Gender equality is key to achieving the MDGs

One of nine children growing up from a small town in an African country, Meaza was told: “Oh, you’re so smart and have so much potential, it’s too bad you’re not a boy.” But her mother, who was illiterate, believed her children deserved better. “When I think of my mother, I think about how women are prevented from reaching their potential”, she says. “If you’re illiterate and send five kids to college, you must have a lot of unused potential.” Today, Meaza is a lawyer and a leader in legal advocacy to promote women’s rights.