At this week's Arab Women's Summit, a new organisation dedicated to improving women's fortunes will be born. Reem Leila reports The highlight of the second Arab Women's Summit, to be held from 3 to 4 November in Jordan, is sure to be the inauguration of the Arab Women's Organisation (AWO), a regional operation dedicated to upgrading the overall condition of Arab women. Also on this year's summit agenda is a symposium discussing the 2002 report on Arab Human Development. The summit will also focus on the current status of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and their crucial role in coping with, and solving, the complicated issues of Arab women. The AWO will be an independent entity, while also falling under the umbrella of the Arab League. This will ensure both its institutional representation at the regional level and the recognition by the league's representatives of the new organisation's specific social and cultural concerns. The AWO will comprise spouses of Arab leaders, as well as delegates from non-governmental organisations, in addition to carefully-selected consultants from all Arab countries. The AWO's Supreme Committee (whose members are Arab First Ladies) will outline the organisation's general policy, while the Executive Committee -- which consists of the Arab League, the National Council for Women (NCW), and the Hariri Foundation, will be responsible for implementing the AWO's resolutions and recommendations. Along with other Arab professionals, Mostafa El-Feki, who heads the Egyptian People's Assembly foreign affairs committee and is a member of the NCW, has played an eminent role in formulating strategies to improve the status of Arab women. According to El- Feki, nearly half of the Arab countries have signed the AWO treaty. Thus far four states -- Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Emirates -- have ratified the treaty. "We need at least seven countries to ratify in order to inaugurate the AWO," El-Feki says. "We are sure that prior to the upcoming summit, nearly all of the Arab countries will have signed the treaty, and most of them will be ratifying it." A month after its ratification, the AWO will start its official work. "The road ahead is still a long one," El-Feki says, but because the international community is going to be paying attention to what the organisation does, "we all have to exert great efforts to prove our credibility and seriousness." That will involve difficult challenges like scraping away at thick layers of tradition that have kept so many women on the margins of public life for generations. El-Feki is optimistic: "Via cooperative efforts and open dialogue, exchange of expertise and unity in drawing up plans of action -- all supported by the will to achieve a leap forward for the sake of our societies -- the challenges of the present will be overcome, and the future is sure to be bright," El- Feki says. Many of the Arab world's traditions continue to constitute a hindrance to the acceptance of women's involvement in practical life. While a vast majority of women work (regardless of whether this work is officially remunerated or not), this contribution is rarely acknowledged by society or in statistics. Nor are women encouraged to express their opinions or participate positively in life outside the family sphere. Throughout much of the Arab world, women remain virtually absent from the political, cultural, economic, and social arenas. "That is why there are a few Arab countries who have refused to even sign the AWO treaty -- but their absence will definitely not affect the organisation's credibility. At the same time, there will be attempts to convince them to sign and ratify the treaty, in order to better the welfare of all Arab women," El-Feki says. According to Farkhonda Hassan, secretary general of the NCW, Arab societies must acknowledge the indispensable tasks women carry out, both as part of the labour force and as nurturers on whom the family's survival depends. There is a dire need to find new approaches for old problems, and the AWO is going to play a very considerable role in amending and changing several laws and decrees which are inappropriate to women's positions in Arab societies. "The organisation will also help in addressing -- especially in the eyes of the Western world -- incorrect and stereotypical images of women. It is time for Arab women, side by side with men, to assume an effective and positive role in planning and implementing vast developmental tasks," Hassan says. Poverty alleviation is a top priority on the AWO's agenda, in addition to job creation, strengthening social welfare programmes and the development of human resources. Educational reform programmes will also be pursued, since the education of girls (which is a top priority in Egypt and other Arab countries) will determine "the well-being and future prospects of the coming generations", noted Hassan. As for the health front, efforts to address women's concerns are being redoubled because of the "very important nurturing, caring and bonding role that mothers play within the family". Financing these activities is perhaps the most important challenge facing the AWO. According to Hanaa Sorour, who heads the Arab League's women's section, the AWO is totally dependent on donations from Arab countries. Each and every country which has signed or ratified the AWO treaty will share in the organisation's budget. The AWO will also accept donations from businessmen and NGOs -- but these efforts will be researched carefully to ensure that no one is allowed to donate a sum of money in the hope of interfering with AWO policy. "All donations should be purely in the interest of supporting women's issues," says Sorour. The organisation's presidency will be rotated between Arab first ladies according to the alphabetic order of the member countries. Each president's term will last for two years.
