Today, March 8, is International Women’s Day. As the world’s attention turns to women’s issues—from the Google doodle to the United Nation’s
song “One Woman”—we celebrate the Aspen Institute’s policy programs working to ensure women’s rights every day.
The Aspen Ascend program looks domestically at helping women and their families succeed together. Their two-generation approach creates opportunities for and addresses needs of both vulnerable parents and their children at the same time. Learn about promising programs in your state that work toward two-generation goals on this interactive map. Get inspired by the Ascend fellows working everyday to help spark new conversations and elevate women and their families through economic supports, education, and social capital.
Internationally, the Aspen Global Health and Development (GHD) program reaches out to communities that don’t traditionally prioritize reproductive health. The program brings together varying sectors of the international development world to advocate for reproductive healthcare for all women. This large group of stakeholders argues that making this vital care accessible is both the right thing and the smart thing to do. Better health options for women lead to better, more cost-effective international development outcomes, says GHD. Learn more about the program’s work and positive outcomes in its publications.
Additionally, GHD’s Global Leaders Council for Reproductive Health is a group of 18 international leaders in government, philanthropy, and culture who work to make reproductive health a priority among their peers. The group of men and women include The Honorable Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, The Honorable Mary Robinson and Annie Lennox, among others. The committee worked with GHD on the book Why We Care to explain the reasons they care about women’s access to reproductive health, from the personal, to the political, to the pragmatic.
Join us today to recognize and celebrate International Women’s Day.
Institute trustee Madeleine Albright discusses women in diplomacy at the 2012 Washington Ideas Forum.
