Mahnaz Afkhami quotes:

Women, who are a majority of the peoples of the earth, are indispensable to the accumulation of the kind of social capital that is conducive to development, peace, justice and civility.

Women's empowerment is intertwined with respect for human rights.

We Have the Ability to Achieve, If We Master the Necessary Goodwill, a Common Global Society

The connection between women's human rights, gender equality, socioeconomic development and peace is increasingly apparent.

The end of the Cold War removed the immediate causes of whole destruction but not the threat contained in our knowledge. We must tame this knowledge with the ideals of justice, caring, and compassion summoned from our common human spiritual and moral heritage, if we are to live in peace and serenity in the twenty-first century.

...Any definition of a culture of peace must address the problem of achieving justice for communities and individuals who do not have the means to compete or cope without structured assistance and compassionate help.

In the future, human rights will be increasingly a universal criterion for designing ethical systems.

We have the ability to achieve, if we master the necessary goodwill, a common global society blessed with a shared culture of peace that is nourished by the ethnic, national and local diversities that enrich our lives.

As we move into the twenty-first century, women's status in society will become the standard by which to measure our progress toward civility and peace.