The Women and Foreign Policy program is a major component of CFR's Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy initiative. The objective of the Women and Foreign Policy program is to bring the status of women firmly into the mainstream foreign policy debate. Thanks in part to its efforts, there is now broad understanding of the importance of women's empowerment to a host of development, health, security, and other global priorities.
The program's current areas of focus include:
Please see below for relevant publications:
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon argues that the freeing of the only suspect arrested in the mutilation of Afghan girl Bibi Aisha sends a message throughout Afghanistan that women's rights are irrelevant.
See more in Afghanistan, Women
This session was part of the project, Maternal Health in Afghanistan and Pakistan, organized by CFR's Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative.
See more in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Poverty, Women
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon says the hotel bombing in Kabul raises the stakes for an already fragile peace process in Afghanistan.
See more in Afghanistan, Wars and Warfare, U.S. Strategy and Politics
Isobel Coleman discusses the Women2Drive campaign in Saudi Arabia and says the next generation of Saudi rulers will have to face the issue of women's rights.
See more in Saudi Arabia, Civil Society, Political Movements, Women
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon discusses why women in Afghanistan will be watching particularly closely to what President Barack Obama plans to say about the drawdown of American troops in Afghanistan.
See more in Afghanistan, Wars and Warfare, Women, U.S. Strategy and Politics
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon discusses Afghan women who express concern at the lack of a peace process in Afghanistan, even as troop withdrawals approach.
See more in United States, Afghanistan, Wars and Warfare, Women
Linda Bartlett, an esteemed scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, discusses maternal health in Afghanistan, highlighting her experiences during the Reproductive Age Mortality Survey (RAMOS), which she had conducted on horseback only months after the fall of the Taliban in 2002.
See more in Afghanistan, Women
This session was part of the Maternal Health in Afghanistan and Pakistan roundtable series.
See more in Afghanistan, Health and Disease, Women
This roundtable, part of the ExxonMobil Women and Development Series, looked at successful and sustainable agricultural innovations used to enhance productivity and women's income-generating abilities in the developing world.
See more in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Economic Development, Health, Science, and Technology, Women
Isobel Coleman says "virginity tests" performed on women protesters in Egypt are a new twist in the longstanding mistreatment of Egyptian women by military and civilian men.
See more in Egypt, Human Rights, Political Movements, Women
This roundtable looked at successful and sustainable agricultural innovations used to enhance productivity and women's income-generating abilities in the developing world.
See more in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Economic Development, Women
Joshua Kurlantzick reviews Mara Hvistendahl's Unnatural Selection.
See more in China, India, Population
Experience has shown that community-based interventions not only reduce maternal mortality in Afghanistan, but also complement broader efforts to achieve stability and development in this war-torn country. Denise Byrd, an expert in maternal and child health, reproductive health, and family planning, described the challenges faced by maternal health providers in Afghanistan and discussed several successful intervention programs.
See more in Afghanistan, Women
This session was part of the Maternal Health in Afghanistan and Pakistan roundtable series.
See more in Afghanistan, Health and Disease, Women
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon says all eyes are on General Petraeus when it comes to translating what the news of Osama bin Laden's death means for Afghanistan.
See more in Afghanistan, Wars and Warfare, Terrorism
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon examines what Osama bin Laden's death means for America's longest-ever war.
See more in United States, Afghanistan, Terrorism
The United States should see family planning as a foreign policy priority that leads to healthier and more prosperous societies, and should increase funding, resources and support for those countries with the highest unmet need, argues CFR's Isobel Coleman.
See more in United States, Nation Building, Global Health, Children, Women
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon says controversy surrounding Greg Mortenson, the builder of of girls schools in Afghanistan, threatens to overshadow and even discredit the heroines at the heart of his work.
See more in Afghanistan, Education, Women
Alyse Nelson, Co-Founder and CEO of Vital Voices, discusses the organization's work to empower women around the world with Isobel Coleman, Director of CFR's Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative.
See more in Africa, Democratization, Women
The story of a young woman's entrepreneurial success during the Taliban reign in Afghanistan is an argument for international investment in women, says CFR's Gayle Tzemach Lemmon.
See more in Afghanistan, Democratization, Human Rights, Labor, Women
For more on what the United States and others can do to foster open, prosperous, and stable societies, visit CSM&D.
