By
Alex Taylor
BEIRUT:
Women’s rights activists from around the region concluded a two-day conference
in Beirut Thursday, sharing experiences and strategies for activism from
grassroots organizing to influencing constitutions.
“The
conference is a gathering of many participants from different Arab countries to
discuss the challenges facing Arab women through this transition period,
especially with the increasing role of the fundamentalist movements,” said Azza
Kamel, president of Appropriate Communication Techniques for Development, an
Egyptian NGO focusing on the political development of women, which organized
the conference with Oxfam.
“During
these two days we’ve exchanged experiences and strategies. How we can benefit
from the good practices such as those that have been used in Tunisia and
Morocco, and also learning from the bad practices,” said Kamel.
More
than 50 participants from Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia, Yemen, Iraq, Sudan, Morocco,
Jordan, Libya and Palestine convened in Beirut to share strategies on utilizing
social media, how to set up networks among women’s organizations and to discuss
the areas where activists should target their focus: constitutions, grassroots
outreach and education systems.
“One
of the final results of the conference is to focus on constitutions, to put our
demands in the constitution and make sure we have women in constitutional
committees. We also need to develop our feminist discourse to reach very poor
women, rural women and men by working with local groups and NGOs,” Kamel told
The Daily Star.
The
highlight for many of the participants was simply the forum to exchange
experiences and learn from women who have encountered the same problems in
different contexts.
“Even
if we’re from different cultures, even if we have different levels of power –
we are all here because we want change,” explained Safa Rawieh, one of the
conference presenters from Yemen who runs the Youth Leadership Development
Foundation in Sanaa. “When you hear how people in Morocco managed to change
things or how people in Libya managed to do it, it’s very good because you get
ideas,” she said.
One
participant from Egypt, Amal Hadi, was especially interested in the experiences
of Moroccan women and their political activism. “We were discussing strategies
to work with political parties. Political parties are something we never had
[in Egypt], so we are learning what to do from scratch,” explained Hadi,
representing the Cairo-based New Woman Foundation.
Despite
flagging hopes and less-than-democratic trends that have emerged in many
countries since the beginning of the Arab Spring, the participants at the
conference were largely both optimistic and determined.
“After Tahrir ... there is
no turning back .... And women are a part of that. They are using sexual
violence against women, virginity tests and sexual harassment when they deal
with protesters. Despite this, they [women] are still going out on the street,”
Hadi said.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/May-18/173792-arab-women-gather-to-discuss-activism-amid-popular-upheavals.ashx#axzz1v2XdY2Xy
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