Today, President Obama gave his much anticipated address to the Muslim world during his trip throughout the Middle East and Europe. Obama’s objective of the speech was to improve relations between the United States and Muslims, noting ‘the cycle of suspicion and discord must end.’ In the speech, Obama lays out seven issues he seeks to work with Muslims on: violent extremism, tension between Israelis, Palestinians and the Arab world, nuclear weapons, democracy, religious freedom, women’s rights, and economic development.
At SocialEarth, we were excited to hear President Obama mention his support for social entrepreneurship and microfinance. He has already set up the first ever Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, and today used this speech to further cite support for social entrepreneurship and also as a means for addressing injustice. While addressing women’s rights, he mentions that women should have the right to choose between a modern and traditional lifestyle. And continues on to say:
“Our daughters can contribute just as much to society as our sons, and our common prosperity will be advanced by allowing all humanity – men and women – to reach their full potential. I do not believe that women must make the same choices as men in order to be equal, and I respect those women who choose to live their lives in traditional roles. But it should be their choice. That is why the United States will partner with any Muslim-majority country to support expanded literacy for girls, and to help young women pursue employment through micro-financing that helps people live their dreams.”
Obama also mentions his support for social entrepreneurship announcing he will host a summit on entrepreneurship, which includes social entrepreneurs:
“On economic development, we will create a new corps of business volunteers to partner with counterparts in Muslim-majority countries. And I will host a Summit on Entrepreneurship this year to identify how we can deepen ties between business leaders, foundations and social entrepreneurs in the United States and Muslim communities around the world.”
We here at SocialEarth commend and thank President Obama for using the speech as a platform to advance diplomacy as well as social entrepreneurship on a global scale.
