Council on Foreign Relations

Efforts to provide the world's women with economic and political power are more than just a worthy moral crusade: they represent perhaps the best strategy for pursuing development and stability across the globe.

Isobel Coleman and Congressman Steve Israel discuss solar villages.

Listen to Isobel Coleman, senior fellow at CFR, and Tamara Cofman Wittes, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, discuss economic and political development in the Middle East as part of CFR's Religion and Foreign Policy Conference Call series.

A panel discussion on how American foreign aid will be affected by the global economic crisis.

Listen to a discussion of maternal health issues and how central they should be to the global health agenda.

This event was made possible by the generosity of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Listen to experts discuss the development and impact of microfinance in as a tool for reducing poverty.

Watch experts discuss the development and impact of microfinance in as a tool for reducing poverty.

Every year, 536,000 women die during childbirth, and an additional 8 million become severely disabled. The death toll doesn’t end with the mothers: 5 percent of all newborns die after their mother’s death, and millions of other children are left orphaned. Isobel Coleman and Laurie Garrett argue that the way to reduce this staggering level of maternal mortality is to “pass legislation that shows real resolve, with money and legislated programs behind it.”

In February, Tamara Cofman Wittes and Isobel Coleman met with business leaders, academics, journalists, and civic activists in Riyadh and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Among Wittes and Coleman's key findings are that many Saudis welcomed the emergence of a more open atmosphere, pointing to King Abdullah's ascension to the throne, dynamism in neighboring Gulf states, and a new "post-post-9/11" environment as key catalysts for the change. Yet, there was frustration at the unpredictability and arbitrariness of the newly expanded social and political space. The next U.S. administration may have a new, but narrow, window of opportunity to reintroduce itself to Saudi Arabia. Many Saudis argued for the creation of a deeper, multi-dimensional relationship between both countries that engages civil society, not just the government and business sectors.

Listen to Muhammad Yunus, founder and managing director of the Grameen Bank and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, discuss the role of microcredit in fighting poverty.

Watch Muhammad Yunus, founder and managing director of the Grameen Bank and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, discuss the role of microcredit in fighting poverty.