McMorris Rodgers And Hutchison Send Letter to Clinton on Bonn Conference

In a show of support for the women in Afghanistan, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison led the effort for a bipartisan group of Congressional female members to write to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking her to raise the issue of their input into discussions in Bonn, Germany. An upcoming conference there will include a delegation from Afghanistan, with nearly one-quarter of the delegates women.

From the press release:

Ahead of the Bonn Conference on International Development Policy in Bonn, Germany, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) led a bipartisan, bicameral group of 26 female Congressional members in writing to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The letter highlights the United States’ unique ability to assure that Afghan women are integrated in discussions regarding the future of their country. Women are nearly one half of the Afghan population and are an essential part of Afghanistan’s economic and security needs. Nearly one-quarter of Afghanistan’s official delegation to the Bonn Conference will be made up of Afghan women.

What is the Bonn Conference?

In 2007, the government of North Rhine-Westphalia launched the "Bonn Conference on International Development Policy". The conference takes place in Bonn regularly and picks up the current discourse on international development policy. This unique format enables North Rhine-Westphalia to provide a clear signal of its commitment to international development cooperation.

Like the first conference in November 2007, the second conference in August 2009 was an outstanding success. With high-ranking guests such as Federal President Horst Köhler and HM King Otumfuo Tutu II from Ghana, as well as around 600 local and international participants, the interest in the country's only international development conference was huge. The positive response showed that the conference series has established itself as a place of international dialogue on development policy. The following pages provide detailed information about the Bonn Conferences on International Development Policy that have been held to date.

The 3rd Bonn Conference on International Development Policy is coming soon.

The subject this time will be "Global lifestyles – new pathways for development policy". The new "One World Strategy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia", currently being developed as part of an Open Government Process, will also play a part in the Conference.

The organiser is the State Government of North Rhine-Westphalia, in cooperation with the Federal City of Bonn, the UNEP/Wuppertal Institute Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP), the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) and the Association of German Development Non-Governmental Organisations (VENRO) and supported by Deutsche Welle (DW). A range of development policy organisations will hold workshops of their own under the aegis of the Conference.

A copy of the letter is HERE and you can read the women who signed the letter in support of the women of Afghanistan. Kudos to them all.