Great hopes pinned on Syria's women and education forum
Syria, Culture, 2/1/2003

The Syrian woman has won considerable rights that enabled her to be on equal footing with man in all ways of life.

"Due to enforced rules and regulations, the Syrian woman acquired access to new positions which used to be reserved to men, and in certain cases were even considered as taboo," said renowned Syrian businesswoman, Mrs. Khulud Halaby in a long chat with ArabicNews (ArabicNews.com).

Mrs. Halaby who is a member of the board of the Homs Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as the President of the Businesswomen Committee related to the same Chamber, and the exclusive agent and managing director of DHL - Syria, said that the "Woman and Education" forum which will be held under the patronage of Syria's First Lady, Mrs. Asmaa al-Assad, on February 2 and 3, is the very fruit of the great gains Syrian women have acquired. "Great hopes are pinned on this event to highlight the Syrian women's achievements and gains," she said.

She said: Syrian women enjoy legal rights, the very same as men, without any discrimination. These rights are in the Constitution and all enforced legislation. There remains however some family and social restrictions which vary in strength with the social status, and can be extremist in certain cases. The target today is to encourage these women to develop their skills and broaden their horizon without necessarily breaking any social or family bonds.

Many Syrian women have been very active for several decades. They have excelled in various fields such as education, health, engineering, architecture, business, different types of arts, and neither last nor least, they have reached some remarkable positions in both the legal and political fields as lawyers, judges, ministers or members of the Foreign Office. Their achievements were not brought under the spotlight.

Women have become increasingly aware of their political role. They have become members of Parliament (numbers increased from 6.6% in 1981 to 9.6% in 1996). Today, there are 24 women members out of 250. There are now two women ministers. The first lady to occupy this position was Najah al-Attar as a Minister of Culture in 1976. The percentage of working women reached 9.5%, in 1994 and must be now no less than 12%. Some women are registered in the Chambers of Commerce or Industry or Agriculture, yet there are at least 5100 women working in the agricultural sector without being registered in the Chamber of Agriculture.

Among the Non- Governmental Organizations (NGO) in Syria, the General Women Union ( GWU) established in 1967 with branches in all the provinces has been the cornerstone in encouraging women in their first steps and activating their role through the last thirty five years.

Moreover, the work legislation enforced in Syria regarding working women is in compliance with the norms of the International Agreements Nos. 54; 45; 81 and 2127, issued by the International Labor Organizations. Syria has ratified most of these agreements. Equally, the rules concerning working women with regards to maternity and healthcare also comply with the rules of the International Agreement no.103 approved by the ILO.

Syrian women seem to be consistently upgrading and updating themselves by entering new branches of business which were reserved to men, Khulud Halaby continues. The forum is expected to enhance the standard of awareness of businesswomen of the relevant constitutional laws and procedures -- by ways of seminars, workshops and round table discussions.

In few words, Khulud Halaby was born in Homs, received her school education in Syria and Lebanon and her university education in Lebanon, Canada and France, studying child development and psychology, business management and marketing.

Early 1993, after 18 years in Paris-France where she worked in the banking field, in construction and in market research for pharmaceutical products, she returned to Syria to join her father, the well-known Syrian businessman since the early fifties, Sirri Halaby. Citing her long experience as a businesswoman, Khulud Halaby said that her business experience in Syria is by far the richest, most interesting and most meaningful of her career. She explained that the difficulty in Syria lies not in how to manage the business itself, but more importantly how to manage the surroundings, and the unexpected. A high degree of professionalism, a good educational background, together with personality are the prerequisite of success.

Under the persistent efforts of Mrs. Halaby, DHL- Syria was in 1996, the very first company in Syria to become ISO certified.

She said that despite the presence of six other express courier companies in Syria, DHL-Syria has grown steadily over the years in size, in number of staff, in volume, in local network and in sales to a team of about one hundred members. She takes pride in being the first woman Country Manager, in the history of DHL worldwide, and the only one, here in Syria, to manage such type of business.

"Our country needs the joint efforts of both men and women. Thanks to all the encouragement and support by Mrs. Asmaa Al Assad, women today have a golden opportunity to develop further and build solid basis for themselves and their daughters in the business world. I do hope they will not miss on it," she concluded.

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