ABU DHABI: The first ladies of several Arab countries called yesterday for greater empowerment of women in the Arab world so that women could play, on an equal footing with men, a role in building their countries and communities. They also stressed the need for promoting dialogue between Arab countries and also among Arabs and the international community to boost cooperation in the service of humanity.
Speaking at the second Arab Women’s Organization Confer-ence, hosted by the UAE at the Emirates Palace under the theme: “Women and Human Security: An Arab and International Perspective,” the wives of Arab leaders expressed hopes that the three-day forum would help promote cross-cultural dialogue and enable the participants to reach a consensus to collectively work for human security. They affirmed that women are a proactive, vital force in attaining human security and should be engaged in efforts seeking to realize that goal.
“Human security is one of the newest concepts used with regards to the principles of freedom, security and development. It is an evolving concept that focuses on transforming those principles into commitments and applicable mechanisms,” state news agency WAM quoted Sheikha Fatima, chairwoman of the UAE General Women’s Union and Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation, as saying at the opening session of the conference.
Syrian first lady Asma Al-Assad urged Arab women to get equally involved in shaping “our lives, today and tomorrow.”
“One cannot discuss human security in the Middle East without addressing Israel’s continued illegal occupation of Arab lands and its total disregard of Palestinian rights,” she added.
Tunisian first lady Leila Ben Ali said that women hold a central and fundamental place in the comprehensive notion of human rights, with its political, economic, social and cultural dimension, including the solidarity rights, which consist essentially the right to development, the right to a safe environment, and the right to peace.
Queen Rania of Jordan highlighted that Jordan had become aware early of the significance of education, as the private sector was involved in promoting education and creating healthy and secure environment for education. “Though the future is bright in the Arab world as women’s presence has increased in Parliaments over the last 8 years, we need 20 more years to bring this to 30 percent and another 20 years to reach the percentage recommended by the Beijing Conference. The road is long but we are moving toward realizing our goals,” she said.
Sheikha Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, wife of the king of Bahrain and president of the Supreme Council for Women, said that the current global financial crunch required collective efforts to ease burden on Arab citizens.
Egypt’s First Lady Suzanne Mubarak said that women suffer most due to human trafficking, violence, marginalization, detrimental habits and poverty. Hence, they require development to empower them.
