Jana Amin, A 17-Year Old Egyptian-American Activist, Is A Force To Be Reckoned With
New
Age Islam News Bureau
28
November 2020
• Rihanna-Bella Hadid-Gigi Hadid Support Hijab-Wearing American Supermodel, Halima Aden
•
Vandana Jain Wins Emirates Women Awards
•
Dubai Women’s Triathlon Sees Good Turnout At Jumeirah
•
Sudan Says It Will Stamp Out Child Marriage And Enforce Ban On FGM
•
Saudi Arabia: Court’s Appointment Of Female Citizen As Arbitrator Is First Of
Its Kind In Kingdom
•
Database Under Works To Empower Women Entrepreneurs
•
Empowering Women To Make Pakistan A True Welfare State
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/jana-amin,-17-year-old/d/123601
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Jana Amin, A 17-Year Old Egyptian-American Activist, Is A Force To Be Reckoned With
Mirna
Abdulaal
November
27, 2020
Jana
Amin, 17-year old Egyptian-American activist. Courtesy of Jana Amin
-----
You
are never too young to change the world for good.
Jana
Amin, a 17-year old Egyptian-American activist, is a force to be reckoned with.
She is an example of the fearless, dedicated, and fierce young individuals who
are passionately working to build a fairer world.
“I
truly believe that there is no age that’s too young to get involved,” she says,
“we have this misconception in Egypt that people should first graduate and then
they can think of doing something for good, but that’s not true at all. I think
the more we get young people to be involved and care about the future of Egypt,
the more progress we will see.”
Since
her early years in high school, the one thing Amin continues to do with
ferocious intensity is to lift and empower communities – whether it’s her own
community at school or other communities in Egypt. “Your success depends on the
people and the community around you, and so for me it has always been about how
we can always lift the communities that we are part of,” she says.
At
17, she has worked closely with several NGOs to support women and girls’
education, curated an exhibit, launched a platform for Muslim women, became a
member of the Youth Activism Project, founded the UnTextbooked podcast, spoke
at the United Nation’s General Assembly, and recently hosted a virtual event
‘#17for17: Advocating for Girls’ Education’ that brought together 17
international and local women from various backgrounds to raise awareness on
the importance of girls’ education.
The
more you speak to Amin, the more it becomes clear that she is expected to
achieve even more extraordinary things in the future. So, where does her
relentless drive come from?
FROM
EGYPT TO THE REST OF THE WORLD
From
her childhood in Egypt, she says. Armed with powerful and strong women inside
her home, Amin grew up seeing the important role women in her family play and
how much they have helped build the strong and ambitious person she is today.
“If you’re going to be scared from anyone, it’s going to be teta
(grandmother),” she says, “my mother was also huge about lifelong learning, so
even if we are in the car and stuck in traffic, our conversations would center
on important and purposeful topics.”
One
transformative moment for her was also the 2011 revolution. “I remember
watching the TV and seeing, not just protestors, but also a lot of Egyptian
women in the streets, and for me just watching them on TV made me almost hopeful
for the future and what’s coming ahead,” Amin notes.
From
Egypt, her journey of activism spread to the rest of the world. It started with
her own experience in high school in the United States, where she realized that
there was an unfair and stereotyped portrayal of Muslim women in the media.
“A
lot of my friends were surprised that a Muslim girl could be in the same class
as them or even drive a car, and so it began as a reckoning on a personal level
to share my own story and empower other Muslim women to do the same,” she says.
She
began her initiative ‘Bantota’ on Instagram – a space where young Muslim women
to come together and share their stories, as well as show a spectrum of Muslim
women that exist. She also gave a TED talk on changing the narrative of women
in the Middle East and how they can take control of their own narratives.
“It’s
so hard to create change when you’re not centering the voices of the people
that are disproportionately affected by these issues,” she says, “when we are
talking about child marriage, or racism, or equality, using the example of one
case really helps makes your case strong and allow people to empathize with the
issue.”
