UAE | Heritage and Culture

Meeting recommendations to be taken up at the UN

The recommendations of the second Arab Women's Conference will be taken up at the United Nations, Suzan Mubarak, First Lady of Egypt, told Gulf News.

  • By Eman Mohammed, Abu Dhabi Deputy Editor
  • Published: 23:54 November 13, 2008
  • Gulf News

  • We have to admit that Arab women have come a long way in the last three decades, says Suzan Mubarak.
  • Image Credit: Abdul Rahman/Gulf News

Abu Dhabi: The recommendations of the second Arab Women's Conference will be taken up at the United Nations, Suzan Mubarak, First Lady of Egypt, told Gulf News.

"We wanted our voices to be heard, and I think that is what we have achieved with this conference," she said.

Suzan attended most of the sessions of the three- day conference "Women in the Concept and Issues of Human Security" that ended in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

"We have to admit that Arab women have come a long way in the last three decades, and in the past five years tremendous progress has been achieved," she said.

"Today Arab women are in a really strong position because they have avenues to realise their full potential and practise their rights," she said, adding that "we should be proud of that".

"At this conference as well as in previous conferences we have come across so many Arab women who are ministers, professors, scientists, researchers and social workers who have earned their right to become decision-makers," she said

She felt that the Arab Women's Organisation had its work cut out in changing the mindset of the society in order to accept women in top positions.

"I think all Arab countries are trying to bridge the gender gap in education. In Egypt, for example, we are trying to close that gap by first ensuring that girls and boys go to school, and then girls continue education till they graduate."

She expressed concerns over a growing trend to oppress Arab women in the name of tradition. "It's not part of the tradition, but it's part of a narrow breed of politics," she said.

Egypt should have been the leading example of women's emancipation "because we started educating women in the last century where we had no problem in women getting into universities and finding work. But this new trend that is cropping up is trying to pull us down," she said.

If you want economic empowerment you have to have education first, she said. "Education is a top priority; if women are educated then they will have the skills and have access to information and have the possibility of becoming economically independent. Once she is independent, she can help and support her family, and then she becomes more confident to enter the political field."

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