We heard a lot about whether the First Lady should attend the conference. But once she got there, we heard nothing about what she had to say. Here are exerpts from one of her speeches in Beijing. T here are some who wonder whether the lives of women and girls matter to economic and political progress around the globe. The great challenge of this conference is to give voice to women everywhere whose experiences go unnoticed, whose words go unheard.
Women comprise more than half the world's population.
Women are 70 percent of the world's poor, and two-thirds of those are not taught to read and write. Women are the primary caretakers for most of the world's children and elderly. Yet much of the work we do is not valued - not by economists, not by historians, not by popular culture, not by government leaders. The truth is that most women around the world work both inside and outside the home, usually by necessity. We must understand there is no formula for how women should lead their lives.