‘I
WANT US TO IMAGINE IF EVERY GIRL IN EGYPT WAS EDUCATED’
Her
purpose is to uncover girls’ real power and turn the world’s eyes on the
importance of education to advance women’s empowerment. “Education gives you
power and a voice, and when you have confidence to speak up about your own
needs, and the means to articulate what is it you need, this is when change
happens,” Amin states.
Championing
girls’ education, she worked with local NGO Heya Masr to run empowerment
programs for young women and fund girls’ education. From there, she encountered
Amany, whose older sister was married off at the age of 15 and then had five
kids by the time she was 21. After attending the Heya Masr program, Amany
shared with Amin on how much education has helped change her life. “For her,
having a taste of education and learning helped her decide her own life goals
and ambitions, and now she is a human rights lawyer empowering other girls in
her community.”
“I
want us to imagine if every single girl in Egypt was educated – the
opportunities would be endless,” Amin adds.
The
importance of girls’ education was brought to the fore this year due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. UNESCO estimates that over 11 million girls may not return
to school after the COVID-19 crisis, and even before the pandemic, 132 million
girls around the world are out of school and are disproportionately affected by
conflict, violence, and poverty.
On
her 17th birthday this year, Amin decided that her gift would be to help other
girls in the world. She joined forces with inspiring women through a virtual
event ‘17for17’ to speak out for girls’ education and ensure that learning
never stops for any girl.
With
over 70,000 people tuning in, it featured 17 speakers on girls’ education from
17 countries around the world, including Suzanne Ehlers CEO of Malala Fund,
Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation H.E Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Dr. Rana
el Kaliouby Co-founder and CEO of Affectiva, Nora Fyles, Head of the
Secretariat at the UN Girls’ Education Initiative (hosted by UNICEF), Wadi
Ben-Hirki, Founder of Ben-Hirki Foundation, Nibras Khudaida, refugee and human
rights activist, and many more.
Recently,
she also spoke on a panel at the 75th UN General Assembly’s SDG Media Action
Zone, where she advocated for real and tangible policies for youth, women and
girls. “We need more youth at the decision-making table, and really informing
decisions on governmental, business and even individual level. It’s time to
actively listen to youth’s voices,” she says on the panel.
AN
ACTIVIST OF OUR TIME
Amin
is not just an inspiring women’s rights activist of our time, but also a young
woman of action whose life is centered on learning, commitment and
determination, and passionately works to ensure that visions, policies and even
academia are turned into real tangible solutions.
Currently,
she works as a research intern at the Middle East Initiative at the Harvard
Kennedy School, where she explores conspiracy belief, and has previously
carried out other important research works on the media representation of
Muslim women, where she curated an exhibit at the American University in Cairo
titled “Princess Fawzia and the Duality of Egyptian Women.”
“I
really believe that young women in the Middle East will help break generational
cycles of inequality. We have to find more ways to also include them in
peacemaking processes and amplify their voice, because once you have young
women in the decision-making process, collectively, our society becomes better
and stronger,” she says, “I am working to turn this into real action.”
https://egyptianstreets.com/2020/11/27/i-want-us-to-imagine-if-every-girl-in-egypt-was-educated-meet-activist-jana-amin-advocating-for-women-and-girls/
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Rihanna-Bella
Hadid-Gigi Hadid Support Hijab-Wearing American Supermodel, Halima Aden
Nov
27, 2020
Zarafshan
Shiraz
Halima
Aden quits fashion industry, Rihanna-Bella Hadid-Gigi Hadid
support(Instagram/halima)
------
In
a series of historic Instagram confessions, Somali American supermodel Halima
Aden opened up about her hijab journey and quit “bowed out gracefully” from
runaway modeling because it forced her to compromise her religious beliefs as a
Muslim woman. The 23-year-old made headlines as a successful Black Muslim woman
who had turned cover girl for British Vogue and Vogue Arabia and even appeared
on runways at New York Fashion Week.
Using
the Covid-19 quarantine time to reflect on her values and make new moves, the
glamour girl who wore was one of the first models to wear a hijab at mega
fashion shows, said, “I can only blame myself for caring more about opportunity
than what was actually at stake.” She received online support from Rihanna and
model sisters Bella Hadid and Gigi Hadid.
