CAIRO, 14 June 2005 — The Arab International Women’s Forum (AIWF) on women’s role in the economy and integrated rural development hosted by the Arab League ended here yesterday.
The conference focused on the role of women in the Arab economy, investment in the Middle East and ways to provide rural women with opportunities to establish small and medium enterprises.
The conference falls within the framework of the AIWF’s 2005 program of “Women as Engines of Economic Growth in the Arab World” which was initially launched in April at the European Parliament in Brussels.
AIWF was established in 2001 as a non-profit organization in London and links Arab business and professional women in 22 Arab countries with each other and with their counterparts in the international community. The NGO’s main objective is consolidating relations among women’s groups that work to serve an agenda of peace and economic development worldwide.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said that women’s issues are moving to center-stage in the Arab world and the role in developing the economy is dispensable, but the process might not be as rapid as desired.
Moussa said that the conference focused on women’s role in business, in professions, corporate life and in creating small and medium sized businesses in order to foster economic growth and development. It also celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, or “Barcelona Process” that was launched in November 1995 during the Euro-Mediterranean conference of ministers of foreign affairs held in Barcelona. The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership consists of 35 members, 25 EU member states and 10 Mediterranean partners.
The conference showed what has been achieved for women’s empowerment in the region and to explore what mechanisms should be put in place to enhance the economic empowerment of women.
Egyptian First Lady Suzanne Mubarak said that it was important to develop the role of women in economic development and called for laying down programs to enable rural women to get education and acquire necessary skills.
Haifaa Kilani, chairperson of the forum, said yesterday that the forum works on increasing women’s participation in public life and activating their role as a development partner. “We are very hopeful that working with valued partners and international NGOs will enable us to boost development in the Arab economy and will come up important recommendations in this regard,” she added.
The conference will be followed by another conference in London on Sept. 29, in which AIWF will be presenting the conference reports and priority recommendations put forward by the Brussels and Cairo conferences.