James “Jimmy” Carter is no longer president of the United States, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t still doing all he can for what he believes in.

    President Carter was recently at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, speaking at a forum. He was there to promote his new book, as well as express his ideas on many different topics.

    The moderator was Ronan Farrow, an activist, lawyer, and journalist, as well as the son of the actress Mia Farrow. Farrow asked questions and guided the conversation.

    President Carter was very calm and knowledgeable. He talked easily, even with the big crowd and he was serious, but had a touch of humor where it was needed.

   President Carter just turned 90 years old on Oct. 1, but he has been working as hard as ever to get his beliefs across. Recently, he wrote a book, “A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power.” It is all about the discrimination of women, a violation of human rights.

    President Carter’s goal in life has always been to keep the peace and to stand up for people who are being mistreated. The topic that he is focusing on now is women’s rights. He explained that, around the world, men are treated better than women, men are seen as superior to women, and men are given more privileges and respect.

    Women are having their rights violated all over the world, it even happens in the United States.

    “Sexual assault is prevalent, but concealed,” he said on the subject of women’s rights.

    Although both men and women can be victims of sexual assault, it is a very serious topic in the violations of women’s rights. This is because people are discouraged from reporting cases of sexual assault. This discouragement is especially common in schools and the military, because people are worried about the reputation of the institute. There’s a reluctance to admit that these type of things go on.

    Even the UDHR (the Universal Declaration of Human Rights), a document that lists all the rights a human should naturally have, has not been passed or set in law in some countries.

    Another area that President Carter has been concerned about is disease. There are many different tropical diseases that, with hard work, could be eradicated.

For example, he has been working on the elimination of guinea worm, a parasite that you can get from drinking infected water. The guinea worm is one of many neglected tropical diseases, but after some attention, it is set to be the second disease in history (after smallpox) to be eradicated.

    In 1986, an estimated 3.5 million people had the disease worldwide. Thanks to the work of President Carter and the Carter Center, there were only 148 cases reported in 2013.

    These types of things are what people should be doing to help out around the world and President Carter is a hero for that.

–Dec. 5, 2014–