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Emerging Democracies Forum
Managing the Twin Transitions
Closing Plenaries
(15 of 25 pages)
Colleagues, it will be no surprise to you that I have taken particular pleasure
in the commitment here around our conference tables to the advancement of the position of women in our democracies.
It is not simply a luxury - it is a necessity for full democratic development. The great Frenchman Alexis De
Toqueville (ph) who traveled the United States in the 19th century and wrote one of the most brilliant books ever
about American society called "Democracy in America" attributed American vitality to the quality of its
women, and that I think is a lesson we can all learn. We are about to hear now from three very dynamic women and
it is my pleasure to introduce to you the Honorable Margaret DeBoer, Chairperson of the Foreign Relations Committee
of the Government of the Netherlands. Chairman DeBoer.
Margaret DeBoer: Thank you. Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends. We've spent almost
three days together and we discussed together the challenges of emerging democracies. We pinpointed the discussions
on the quality of democracies, the necessity of a free and honest economy, and the contribution of women to that
process. Some of our democracies are still fragile. The problem of readjusting our economy might sometimes be
seen as a real danger for that emerging democracy. Every country faces severe difficulties at certain times.
But only a democracy is able to overcome the problems in a humanitarian way. A democracy is a system that is built
and supported by all citizens, men and women. And men and women may differ in physical and psychological respects,
but both characteristics, male and female, are essentialities for a sound and healthy community.
Men and women cannot do without one another. Together they are responsible for the well-being of society. Together
they are responsible for the new generation and together they are responsible for the quality of the day to day
life. When we talked together about the difficulties of an economic change we all agreed that there's a must to
explain to people why those painful measures have to be taken and that's the way you can get support for those
measures. Therefore, you need citizens who can understand the necessity of those sacrifices. Usually it is the
woman who is confronted most with the possible decline in standards of living. So it is essential to organize
a social policy for the most effective people, but it is also essential to organize an educational system for those
who never had the opportunity to learn and understand the basics of democracy and government.
We need educated men and women to build and shoulder that emerging democracy. Education, education and again education
is the slogan that should be used when we talk about girls and women. Educated women will raise educated children,
the new citizens for the new democracy. Educated women will play together with the men an important role in the
economic system of a country and educated women can add another dimension to the morals and spirituality of a country.
I'm glad that Mrs. Clinton will contribute to this meeting. She is an example how women can play an important
role, not only as the wife of a president but also as a woman with her own ideas about health, safety and education.
NDI could also have invited other First Ladies in the world, and especially in the developing world. They sometimes
act as an umbrella for the women's empowerment in their countries and all those ladies and we here in this room
share the same opinion, namely not one country in the world can afford to spoil and neglect 50 percent of the intellectual
and spiritual capacity of its citizens. We in the Western world learned that lesson very slowly and not even today
can we say that women and men are in every respect equal. But we're all making progress. And the developing countries
do this in a much more rapid speed than we did and we praise them for that.
By improving the lives of all citizens, men and women, we build a democratic society which gives us more joy, more
happiness and a better quality in life, and that's what our aim is, isn't it? Men and women all over the world
are equally responsible for building and maintaining the democratic society. Thank you.
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