SANAA, 6 December 2005 — A conference on women’s rights in the Arab world concluded in the Yemeni capital Sanaa yesterday by calling Arab governments to ensure an active role for women in the decision-making posts by adopting a quota system.
The three-day meeting that brought together more than 300 representatives of governments and civil society organizations from Arab and European countries called their statement the “Sanaa Declaration”.
The conference was chaired by Yemeni Human Rights Minister Amat Al-Aleem Ali Alsoswa, the country’s first female minister. In remarks to the conference, she called for fighting against women’s illiteracy and “guaranteeing (women’s) participation in political life.”
Delegates from Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia, Morocco and Sudan were joined by others from the US, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands.
