Op-Ed Article on why women in third-world countries need to be empowered as a way of lessening the terrorism threat in the U.S. and other developed nations.
(PRWEB) April 2, 2004 -- Fight them over there so they wont hit us here" is the prevailing strategic tag line for the U.S.-led war on terrorism. Delivered in a sound bite, the strategy has a certain reassuring ring to it. But dont get too complacent. Odds are it wont work.
At a cost of $80 billion-plus and the lives of one or two American service personnel a day, expectations run high that terrorism can and will be kept outside our national borders. But if homeland security officials are pressed hard enough, they dash those hopes in a hurry. Battling terrorists over there" simply isnt enough to protect America or any other wealthy nation from attack. The recent bloodletting in Spain tragically made that point.
What our campaign against terrorism lacks is a more aggressive frontal assault on the extreme poverty and hopelessness that impact half the planets 6.3 billion people. Humans trying to survive on a dollar or two a day make an attentive audience for fanatics and extremists who pledge to level the playing field by ruining the U.S. and other developed nations.
One underlying reason why cheers go up in the aftermath of a terrorist attack is that the wealth gap" between rich and poor countries is enormous. The median annual income for American workers is $32,200 while over a billion people in other parts of the world are trying to get by on less than $400 a year. That gap continues to widen in spite of countless attempts to make life better for those hanging on to the lowest rung of the global economic ladder.
So is it pie-in-the-sky thinking that the U.S. or other wealthy countries can actually make a dent in worldwide poverty? If we continue pumping foreign aid into nation-building programs that sputter with ineffectiveness or dont work at all, not much is likely to change. However, we might have a shot if we use foreign aid to empower a largely underused and under-appreciated resource…
Women.
Wrestling with poverty and hopelessness has to be a part of our war against terrorism. And women are in the best position to pin these problems to the mat. Here are two reasons why:
1. Women have an admirable track record when it comes to curtailing poverty and improving quality of life in those parts of the world where life is the hardest. In places such as Bangladesh, Zambia, Tanzania and other countries where women have been sufficiently liberated, small loans and investments have been leveraged into village-changing developments. In many places where poverty seemed to be endemic, women more so than men have demonstrated that they can often turn the tide.
2. Women tend to make better choices than men about when to have children if they are given enough latitude to make that kind of decision. Why is this so important? Because population growth in countries that are least able to handle more people is making it nearly impossible to overcome poverty and restore hope. There are 210,000 more souls showing up on the planet every day and 96 percent of those newborns end up in the earths least-developed nations.
Trying to tackle poverty without curbing population growth is like trying to fix a broken water pipe without first turning the water off. It is a daunting task. When women are the primary reproduction decision makers and when they are afforded the knowledge and contraceptives needed to stave off pregnancy, they usually make choices that are beneficial to their families, communities and society as a whole.
It is time to move women center stage in the struggle against terrorism. The U.S. and other developed countries should give the highest priority to women and womens programs in locations where poverty and hopelessness are high-octane fuel for terrorists.
Even in countries where men dominate politics, religion and culture, there are ways of getting foreign assistance into the hands of women. Finding non-governmental organizations in these male-controlled societies that can help get the job done will mean more work for those administering foreign aid programs. But the extra effort promises a big payoff. Once women are unshackled, they are likely to push up the quality of life a notch or two. When that happens, the cheering section for terrorism will get a lot smaller.
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CURT WEEDEN is author of How Women Can Beat Terrorism (Quadrafoil Press -- www.womenbeat terrorism.com) and president of the Contributions Academy in Charleston County, SC. (www.contributionsacademy.com).
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