Halima’s
journey has been a landmark in itself from being born in a Kenyan refugee camp
and moving with her Somali parents to America at the age of six to appearing as
a sem-finalist wearing a headscarf for representation in the Miss Minnesota USA
pageant in 2016, at the age of 18. From there, Halima rose to star in Rihanna’s
Fenty Beauty campaigns and Kanye West’s Yeezy brand and even featured in Sports
Illustrated’s annual swimsuit issue last year, wearing wear a hijab and
full-body burkini.
Halima
stated at the onset of her confession that Rihanna had let her wear the hijab
that the former had brought to the set. Sharing a picture of that shoot, Halima
wrote, “This is the girl I’m returning to. The real HALIMA (sic)” and
punctuated it with a red heart.
The
singer shared the post on her own social media handle with the supporting
words, “Love you so much Queen @halima (sic)” which turned the model emotional
as she replied, “my whole heart (sic).”
Asserting
that her journey had been “with lots of highs and lows”, Halima revealed that
she had suffered bullying at the hands of white kids due to her head covering
which made her go home and cry. The same happened in fashion industry when
after a shoot, she went back to her hotel room and cried because she was made
to take off her hijab but was “too scared to speak up”.
Speaking
highly of her mother, Rukia Ahmed Aden, for advising “Deen Over Dunya” always,
Halima shared that she had asked her to quit modeling a long time ago but she
was defensive. Yet, her faith was the strongest around her family and her
“hijab was on point when I was surrounded by my Somali culture”, which was the
last time she was genuinely happy.
Realising
that she had gotten carried away, Halima shared pictures of denim hijab and of
covering her head with a jeans or layers that were not headscarf. “As if we
needed these brands to represent Hijabis. THEY need US. Never the other way
around (sic),” Halima wrote while adding that this desperateness for
representation back then and her naïve and rebellious self had made her lose touch
with who she were.
Halima
has deleted certain Instagram posts and the makeover of her social media handle
now features a monochromic hijab silhouette as the display picture. Admitting
that she was uncomfortable with a lot of shoots, heels and wearing substitutes
for hijab, Halima decided it was time to “correct” her “mistake” publicly and
her ever since been feeling “more free and relieved.”
“I’m
not rushing back to FASHION” she wrote as she made note to never skip praying
on Islamic time. “Fashion can wait. My DEEN can not,” she wrote. “Cancel me?
Who gone cancel me? I’m bowing out gracefully (sic)” Halima added in another
Instagram story.
Hijab
is a lightweight head covering worn in public by some Muslim women. Hijab
usually covers the head and chest and is worn by Muslim women as a part of
their religion, in the presence of any male outside of their immediate family .
https://www.hindustantimes.com/fashion-and-trends/halima-aden-quits-fashion-industry-rihanna-bella-hadid-gigi-hadid-support-hijab-wearing-american-supermodel/story-r3nms1d4z9Wxwqx5GocGhI.html
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Vandana
Jain Wins Emirates Women Awards
November
28, 2020
Vandana
Jain
-----
Dubai
— Vandana Jain, a culinary connoisseur and award-winning author of Best Indian
Cuisine Cookbook of the World, was presented with the prestigious Emirates
Women Awards 2020, by Dubai Quality Group under the patronage of Sheikh Ahmed
bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman
of Emirates airline and Chief Executive of the Emirates Group.
Upon
receiving the award, Jain expressed her gratitude for the distinguished
recognition. She shared that it took years of hard work to create thousands of
innovative international recipes (vegetarian), popularising Indian cuisine and
uplifting the levels of culinary industry across the globe. According to her
most important thing is getting selected amongst hundreds of renowned women is
itself an accomplishment to behold.
https://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-network/vandana-jain-wins-emirates-women-awards
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Dubai
Women’s Triathlon sees good turnout at Jumeirah
November
27, 2020
Dubai:
Lottie Lucas of United Kingdom finished on top of the fourth edition of Dubai
Women’s Triathlon, which brought the streets of Jumeirah to life early on
Friday morning before coming to a close at Dubai Ladies Club.
