Arab women summit marks change in women role
Regional, Culture, 3/5/2002

Egypt's First Lady Suzanne Mubarak on Monday delivered a speech at a luncheon organized by the Institute for Middle Eastern studies.

The event took place at the University Club in Washington D.C. following are excerpts of Mubarak's address.

The advancement of knowledge of world cultures and sociopolitical thought through incorporation of programs to study various civilizations appears to be indispensable, and understand that some of your programme activities address social concerns in the Middle East, and especially women' issues - which is the topic I am here to talk to you about his afternoon.

This is the best time to contemplate the state of women in Egypt and the Arab world and evaluate the progress they have made.

I am glad to be able to share with you my pride in the major accomplishments women in the Arab world have realized in the past few years, and my hopes for even more.

The positive spirit that has emerged at all levels to drive our future endeavours on behalf of Arab women has been a revelation, even to me.

On the regional level, we are convinced that, if we are to advance our Arab nation in this time of rapid globalization, we must look toward reinforcing national strengths and developing a common vision of our future based on our shared history solid cultural ties.

The picture of what our collective future must be is clear in our minds: we want a new middle east to pass on to our children that offers the promise of peace, development and stability.

There is a pressing need for the respect of dignity and equality of all human beings and of nations large and small, compliance with fundamental principles of justice, morality, and international law as well as the charter of the United Nations.

Nations also need to search for common grounds among and within civilizations in order to address common challenges.

The historic first Arab women' summit, that brought together first ladies and top women activists from 19 Arab countries in Cairo in November 2000, was based on this vision.

The changing world scene, Arab women realized, required a new approaches to old problems, and the rejection of crippling restrictions.

That so many Arab first ladies came together to press for the improved statues of women in their societies was unprecedented, and shows that there is a political commitment at the highest level.

The conference marked the culmination of a long series of steps Arab feminists have taken over the past decades, a new start for Arab women's movement, emerging from new circumstances.

The summit produced the resolutions of the Cairo declaration, which announced a plan of action for organizing and mobilizing Arab women during the year of 2001, declared the year of Arab woman.

In less than two years following the first summit, four theme forums out of a total six emerging from the conference resolutions have convened in four Arab capitals.

An extraordinary summit was held in Cairo in November 2001. The aim of this meeting is to review each country's work in progress toward implementing the decisions of the first summit and the results of the forums that took place throughout the year, which dealt with important issues such as women in the media, women in migrant countries, women and the law, and women and political participation.

But most importantly, last year's extraordinary summit offered one major achievement; the representatives covered extensive ground towards establishing Arab women's organization the first of its kind, which is to be a specialized Arab League Agency with an independent financial and administrative structure that aims at advancing the status of arab women by ensuring their effective participation in nation-building, creating a better life for women throughout the arab world.

Girl's education represents a priority area of concern for the government of Egypt.

It holds the key to the well-being and future prospects of coming generations; it is one of the entry points for breaking the cycle of poverty.

In this regard, there has been some encouraging statistics. The gender gap in basic education has narrowed from 33.1 percent in 1995 to 14,3 percent today.

The government is working hand in hand with NGOS to deliver literacy programmes throughout Egypt.

Lately, the establishment of the one class room and community schools have proved to be successful in offering the kind of education to those girls to equip them with the necessary skills they need.

Previous Stories:
  Moroccan girl in Spain wins scarf battle and returns to school   (2/19/2002)
  Mrs Mubarak stresses progress of Arab women   (2/14/2002)
  Morocco's Princess Lalla Meryem calls for promotion of poor children's rights   (2/11/2002)
  Princess Sarvath on: Education of women in the Muslim world   (12/10/1998)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search