Each year, The Arab International Women’s Forum (AIWF) is proud to
join the international development community in celebrating
International Women's Day (IWD), a focal point in the global call for
action on women’s empowerment. IWD 2020 is a vital opportunity for
us all to reflect on the remarkable progress and remaining challenges
for women in the MENA Region and globally, and to honour exemplary
women leaders who are paving a brighter, more equitable and
prosperous future in their countries and their communities for the
next generation.
Celebrated
on 08 March each year, IWD signals the launch of a truly remarkable
global year-long event that celebrates women’s achievements in the
political, economic and social realms while calling for gender
equality. AIWF, as one of the leading development organisations
focused on supporting the empowerment of women leaders in all sectors
and spheres, throughout the MENA and internationally, is proud to
launch its 2020 Annual Programme on this occasion which, as always,
will bring together key governmental partners, grassroots and
institutional women's organisations, the private sector, civil
society and most importantly, women themselves to address gender
equality and strategise innovative and sustainable solutions for the
empowerment challenges that remain.
This
year, AIWF is especially proud to support UN Women’s 2020 IWD theme
of I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights, which
is aligned with UN Women’s new multigenerational campaign,
Generation Equality, marking the 25th anniversary of the
Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Adopted in 1995 at the
Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, the Beijing
Platform for Action is recognized as the most progressive roadmap for
the empowerment of women and girls, everywhere. Just last month, AIWF
was represented at the 39th Session of the Arab Women’s Committee
and Regional Preparatory Meeting for the 64th Session on the Status
of Women in the United Nations, held on 9 and 10 February 2020 in
Riyadh. The Forum renewed Arab commitment to the principles of the
Beijing Platform for Action and delivered key messages and
recommendations from the member states of the Arab League relating to
the implementation of Beijing Platform for Action, to which AIWF was
proud to contribute.
In
all of AIWF’s initiatives and activities, AIWF remains committed to
supporting all stakeholders in our societies and communities but
especially women and young people themselves as a prerequisite for
the peace, prosperity and stability which we all seek in the region.
AIWF has a long and proven history in leading on initiatives that
ultimately share this critical objective – to support the
empowerment of women and young people in business, in private sector
development which is so needed in the region, and ensuring full
economic, social and cultural inclusion for all citizens of the Arab
world.
AIWF
as an NGO Member of the UN Global Compact is focussed on integrating
the SDGs and other key global development goals into the programming
of its conferences, reports, initiatives and activities. Honouring
SDG 5, Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls,
AIWF is proud to have led with a key empowerment initiative for Young
Arab Women Leaders, launched in 2011 to feature a series of ten
landmark conferences thus far in the Arab world and in London. Each
conference has brought together women leaders from over 20 countries
representing a diverse range of sectors to come up with key
recommendations for empowering the next generation and to make
valuable new business, research and project links. The Young Arab
Women Leaders initiative looks set to continue into the new
decade with renewed emphasis on SDG5 and specifically on addressing
gender equality for the next generation of young leaders in business,
civil society and public service, in the Arab world and globally.
At
AIWF, we see this as a pivotal year for advancing gender equality and
promoting women’s inclusion worldwide. Globally as well as in the
MENA Region, boosting the number of women in the economy is not just
a moral imperative but also has a clear and measurable impact on the
prosperity, stability and economic health of a region. In the Arab
world, women are being empowered by education and an improved
landscape across the board, from the top down as well as bottom up
because society overall has become more open to women in leadership
positions. There is growing evidence that in many MENA countries such
as Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt, the gender equality agenda is
progressing at full pace.
To
give just a few examples, the Saudi government’s ambitious target
to increase female participation in the workforce to 30% as part of
Vision 2030 is already bearing fruit – in the Kingdom, labour-force
participation of women was 14.2% in 1990 and reached 23% in 2019,
according to data from the World Bank. Saudi Arabia has experienced
the highest growth rate among G20 countries of women joining the
workforce in the past 20 years. The UAE government has also taken a
clear leadership role in promoting gender equality in the workplace
as a key pillar of the UAE government’s Vision 2021 initiative;
currently in 46th place in the United Nations Development
Programme’s Gender Inequality Index, the UAE aims to be one of the
world’s top 25 countries for gender equality through its Vision
2021.
In
Egypt, the Prime Minister announced in June 2018 that the new
government would include eight women ministers, comprising a historic
25% of the cabinet, reflecting a trend across the region that is
seeing more women appointed to key ministerial positions holding
diverse portfolios that have been traditionally led by men. In Jordan
that same month, women celebrated a record number of female
ministers, with 7 women appointed to cabinet seats out of 29 cabinet
seats in the new government. Morocco also has some of the most gender
progressive laws in the region and one of the largest percentages of
women in parliament, 21% in 2019, surpassing the quota that mandates
15% of parliamentary seats for women. In Lebanon in the last
government (in 2019) there were 4 female ministers one of whom was
appointed as Minister of the Interior; whereas the new cabinet
announced in January 2020 increased to six female ministers, among
them the Minister of Defense (also appointed Deputy Prime Minister) –
firsts not only for Lebanon, but for the entire Arab world.
As
the drive towards achieving gender equality gains traction in the
MENA Region, women have more opportunities than ever to contribute
meaningfully to economic transformation, stability and private sector
growth in the Arab world. AIWF has been on this journey with Arab
women for the last two decades and we see the vast progress Arab
women have made as well as the challenges that remain. These include
a lack of private sector jobs to override the persistent preference
in the region for public sector employment, a lack of support for
women after a career break or maternity leave, deep-seated social
norms that place the burden of family and household care
predominantly on to women, and gender stereotypes and bias – both
conscious and unconscious – that persist within the workplace and
within our cultures and societies more broadly.
Despite
these challenges the gender equality agenda overall is progressing
across the region. While the progress is undeniable, there is much
more to be done and governments and the private sector alike will
clearly need to take bold actions to advance momentum for gender
equality in the workforce, in public office, in entrepreneurship, in
academia, the media, and in our societies and our communities at all
levels.
As
we look to an exciting new decade ahead, and our 20th
Anniversary in 2021, AIWF will convene empowerment organisations and
change agents from both the Arab world and the global community to
mobilize action around the key challenges outlined above. AIWF and
our Global Partners remain dedicated to achieving positive,
sustainable growth for women and young people and to push forward the
momentum for gender equality to empower and support the next
generation of change makers, thought leaders, innovators and
champions of equality, diversity and inclusion in all its forms.
Collectively,
we all have a vital role to play in driving gender equality for our
young people so that it becomes the norm for the new generation. We
can all use our various platforms to celebrate the social, economic,
cultural and political achievements of women whilst contributing to
the IWD call for action. By working together in partnership, we can
accelerate gender equality in all spheres and all spheres and towards
the achievement of the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
on advancing gender equality and the empowerment of all women and
girls.
In
this regard, the 2020 IWD call for action is very much at the heart
of what AIWF has been doing at the Arab and international level for
nearly two decades to create a more stable and more balanced future
for women and youth in the MENA region and internationally through
economic inclusion, diversity, leadership development, capacity and
skills building for all young people, women as well as men. As
Founder & Chairman and on behalf of the Board of AIWF, I take
this opportunity to extend my warmest wishes to all AIWF Partners,
Members, friends and the women advocates and grassroots organisations
all over the world who are working tirelessly to honour the spirit
and mission of International Women’s Day.