A Vision Shared: Ieda, 26, Brazil

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What are the greatest challenges to women's and young people's health and rights?

Women's empowerment and the fight against gender inequality. It's a challenge for women to have their rights respected and to have their decisions taken into consideration. Women's rights are only respected after a battle. Women are fighting daily for the recognition of their rights as citizens as a given, not a favor. This is just one of the many types of sexism that women face.

How are you making the world safer and healthier for youth?

I work to encourage women to empower themselves; improve their self-respect; feel in control of their own decisions; and be able to discuss, negotiate, and demonstrate what they think, feel, and want for their own lives. I lead educational activities that allow women to think about themselves, their decisions, and their own projects. These activities encourage women to realize what changes are possible and that their involvement in the decision-making process is important, not only for their own lives, but for the lives of their communities. That is the key to guaranteeing that their rights are being respected and fulfilled.

What are you dreams for yourself and for the world's youth?

Women have the right to live in an environment of gender equality—where there is no violence against women. Mostly, a world where women are valued for being women.

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Page last updated 4/11/08.