Melanne Verveer & Shabana Basij-Rasikh: Women's Rights are Human Rights

The Bridge from The Aspen Institute

At the 1995 Beijing World Conference on Women, Hillary Clinton famously said "Women's rights are human rights, and human rights are women's rights." Listen to two pioneering women describe where they were and what they were thinking when they heard that phrase. Ambassador Melanne Verveer, who was then Chief of Staff to Hillary Clinton, listened from backstage. She remembers the decision for Clinton to make that bold statement. Shabana Basij-Rasikh listened from Afghanistan where she, dressed as a boy, was one of few young girls able to attend school. This month on The Bridge podcast, host Peggy Clark interviews Shebana Basij-Rasikh, Afghan educator, humanitarian, and women's rights champion, and Melanne Verveer, executive director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security at Georgetown University, and former United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues. Ambassador Verveer and Shabana reflect on women's rights, progress in conflict situations, and their own personal journeys.

This week’s recommended companion episode is “Sitting in the River: Akaya Windwood and Liz Ogbu." Find it here.