Page 6 - Issue 34

ELITE Vol.1, issue 34, August 2021
Vol.1, issue 34, August 2021

Weak coordination and funding plus the absence

of institutional memory are challenges facing

Arab work in the field of women rights

that it would be difficult to deal with 16 Arab countries. had a permanent youth committee as we were keen on
However, my experience was quite different; I enjoyed a good adopting the recommendations of young people and we used
relationship with the members of both the Executive and High to receive and respond to questions from Arab women as well.
Councils; and I’m still in touch with some of the Executive In addition, we had databases on Arab women, an electronic
Council members today, eight years after I left the library, observations on the important landmarks in Arab
Organization, who continue to invite me to some of their local judicial rulings, and programs that encouraged research in
and international events. For instance, Her Highness Princess women studies as well as scholarship offers. I recall that
Sabika invited me to be on the panel of judges for an someone from FEPS received a social science scholarship in
international award for women empowerment. women’s issues.
So, I can say that my experience in Arab joint action was Furthermore, we had an award for science and technology and
excellent. At the time, Dr. Ola Abou Zeid was also program we published a book on the gender perspective in studies.
manager at AWO. Together, we managed to put in place a Another important program was the trainings offered to
rich program for the Organization; we started by conducting develop project management and evaluation skills for women-
scoping studies to determine the strengths and weaknesses of oriented projects. Accordingly, this was a flourishing period
the women empowerment programs in Arab countries. Then, where our programs were appreciated by all the people I
we formed a legal group, including representatives for each worked with and it was an excellent stage in my career.
member state, which compiled a four-volume handbook that
supported its recommendations with strong arguments from Certainly, Arab women continue to face several
Sharia and jurisprudence. As such, I recommend this challenges. What are the primary challenges among those
handbook for anyone who’s interested in women’s issues. and what opportunities are available for women to
Moreover, we launched a dialogue for Arab youth around overcome them?
women’s issues, which was excellently directed by Dr.
Moataz Abdel Fattah. The philosophy behind the dialogue There is a larger degree of awareness today about women’s
was to hold it with pairs of young men and women drawn issues and how we can empower women in various fields,
from each Arab country at first, then the dialogue would be which is reflected in the multiple projects that have achieved
expanded into each country to promote its influence. We also undeniable progress. However, these projects themselves that

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