JEDDAH, 11 January 2004 — Thirty women will participate in the next national dialogue forum to be titled “Women’s Rights and Duties Under Shariah,” said Dr. Rashid Al-Rajih, vice-president of the forum.
He told Al-Madinah newspaper that the forum’s presidency met last week and would meet again on Tuesday to study the main points of the next forum.
“Some 30 men will be participating in the forum but none of the participants have been chosen yet. The 30 will include some of the participants in the previous forum to ensure continuity and balance,” he said.
Al-Rajih also said there was a standard for choosing the participants who would represent different backgrounds of society and various fields of interest and endeavor.
“I proposed at the second national dialogue that the next meeting should focus on women, their rights, their duties and their role in society,” said Jowhara Al-Angari, an anthropologist and one of the women participants in the second national dialogue held in Makkah.
Nine women participated in the second dialogue which focused on extremism. The women stressed the important role women play in our society and the need for them to have a bigger and more prominent role, thus implying that the next national dialogue address women’s issues.
“This is a positive step because women are half of society and any forum discussing women’s problems need their participation because they have reached high standards in terms of qualifications and specialties,” said Al-Angari. “To enable women to gain their legal rights and empower them socially is an important thing. If you look at any negative aspect of society — such as poverty and illiteracy — you will find that women are a common factor in all. They are part of the larger family and should perform their part. If we say that working women represent 7 to 7.5 percent, that negatively affects the productivity of a society and in a society like ours, we should be working at full load and capacity.”
As for the topics the forum should address, she said: “I think the issue should be discussed from all aspects, including woman’s legal rights, her educational role, economic, social, and media role. I expect that they will all be addressed and need to be addressed. These are sensitive issues. In order for the dialogue to succeed, the issues have to be studied properly and different solutions proposed. If the issues receive their deserved attention and are activated and involve all concerned parties, they will have a positive impact on society as a whole.”
