http://photos.state.gov/libraries/amgov/3234/week_4/03292012_032912-Tara-Sonenshine-300.jpg

美国和平研究所的塔拉•索南沙因（Tara Sonenshine）呼吁通过体育和文化外交增强妇女自主权。

美国国务院国际信息局(IIP)《美国参考》Mary-Katherine Ream 从华盛顿报道，许多研究人类发展的学者认为，文化外交是促进和加强全世界妇女和女青少年自主权的一种手段，如今尤其如此。专家们认识到，许多国家的妇女在政治和经济进程中历来缺乏代表性。

3月27日，在有关方面举办的 “嘻哈外交：文化桥梁”（Hip Hop Diplomacy: Connecting Through Culture）活动中，美国和平研究所 （U.S. Institute of Peace ）常务副所长塔拉·索南沙因（Tara Sonenshine）发表了主题演说。她说：“妇女和女青少年、文化外交和公共外交 –今天在座的各位都关心发挥半边天的潜力，没有更好的方法表达其中令人振奋的相互关联。” 索南沙因已获欧巴马总统提名担任国务院负责公共外交和公共事务的副国务卿。

索南沙因说，妇女约占全世界人口的一半，但她们在一些国家的政治、经济与和平进程中的权益尤其没有得到保障。

她说：“如果希望实现和平或繁荣，或二者得兼，就不能将妇女和女青少年排斥在外。”

索南沙因和其他专家通过个人的经历说明文化外交对妇女和女青少年产生的影响。

来自津巴布韦的篮球教练贝利亚·齐博瓦 （Belia Zibowa）说：“我在下飞机前就发现飞机上有一位女驾驶员。”

她是通过国务院体育联谊（SportsUnited） 篮球项目第一次来美国访问的。对于齐博瓦来说，文化外交的交流活动为妇女在社会中发挥作用提供了另一种可供选择的模式。

前美国国家女子足球队队员和弗吉尼亚州立大学（Virginia Commonwealth University）主教练蒂芙尼·罗伯茨·萨黑达克（Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak）强调交流的双向性。她说，她每次作为体育特使参加活动都学到了一些东西。

她说：“我了解到大家开始的时候都一样，怀着理想、怀着希望、怀着激情。”

除了体育和教育方面的交流外，专家们还讨论了艺术交流如何增强妇女和女青少年自主权的问题。

美国第一位嘻哈特使托尼·布莱克曼（Toni Blackman）说：“我在开始介绍自己时，为艺术家们表演了[诗歌‘隐身女’（Invisible Woman）]。在场的妇女 – 其中大部分不会说英语 – 都表示：‘我们能理解’”。

她的话说明音乐往往成为一种通用语言，文化一般对个人都具有感染力。

这项活动的其他参与者有：来自摩洛哥的嘻哈艺术家苏尔塔纳（Soultana） ； “全球女孩媒体”（GlobalGirl Media）的特蕾莎·施泰纳（Therese Steiner） 和图米·莫萨迪（ Tumi Mosadi）；主管教育和文化事务的第一副助理国务卿亚当 · 埃雷利（ Adam Ereli） ；乔治 · 华盛顿大学（George Washington University）的丽莎·尼罗蒂（Lisa Delpy Neirotti）和玛丽·杰弗斯（Mary Jeffers）。

关于体育联谊项目与其他文化项目的详情见国务院教育和文化事务局网站。

U.S. Institute of Peace’s Tara Sonenshine calls for empowering women through sports and cultural diplomacy.

Washington — Many who study human development see cultural diplomacy as a means for advancing and empowering women and girls around the world — particularly now, as experts recognize how women have been underrepresented in the political and economic processes of many nations.

“Women and girls, cultural diplomacy and public diplomacy — I can’t think of a more exciting intersection for everyone in this room who cares about unlocking the potential of half the world,” said Tara Sonenshine, executive vice president of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) and President Obama’s nominee for under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, in keynote remarks March 27 to an event called ”Hip Hop Diplomacy: Connecting Through Culture.”

While women represent about half the world’s population, they are particularly underrepresented in the political, economic and peace processes of some countries, Sonenshine added.

“It doesn’t make sense to leave women and girls out if you want peace or prosperity or both,” she said.

Sonenshine and other panelists provided personal examples of cultural diplomacy’s impact on women and girls.

“Before I even got off the plane, I realized there was a female pilot out there” said Belia Zibowa, a basketball coach from Zimbabwe.

She is visiting the United States for the first time through a Department of State SportsUnited basketball program. For Zibowa, the cultural diplomacy exchange offered an alternative model for a woman’s role in society.

Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak, former U.S. women’s national soccer team player and head coach at Virginia Commonwealth University, emphasized the two-way nature of an exchange. She said she gains something every time she participates as a sports envoy.

“I’ve learned that we all started out just the same, with dreams, with hope, with passion,” she said.

In addition to sports and educational exchanges, the panels also examined how art exchanges can empower women and girls.

“I had performed [the poem ”Invisible Woman”] for the artists in the beginning to introduce myself, and the women, most of whom didn’t speak any English, said ‘We feel this,’” explained Toni Blackman, the first hip-hop envoy for the United States.

Her comments speak to the universal language often attributed to music and the personal appeal of culture in general.

Other participants in the event included Soultana, a hip-hop artist from Morocco; Therese Steiner and Tumi Mosadi of GlobalGirl Media; Adam Ereli, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs; and Lisa Delpy Neirotti and Mary Jeffers of George Washington University.

More information on SportsUnited and on cultural programs is available on the website of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.