JEDDAH, 14 February 2006 — A session that usually yields stimulating debate and trenchant observations from some of the keenest female minds in the Kingdom failed to live up to expectations on the final day of the Jeddah Economic Forum Monday. Billed as “Glass Walls and Brick Ceilings” Impediments to the Progress of Women in the Workplace,” the session had promise.
“To grow,” ran the published preamble, “we need to break the impediments both to communication and aspiration.” A straw poll of attendees felt it was an opportunity lost and described it as prescriptive and descriptive rather than challenging.
That feeling was reflected in a response from Dr. Haifa Jamal Al-Lail, Dean of Effat College in Jeddah. When asked what role had she taken as consultant to the Shoura Council to assure that women are involved design and regulations in the Kingdom, she replied, “They call me when there is a study and on specific issues. We need to rewrite regulation; one person cannot do it alone.
Two hands can clap, one cannot.” She felt that sometimes, those with power and resources tried to block others. The way forward she felt was education for all, including the public and leaders. If social attitude changed to one of giving and sharing, “Would we be discussing women versus men issues?” she asked.
Proceedings were enlivened when the moderator Tim Marshall, foreign editor of UK’s Sky News Television conducted a spontaneous poll as to whether the glass wall separating the men from the women in the hall should come down. Almost all the women’s hands rose. A small percentage hands were raised in the men’s section. When the question was reversed - should the wall stay up? - only a few male hands rose. Abstentions won the day.
The carefully constructed set piece speeches were predictable in their general observations and well-worn conclusions. Haifa Al Kaylani, founder and chairman of the Arab International Women’s Forum in the UK said that women should make use of new technologies to communicate and improve opportunities. “We are living in a world increasingly without borders. We must optimize the use of our natural and human resources.”
This she said required cooperation between government, private sector and civil society and described women’s roles as “engines of economic growth as absolutely vital.”
Apparently in contradiction, and without detailing the mechanism of how to achieve this, she said, “Women need to be actively engaged in these sectors as well as maintaining their traditional position as home makers.” Raising children she perceived as a barrier to women being promoted, because promotion depended largely on working extended hours. It was time. she opined, for a perception change for women to be seen as contributors, not recipients.
Member of the European Parliament, Baroness Nicholson described the functions and core values of the institution. She noted that historically, women had been excluded from politics which, she said, was understandable, for “they are the carers of society and those tasks are almost all consuming.” She said that the current view of the EU parliament was, “That women’s full potential to serve society is not fulfilled if she is not at her greatest level of decision making.” The promotion of equal opportunity for women is a core value and that politics without values “is a destructive force.”
