[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 151 (Wednesday, October 21, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S12897]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       GIRL'S INTERNATIONAL FORUM

 Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I believe it is important for 
girls and young women to raise awareness about their concerns, and to 
work to shape the beliefs and policies which affect girls' lives 
throughout the world. This year, the Girl's International Forum, 
sponsored by an organization in my state, brought together fifteen 
outstanding girls from thirteen states to Seneca Falls. For three days, 
they met and drafted the following Girl's Declaration of Sentiments. I 
want to share their thoughtful ideas with my colleagues now.
  I ask that the declaration be printed in the Record.
  The declaration follows:

 Girl's International Forum--Girls' Declaration of Sentiments, Seneca 
                          Falls, New York 1998

       Fifteen girls, ages 8-18, created a Girls' Declaration of 
     Sentiments in Seneca Falls, New York on July 16-19, 1998. The 
     girls, hailing from thirteen different states, were brought 
     to Seneca Falls by Girls International Forum, a non-profit 
     organization affiliated with New Moon Magazine for Girls.
       Modeled after the original Declaration of Sentiments 
     developed in Seneca Falls 150 years ago by suffragists, the 
     Girls' Declaration defines an agenda for the Girls Movement, 
     just as the Declaration of 1848 defined an agenda for the 
     first wave of the Women's Movement. The Girls' Declaration 
     focuses on 8 areas of concern and proposed solutions.
       The Girls' Declaration was unveiled at the Closing Ceremony 
     of Celebrate '98, the sesquicentennial celebration of the 
     First Women's Rights Convention, and received a standing 
     ovation. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on 
     Human Rights, Nancy Rubin, accepted the Girls' Declaration on 
     behalf of the U.S. government and pledged to share the 
     document with both the Clinton administration and the United 
     Nations.
       Girls International Forum was created in 1994 so girls 
     could help shape the policies which affect girls' lives 
     around the world. GIF's first project took place in 1995 when 
     they sent 13 U.S. girls (ages 10-17) to the United Nations 
     Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. As the 
     largest girls delegation at the conference, GIF distributed 
     the Girls Agenda (a pamphlet of girls' issues collected from 
     girls worldwide) and raised awareness about girls' eagerness 
     to participate in setting policy that affects girls' lives.

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