". . .it is time to apply in the arena of the world the wisdom and experience thus gained [by women] in activities of peace over so many thousands of years." So spoke Aung San Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi's message seemed that of a citizen of the universe - of the world. She presented an overview of the global forces affecting the quality of life of the human community as a whole and for women in particular while approaching the twenty-first century. She said, "to the best of my knowledge, no war was ever started by women. But it is women and children who have always suffered most...
"For millennia," she continued, "women have dedicated themselves almost exclusively to the task of nurturing, protecting and caring for the young and the old, striving for the conditions of peace that favor life as a whole. . . . Now that we are gaining control of the primary historical role imposed on us of sustaining life in the context of the home and family, . . . then truly the next millennia will be an age the like of which has never been seen in human history. . . ."
Suu Kyi reminded the participants that the activities of strong and principled women-from heads of government to busy housewives-all over the world "have been a triumphant demonstration of female solidarity and of the power of an ideal to cross all frontiers."
She expressed her conviction that governments alone cannot resolve all the problems of their countries.
"The watchfulness and active cooperation of organizations outside the spheres of officialdom," she said, "are necessary to ensure the four essential components of the human development paradigm: productivity, equity, sustainability and empowerment."
Suu Kyi emphasized that "development must be by people, not only for them. People must participate fully in the decisions and processes that shape their lives." In other words people must be allowed to play a significant role in their own governance. ". . . and 'people' include women who make up at least half of the world's population."
During her six years of house confinement, Aung San Suu Kyi came to the conclusion that the "human race is not divided into two opposing camps of good and evil. It is made up of those who are capable of learning and those who are incapable of doing so." She defined learning in this instance as "the process of absorbing those lessons of life that enable us to increase peace and happiness in our world."
She expanded further by saying that women have been doing this for thousands of years in their roles as mothers by teaching children values that will guide them all their lives. "It is time we were given the full opportunity to use our natural teaching skills to contribute towards building a modern world that can withstand the tremendous challenges of the technological revolution which has in turn brought revolutionary changes in social values."
Suu Kyi concluded, "These, then, are our common hopes that unite us - that as the shackles of prejudice and intolerance fall from our own limbs we can together strive to identify and remove the impediments to human development everywhere."
(The following represent excerpts taken from the written text - her talk to the NGO Forum-of Winona LaDuke, Co-Chair Indigenous Women's Network, Program Director of the Environmental Program at the Seventh Generation Fund, and from the Anishinabeg of the White Earth reservation in northern Minnesota.)
"A primary and central challenge impacting women as we approach the 21st century," LaDuke related, "will be the distance we collectively as women and societies have artificially placed ourselves from our Mother the Earth, and the inherent environmental, social, health and psychological consequences of colonialism and subsequently rapid industrialization on our bodies and our nations.
"In Indigenous societies," LaDuke said, " . . . Natural Law is the highest law than the laws made by nations, states, municipalities and the World Bank. The Earth is our Mother. From her we get our life and our ability to live. It is our responsibility to care for our mother and, in caring for our Mother, we care for ourselves. Women, all females are the manifestation of Mother Earth in human form. We are her daughters."
LaDuke deplored the fact that the nations of Indigenous peoples, in existence for thousands of years, are not represented at the United Nations while the 180 or so decision-making member states have, by and large, been in existence for only 200 years or less. But, as she pointed out "most decisions made in the world today are actually made by some of the 47 transnational corporations and their international financiers whose annual income is larger than the gross national product for many countries of the world. . . . They should have no such right. And we clearly, as women, and as Indigenous peoples demand and will recover that right, that [sovereign] right of self determination, and to determine our destiny and that of our future generations."
The origins of this problem, according to LaDuke, lie with the "predator/prey relationship" industrial society has developed with the Earth and its people. "This same relationship exists vis-a-vis women. We, collectively, find that we are often in the role of the prey, to a predator society, whether for sexual discrimination, exploitation, sterilization, absence of control over our bodies, or being the subjects of repressive laws and legislation in which we have no voice.
In closing, LaDuke said, "What befalls our mother Earth, befalls her daughters - the women who are the mothers of our nations. Simply stated, if we can no longer nurse our children, if we can no longer bear children, and if our bodies themselves are wracked with poisons, we will have accomplished little in the way of determining our destiny or improving our conditions.