Would a Movie Do It?

Hundreds of activists and NGOs around the world are working on issues related to gender inequality. A film could bring them all together.

The reason that Rewire exists is because of gender inequality.
The reason sixty million girl embryos, girl babies, and girl children are
"missing" in Asia is gender inequality. The reason that
two thirds of the illiterate people on the planet today are women and girls is
gender inequality. The reason that sixty percent of the world’s "extremely poor"
as defined by the United Nations are women is …. you fill in the
blank.

The reason that maternal, infant, and child mortality remains stubbornly
high is…The reason why between 100 and 200 million women lack access to family
planning and that 40 million abortions take place in the world every year, half
of which are illegal and unsafe, is GENDER INEQUALITY!

The reason the world devotes 16 days of activism against gender based
violence is…

The reason why the Cairo Consensus signed onto by 179
countries in 1994 at the International Conference on Population and Development
has been more honored in the breach than in the implementation is because it
promised universal access to reproductive health and family planning for women
but hey, what’s a promise anyway?  

The reason the Millennium Development Goals have such a heavy tilt
towards women is because the world recognizes its shortchanging of women and
intellectually realizes that things are totally askew. But is the commitment
there? Are resources matching stated priorities? NO!

The good people in the world today (and there are millions) fighting for
women’s equality in all realms are fighting thousands of little battles. There
are literally thousands of NGO’s targeted at small pieces of the puzzle. They
achieve small victories. Something more is needed.

On page 36 of my 2005 book "34 Million Friends of the
Women of the World," I suggest a film. Here is the relevant sentence. "Linda and
I have recently discussed doing a documentary about what reproductive health
care is all about and emphasizing the need for worldwide grassroots support for
the women and girls of the world." 

People, what brought world attention to global warming and climate
change? A FILM! What could put all the pieces
of the gender inequality puzzle together for the entire world?  A
FILM. The film is to be called THE STORIES
WOMEN TELL. Please see www.lindaharrarproductions.com. When I wrote about this
idea to Allan Rosenfield, now deceased., who was for 20 years Dean of the
Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and a worldwide icon for
women’s health and rights, he wrote me back 4 words THIS MUST BE DONE. Nafis
Sadik, former Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund and
current UN Ambassador to Asia for AIDS is a strong
supporter. The Packard Foundation has given two grants, the first to draw up the
proposal, and second to enlist some top help in raising the funds. We have such
a huge vision for this. We want nothing less than to engender a worldwide
dialogue and to effect real, systemic change. We need a "filmanthropist" or
two.