International Women's Day

Lord Mitchell Excerpts

Thursday 3rd March 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Mitchell]

My Lords, like every other noble Lord today, I thank my noble friend Lady Gould for introducing this debate. Four and a half hours are a tribute to how seriously we all take it. I also congratulate the six new Members of our House who have made their maiden speeches today. They made a phenomenal contribution and will add to the great expertise that exists in your Lordships' House.

I shall talk about an organisation called Women for Women International. I have a sort of interest to declare in that my wife Hannah sits on its international board. There is a remarkable woman called Zainab Salbi. She is Iraqi, and when she was 15 years old, because her father was a pilot for Saddam Hussein, her mother was able to get her out of the country and she went to the United States to go to university. When all the trouble started in Bosnia in 1994, she went to see what was happening there. She was so aghast at what was happening and, in particular, at the plight of women in that country that she set up this organisation.

Today, Women for Women International specialises in post-conflict zones and the issues of women in particular. Various countries are now part of the Women for Women group: Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. Each country has been subject to great ravaging and terrible consequences, particularly for women. It is those women that Women for Women International seeks to help. It works on an interesting basis in that women, in particular, in the West, and some men, are assigned a sister in these countries. They make a donation of £20 a month and are asked to write letters to their sister to tell her that she is recognised and that there is somebody in the West who cares about what is happening. To date, there are 275,000 such sisters around the world who are receiving money and £53 million has been received by the charity.

What happens to these sisters? These women are trained and taught about their human rights, but most of all they are taught how to run a small business and how to generate income. When that happens, they become self-sufficient and can provide for their families. Women for Women also gives microloans which have been tremendously successful. Ninety-eight per cent of these microloans have been repaid. Last May, my wife and I went to Bosnia and Kosovo, which was a harrowing experience. Those conflicts may have ended 15 and 10 years ago, but to the people who are living there, it is as if they ended yesterday. We saw terrible issues which are the result of ethnic cleansing, rape and murder. Women there, particularly Muslim women, who have no confidence in themselves, are now in business. They are rearing chickens or growing mushrooms or tomatoes. The best thing we saw there was the beekeepers of Kosovo. One woman had been trained to raise bees in hives. She started off with three hives that were given to her and now has 10. She has a business and is generating €5,000 or €6,000 a year and is now training 10 other people to do the same. It was a marvellous example of how this system works. You could see the hope that these women were getting in those still terrible circumstances.

Next week, on 8 March, it will be the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. Women for Women International around the world will be linking hands across bridges from our own Millennium Bridge in London to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge in New York and other bridges around the world.

I end with particular thanks to someone who is not in her place but who is very dear to all our hearts: our Lord Speaker, the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman. She has been gracious enough to host several receptions for Women for Women International in the River Room. They have been tremendous successes, and I know she does that for lots of other charities. I am sure that every Member of this House will thank her for what she does.