The First Lady of Lebanon Salutes Woman

The conviction has become universal among all that there is no humanitarian project which can lead to the results desired of it, or fulfill the hopes pinned upon it, unless woman joins her effort in it to man's, and unless she takes part in it with the kind of participation that brings out her special qualities, reflects her spirit, and bestows upon it something of her lofty natural inclinations, raising it to the best that those who undertake it can aspire to.

UNESCO is one of those projects in which woman has made the greatest contribution. Britain's Minister of Education presided over its founding conference in London. Hers was the merit of guidance in many of its works and programs. Ladies from various countries and nationalities have taken part in the subsequent conferences and in the national commissions. Who, then, is worthier than the Lebanese woman, alert to every color of culture, to take note of the activity of this organization, which has chosen our country as the seat of its third conference? And who is worthier than she to share in this activity, which aims at establishing peace in the world on new foundations of education, science, and culture? Is anyone more eager than woman to spread peace, and to turn it into a creed for souls and a law of life? She who creates humanity's tomorrow, and raises it up from the pieces of her heart and the grains of her soul, is of all people the one who feels most deeply the horror of wars and their woes. Lebanon was and still is the land of thought and peace; how, then, should its women not work with those who strive to turn the whole world into a land of thought and peace?

I see the Lebanese woman in the vanguard of every movement whose aim is human good, and therefore I salute this effort which she offers in cooperation with UNESCO and in the cause of the principles of right and peace in the world.