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I'm here to tell you
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how change is happening
at a local level in Pakistan,
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because women are finding their place
in the political process.
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I want to take you all on a journey
to the place I was raised,
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northwest Pakistan, called Dir.
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Dir was founded in the 17th century.
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It was a princely state
until its merger with Pakistan in 1969.
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Our prince, Nawab Shah Jahan,
reserved the right to wear white,
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the color of honor, but only for himself.
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He didn't believe in educating his people.
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And at the time of my birth in 1979,
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only five percent of boys
and one percent of girls
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received any schooling at all.
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I was one among that one percent.
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Growing up, I was very close to my father.
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He is a pharmacy doctor,
and he sent me to school.
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Every day, I would go to his clinic
when my lessons finished.
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He's a wonderful man
and a well-respected community leader.
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He was leading a welfare organization,
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and I would go with him
to the social and political gatherings
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to listen and talk to the local men
about our social and economic problems.
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However, when I was 16,
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my father asked me to stop coming with him
to the public gatherings.
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Now, I was a young woman,
and my place was in the home.
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I was very upset.
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But most of my family members,
they were happy with this decision.
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It was very difficult for me
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to sit back in the home
and not be involved.
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It took two years
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that finally my family agreed
that my father could reconnect me
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with women and girls,
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so they could share their problems
and together we could resolve them.
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So, with his blessings,
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I started to reconnect
with women and girls
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so we could resolve
their problems together.
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When women show up,
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they bring their realities
and views with them.
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And yet, I have found all too often,
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women underestimate their own strength,
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their potential and their self-respect.
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However, while connecting
with these women and girls,
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it became very clear to me
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that if there was to be any hope
to create a better life
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for these women and girls
and their families,
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we must stand up for our own rights.
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And not wait for someone else
to come and help us.
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So I took a huge leap of faith
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and founded my own organization in '94
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to create our very own platform
for women empowerment.
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I engaged many women and girls
to work with me.
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It was hard.
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Many of the women working with me
had to leave once they got married,
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because their husbands
wouldn't let them work.
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One colleague of mine
was given away by her family
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to make amends for a crime
her brother had committed.
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I couldn't help her.
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And I felt so helpless at that time.
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But it made me more determined
to continue my struggle.
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I saw many practices like these,
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where these women suffered silently,
bearing this brutality.
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But when I see a woman
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struggling to change her situation
instead of giving up,
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it motivates me.
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So I ran for a public office
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as an independent candidate in Lower Dir
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in the local elections in 2001.
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Despite all the challenges and hurdles
I faced throughout this process, I won.
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(Applause)
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And I served in the public
office for six years.
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But unfortunately,
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we women, elected women,
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we were not allowed to sit in the council
together with all the members
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and to take part in the proceedings.
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We had to sit in a separate,
ladies-only room,
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not even aware what
was happening in the council.
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Men told me
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that, "You women, elected women members,
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should buy sewing machines for women."
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When I knew what they needed the most
was access to clean drinking water.
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So I did everything I could do
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to prioritize the real challenges
these women faced.
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I set up five hand pumps
in the two dried up wells in my locality.
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Well, we got them working again.
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Before long, we made water accessible
for over 5,000 families.
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We proved that anything the men could do,
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so could we women.
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I built alliances
with other elected women members,
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and last year,
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we women were allowed to sit together
with all the members in the council.
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(Applause)
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And to take part in the legislation
and planning and budgeting,
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in all the decisions.
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I saw there is strength in numbers.
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You know yourselves.
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Lack of representation
means no one is fighting for you.
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Pakistan is --
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We're 8,000 miles away
from where I'm here with you today.
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But I hope what I'm about to tell you
will resonate with you,
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though we have this big distance
in miles and in our cultures.
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When women show up,
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they bring the realities and hopes
of half a population with them.
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In 2007, we saw the rise of the Taliban
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in Swat, Dir and nearby districts.
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It was horrifying.
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The Taliban killed innocent people.
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Almost every day,
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people collected the dead bodies
of their loved ones from the streets.
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Most of the social and political leaders
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struggling and working
for the betterment of their communities
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were threatened and targeted.
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Even I had to leave,
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leaving my children
behind with my in-laws.
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I closed my office in Dir
and relocated to Peshawar,
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the capital of my province.
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I was in trauma,
kept thinking what to do next.
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And most of the family members and friends
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were suggesting, "Shad, stop working.
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The threat is very serious."
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But I persisted.
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In 2009, we experienced a historic influx
of internally displaced persons,
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from Swat, Dir and other nearby districts.
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I started visiting the camps
almost every day,
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until the internally displaced persons
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started to go back
to their place of origin.
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I established four mother-child
health care units,
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especially to take care of
over 10,000 women and children
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nearby the camps.
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But you know, during
all these visits,
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I observed that there was very little
attention towards women's needs.
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And I was looking for
what is the reason behind it.
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And I found it was because
of the underrepresentation of women
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in both social and political platforms,
in our society as a whole.
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And that was the time when I realized
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that I need to narrow down my focus
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on building and strengthening
women's political leadership
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to increase their
political representation,
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so they would have their own
voice in their future.
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So we started training around 300
potential women and youth
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for the upcoming local elections in 2015.
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And you know what?
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Fifty percent of them won.
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(Applause)
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And they are now sitting in the councils,
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taking part actively in the legislation,
planning and budgeting.
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Most of them are now investing their funds
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on women's health, education,
skill development and safe drinking water.
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All these elected women now
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share, discuss and resolve
their problems together.
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Let me tell you about two
of the women I have been working with:
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Saira Shams.
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You can see, this young lady, age 26,
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she ran for a public office in 2015
in Lower Dir, and she won.
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She completed two of the community
infrastructure schemes.
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You know, women, community
infrastructure schemes ...
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Some people think this is men's job.
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But no, this is women's job,
too, we can do it.
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And she also fixed two of the roads
leading towards girls schools,
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knowing that without access
to these schools,
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they are useless to the girls of Dir.
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And another young woman is Asma Gul.
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She is a very active member
of the young leaders forum we established.
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She was unable to run
for the public office,
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so she has become the first
female journalist of our region.
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She speaks and writes for women's
and girls' issues and their rights.
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Saira and Asma,
they are the living examples
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of the importance of inclusion
and representation.
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Let me tell you this, too.
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In the 2013 general elections in Pakistan
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and the local elections in 2015,
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there were less than 100
women voters in Dir.
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But you know what?
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I'm proud to tell you that this year,
during the general elections,
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there were 93,000 women voters in Dir.
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(Applause)
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So our struggle is far from over.
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But this shift is historic.
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And a sign that women are standing up,
showing up and making it absolutely clear
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that we all must invest
in building women's leadership.
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In Pakistan and here in the United States,
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and everywhere in the world,
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this means women in politics,
women in business
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and women in positions of power
making important decisions.
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It took me 23 years to get here.
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But I don't want any girl or any woman
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to take 23 years of her life
to make herself heard.
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I have had some dark days.
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But I have spent
every waking moment of my life
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working for the right of every woman
to live her full potential.
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Imagine with me a world
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where thousands of us stand up
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and they support
other young women together,
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creating opportunities and choices
that benefit all.
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And that, my friends,
can change the world.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)