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Using Education, Independence and Flexibility to Build a More Humane World

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Using Education, Independence and Flexibility to Build a More Humane World SPEECH/10/74 Neelie Kroes European Commissioner for Digital Agenda Women's journeys: using education, independence and flexibility to build a more humane world Acceptance speech for the Aletta Jacobs Prijs 2010 Groningen, 8th March 2010 Ladies and gentlemen, When I was asked if I would be willing to receive the Aletta Jacobs Prijs, I really was lost for words. To be mentioned in the same sentence as this formidable woman makes one wonder if one deserves such recognition. Being one of 11 children, Aletta Jacobs had to be great to mark out a place of her own. But can you imagine knowing exactly what you wanted to be from the age of six? Can you imagine not simply using female contraception, but being the first and best promoter of it? Dr Jacobs was a pioneer. An engineer. A doctor. A journalist. A translator. A legal advocate. But to worry about being good enough for such as award is also very tiring. Aletta herself would have graciously accepted such a prize and used the stage to continue fighting for a better, humane world. That is also my plan today. I did not set out to change the world. But if my efforts have helped others, then I am pleased. If my profile has made me a role model, then I take on that responsibility. And I do it with a full appreciation of the women who have gone before me. We must appreciate our history. We no longer debate whether women's rights are human rights because of people like Aletta Jacobs. The gender studies department at Groningen can exist, in part, because of the work of people like Aletta Jacobs. My political career is in part possible because of Aletta Jacobs and her suffragette sisters. But life is not about looking backwards. Life is a journey where you must spend most of your time looking, and moving, forwards. Today our journeys are much longer and more varied compared to previous generations. In the time of Dr Jacobs one could expect to live for only 38 years. That is now less than half of today's life expectancy. We have a responsibility to ourselves and to all women to use this time well. Most of us don’t know our life’s mission at the age of six like Dr Jacobs. I certainly did not know I would become a politician or a Commissioner at that age! There was not even a European Union at that stage in my life. But we can develop values from early on. Personally, at university (NEH in Rotterdam) I was unhappy that a small group of people made the decisions for everyone. They excluded the majority and acted in secret: that wasn't good enough for me. If women had to live with the decisions, I thought they should also be entitled to make them. In my opinion women need three things to cope with life: 1. Education, 2. Independence and 3. Flexibility. Education I put education first because it is the key to so many other things. A well-informed mind is the best security. And generations of well-informed minds are what are needed to give our country and Europe a bright future. 2 On that thought, I want to speak briefly about the education world as a whole. I have worked hard and made sacrifices – but I am not naïve about my luck. I am lucky to be Dutch and to be educated. Education is a right, but there are still 75 million children each year who go without even the most basic education, many forced into labour. It is easy to forget that each of us could have been one of those children. In 2009 in New Delhi, India, I was travelling with the Dutch Ambassador in her car. When the car stopped in traffic we saw a young girl of only two or three years old, begging at the side of the road. She was not just begging – but instead performing complicated routines, like a circus, to survive. I wondered where her talent could take her if only we found a way to support it. It reminded me that education can do so much to change a life – a challenge Dr Jacobs took on with a passion. In 1875 there was one woman studying at Dutch universities, now there are 526,000 in higher education. Women make up the majority of university graduates, and they are also more likely to complete secondary school.1 Education does not automatically create equality - if only life were that simple. But it is an experience that gives women the chance to succeed in whatever area they choose – that is how I feel about my own education. So I hope other women take their education seriously, and use it not just to advance themselves, but to participate in all areas of life and to bring their learning to those forums. Use you education to help others. Independence Your education will also help to secure you financially, yes. But independence matters more. Do not be afraid to be different. I think that being different is a great thing: difference is the most exciting aspect of equality. Equality is not about being the same - it is you who should decide what equality means for you. Don’t let other people make choices for you - instead be in a position where you can make the choice yourself, and then take responsibility for it. For Dr Jacobs, her fight was for the right to vote and practise her profession. For the mothers of my generation, it was the fight to rebuild a life after the Nazi occupation. For me, it meant the freedom to choose and seek public office on my own. For you, it may be something else entirely different. There are mixed emotions here. Had I not been born a woman, I am nearly certain that I would have taken a greater role in my family's transport company in Rotterdam. There was no way my father would accept a woman as his successor. He told me that the wheeling and dealing that were at the heart of the business were no place for a woman. And the truth is that I accepted that. This meant I was sidelined as only an adviser to the business, because that was in line with my economics training. It was similar at my university. When I told the head of the University that I was getting married, his congratulations were heartfelt. And then he said, ‘well of course, when you get pregnant, you will have to resign immediately.’ And again I agreed with him. That will seem crazy to the young women of today, but it was common. I can only be grateful that so much has changed in only my lifetime and be grateful that perhaps these sacrifices allowed me to channel my energy into the work and legacy that you know me for. 1 Economist 2 January 2010 p 7 3 Flexibility I hope fewer women are left with such unfair choices today. But the lesson I take from my own life is that life is not always easy: and you must be flexible enough to adapt to the opportunities you do have. Women are good at hard choices – we have to be. As in the case of my own life, unfair situations for individuals can sometimes generate unexpected benefits - but only if you seize the opportunities you do have. For example, our individual struggles as women have produced generations of women who know what is best for the group; women who know when to sacrifice a short-term gain for a long-term benefit; women who can see clearly how people and issues are interconnected. These skills and perspectives are the ones we need to address our greatest challenges: climate change, debt, Europe’s battle to be competitive in a fast- changing world. In many ways it comes down to what you consider to be the definition of ‘tough.’ Is it a macho attitude, or is it the courage to make hard choices and face responsibility? I think it is not about the façade but about the substance, and there are millions of women with substance in The Netherlands and across Europe today. These are not just words - they are also facts. Women are winning nearly all the newly created jobs these days, not because we are lucky but because we deserve it. We have invested in our educations and chosen wisely. Six million of the eight million jobs that have been created in Europe over the last decade have been filled by women.2 Women are now the majority of the US workforce. If we matched that in Europe the GDP of countries like Italy and Spain would rise by around 20%. As the Managing Director of the World Bank has said, "Investing in women is the right thing to do. It is also the smart thing to do."3 The world needs women. Applying your education, independence and flexibility In 1911 Aletta Jacobs took a 15 month trip through Africa and Asia with the American women's rights leader Carrie Chapman Catt. On this trip she saw the world as it really was. Not only that, she wrote for De Telegraaf and published two books on her observations. There was no European Union to make travel easy. There were no planes to make it fast. But Dr Jacobs saw how travel broadened the mind and forced the traveller to confront the difficult facts of our world.
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