The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women has used cell phones both to help spread awareness of women’s health issues in nations such as Pakistan, and also to create business opportunities for women.
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Katie Couric interviews Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan about how education can help improve the lives of girls. "I really do think this is a do or die year and I don't mean that metaphorically—education really can mean life or death," said Queen Rania, adding, "Educating a girl is probably the highest returning investment that a country can make."
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The Brooklyn Jazzy Jumpers and the Dynamic Diplomats of Double Dutch performed as a finale to Saturday’s Lives of Girls event.
Kevin Tachman for The Daily Beast / Women in the World
Kakenya Ntaiya, founder of The Kakenya Center for Excellence, joined other activists for a panel moderated by Katie Couric, and discussed her struggles as the first woman from her tribe to attend college. She now runs the Kakenya Center, a boarding school for girls in Kenya.
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Katie Couric interviews Donnady, a Girl's Rights Advocate for Plan International who hopes to become a nurse.
Kevin Tachman for The Daily Beast / Women in the World
Molly Melching, Founder of Tostan International, and Marietou Diarra, Tostan Participant and Human-Rights Activist, spoke in the panel on genital mutilation, which affects 150 million women across the globe. Melching was hopeful and said, “there’s a movement started, it’s exciting,” advocating education and awareness to prevent communities from continuing the tradition.
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Maria Otero, U.S. Undersecretary for Democracy Global Affairs and Edna Adan Ismail, Maternal and Child Health Activist and former Foreign Affairs Minister of Somaliland, also joined the panel, which was moderated by Diane Sawyer. "It is clear... that the United States can't solve things" alone, said Otera, instead emphasizing the importance of solutions tailored to specific communities. "We can support. We can promote."
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Marietou Diarra, Tostan participant, and human rights activist, tells the story of how her own daughter died because of female genital cutting, which her society refers to as “the tradition.” Diarra has since convinced over 40 villages to end the practice.
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The Sistas of the Flame choir finished off a tribute to women across the globe.
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Lesley Stahl, a correspondent for 60 Minutes, interviews Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to President Barack Obama. Jarrett spoke of health care reform as an important issue for women and said, “The time has come.”
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Campbell Brown interviews author and Acumen Fund founder Jacqueline Novogratz. The Acumen Fund provides aid through investment in entrepreneurial projects that alleviate poverty. "There is an opportunity today that we've never had in history to identify entrepreneurs and individuals that are finding ways to deliver services that are affordable, quality, and have real distribution services that can become models for the world,” said Novogratz.
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Novogratz talked with Dambisa Moyo, economist and critic of aid to Africa, in a panel moderated by president of the Council on Foreign Relations Richard Haass. Moyo has generated controversy for her position that African countries can build themselves on foreign aid and said, “Not all African leaders are corrupt. Sometimes they are just lazy.”
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Emeline Michel, a Haitian singer, performs for the crowd during a tribute to her native country on Saturday.
Marc Bryan-Brown for The Daily Beast / Women in the World
