“We must now be vigilant in order to ensure that women participate fully in the new political landscapes”, underlined Souhayr Belhassen, FIDH President. “We are deeply concerned that there is not a single woman on the new Egyptian Constitutional Committee. This is unacceptable”.
What are women calling for? Do the transitions underway present new opportunities for women’s rights? Will their voices be heard? Will legislation in these countries finally advance towards full equality between the sexes? Will the reservations these states have entered to the Convention on the elimination of discrimination against women finally be withdrawn [1]? FIDH seeks to shed light on these questions in the dossier published today on the FIDH website, developed in partnership with Égalité.
While women participated massively in the struggle for de-colonisation in the region, for example in Algeria, they were largely forgotten following independence. They must not be forgotten in the aftermath of the current uprisings.
Throughout the Arab world, the fight for equality led by women’s rights organisations is more important than ever. There are unique opportunities to be seized to advance respect for their rights in the region.
FIDH relays the voices of those who have fought for years for women’s rights in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan, Algeria and Morocco.
Articles will be published throughout the month of March on the FIDH website, to ensure that the rights of those representing half the population of the Arab world are not forgotten. And because, as Sophie Bessis, FIDH Deputy Secretary General, says : “ A democracy without equality of the sexes will be a truncated democracy.”
Read our press release: Kowait/Gender equality in the Arab world: « Today the tide is turning »
– TUNISIA - Interview with Souhayr Belhassen, FIDH President: “Women will not allow their rights to be ignored during the transition”
– EGYPT - Interview with Amal Abdel Hadi, New Woman Foundation: "Previous claims that women’s voices have not been heard have been smashed during the revolution"
– BAHRAIN - Interview with a human rights activist: "I fear a civil war in Bahrain"
– YEMEN - Interview with Amal Basha, Sisters’ Arab Forum for Human Rights (SAF): "The international community must not be silent on what it happening in Yemen"
– JORDAN - Interview with Leila Hammarneh, Arab Women Organization: "Today women’s rights are on the table"
Photos:
Women demonstrating in Tunisia:
In partnership with:
