July 15, 1995 - Episode 351 - Women of Achievement and Herstory > Continued from July 8, Point 9 addresses Women's Human Rights in WOA's continuing presentation of the proposals for The Platform for Action: 12 Critical Areas of Concern, the main document to be adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women to be held in Beijing, China, September 4-15, 1995. 9. LACK OF AWARENESS OF, AND COMMITMENT TO, INTERNATIONALLY AND NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS The 1994 World Conference on Human Rights reaffirmed that the human rights of women throughout the life cycle are inalienable, indivisible and an integral part of universal human rights. All efforts for the advancement of women are based on universal respect for these rights. In many countries, the lack of awareness of one's rights and how to exercise them remains a considerable obstacle to women's enjoyment of their full and equal participation in society. The Platform also calls for the full implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and other human rights instruments. Women may have rights guaranteed by law but are often unable to exercise them fully. This is due to a failure by Governments to promote and protect those rights. Appropriate recourse mechanisms at national and international levels are also lacking. Women's rights are not secured in countries that have not accepted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. >To Be Continued July 20 with Point 10, lack of women in the mass media. < 07-15 Anniversaries ........................................... B. July 15, 1793, Almira Hart Lincoln Phelps, a penniless widow with two small children, began teaching to support them and wrote several science textbooks while sharing teaching and administrative responsibilities with her noted educator-sister, Emma Willard. Her _Botany_ went into nine editions selling 275,000 copies. Her science textbooks led to her election in 1859 as the second woman member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the first being astronomer Maria Mitchell. B. July 15, 1850, Frances Xavier "Mother" Cabrini, an amazing organizer, native-born Italian, naturalized American. Cabrini was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. She founded 67 institutions such as orphanages, hospitals, and girls' schools. Her feast day is November 13. B. July 15, 1864, Dame Marie Tempest, British stage star for 55 years and a leading theatre manager for 31. Toured in the U.S. several times. B. July 15, 1867, Maggie Lena Walker, daughter of a former slave, devoted her time to Negro fraternal and cooperative insurance organizations. Through keen business acumen, she created one of the greatest black-owned banks in the nation, the Penny Savings Bank in Richmond, Va. Quotes du jour ................................................ "At about five I knew I was going to be an architect because my mother had studied architecture. I thought it was women's work. I had a proprietary feeling about architecture. I could own it because my mother owned it." -- Denise Scott Brown, architect, urban planner, teacher, and writer. ................................................. Don't let anyone tell you there weren't notable and effective women throughout history. They were always there, but historians failed to note them in our histories so that each generation of women has had to reinvent themselves. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- >>(C) 1995 Irene Stuber, PO Box 6185, Hot Springs National Park, AR 71902, 501-624-5262 for direct fax or voice mail ID #300, irenestuber@delphi.com. Distribute verbatim copies freely with copyright notice for non-profit use. We are accepting *limited* donations (only what can be spared) to help offset the online costs of posting Women of Achievement and Herstory.