In
the Open category, Lucas clocked 2:07:20 to win gold, followed by Triinu Jogeda
(Estonia) at 2:22:25. Tanita Okennedy of South Africa finished third with
2:30:19.
Mona
Al Marri, Chairperson of the Board of Directors and Managing Director of Dubai
Women’s Establishment (DWE), awarded the winners. Held under the patronage of
Sheikh Mansoor Bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Sports
Council, the Dubai Women’s Triathlon is the first event of its kind in the
Middle East held exclusively for ladies, organised by the Women’s Sports
Committee of Dubai Sports Council in collaboration with Dubai Ladies Club.
Saeed
Hareb, Secretary General of Dubai Sports Council, attended the event along with
Nasser Aman Al Rahma, Assistant Secretary General; Rawda Al Mahrezi,
Chairperson of the Women’s Sports Committee; Al Maha Al Bastaki, Acting
Director of Dubai Ladies Club; Fawzia Faridoon, Head of the Women’s Sports
Committee as well as the event Director; Maitha Shuaib, Director of Corporate
Communication at DWE and Member of the Women’s Sports Committee; and Saleha Al
Basti, member of the Women’s Sports Committee along with several other
representatives from each entity.
Mona
Al Marri said that the race was held in strict adherence to official COVID-19
preventive and precautionary measures in order to maintain public health and
safety. She also praised the long standing partnership between Dubai Sports
Council and Dubai Ladies Club which works towards empowering women in sport and
thanked all the government entities and departments that contribute to ensuring
the Triathlon is a safe and secure event, chief among whom are Dubai Police,
General Directorate of Civil Defense in Dubai, Dubai Corporation for Ambulance
Services, Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority, and Emirates Hospital in
Jumeirah.
The
triathlon began early Friday morning, with the swimming competition taking
place along the Jumeriah coastline behind Dubai Ladies Club within a private
and secure environment. The contestants then got cycled along a route starting
from the club’s main gates, taking them from the intersection of Al Urouba Road
to the intersection of Umm Al Sheif Road, before beginning the running segment
of the race on designated tracks along Jumeirah Road until the finish line at
Dubai Ladies Club.
https://gulfnews.com/sport/uae-sport/dubai-womens-triathlon-sees-good-turnout-at-jumeirah-1.75533384
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Sudan
Says It Will Stamp Out Child Marriage And Enforce Ban On FGM
Emmanuel
Akinwotu West Africa correspondent
Fri
27 Nov 2020
Sudanese
authorities have announced they will end child marriage and enforce the
country’s ban on female genital mutilation (FGM), in a major step forward for
the rights of women and girls.
Police
officers were told on Wednesday they must inform local communities that FGM is
illegal following new laws passed in July that make it punishable by up to
three years in jail.
“Police
officers will have a major responsibility to intervene and curb this crime
against humanity,” said the director general of police, Ezzeldin El Sheikh,
adding that religious leaders in the largely Muslim country would play a key
role in ending the practice.
The
move should go some way to allay concerns the practice was so deeply entrenched
in society the law could not be enforced.
According
to the UN, 87% of Sudanese women have undergone FGM, which involves the partial
or total removal of the female external genitalia for non-medical reasons.
Girls are typically cut between the ages of just five and 14.
The
council of ministers also announced this week it is to end child marriage and
adopt all articles of the African charter on the rights and welfare of the
child, which came into force in 1999.
Previously
Sudan had resisted moves to ban marriage before the age of 18, despite
supporting UN human rights council resolutions to end child marriage.
About
a third of girls in Sudan are married before they turn 18.
Niki
Kandirikirira, Equality Now’s director of programmes, said: “The work [to end
child marriage] now awaits the government to implement the law through
programmes addressing social norms and through making it clearly punitive to
breach the law.”
She
added: “We welcome comments by police chief Lt Gen Ezzeldin El Sheikh in
highlighting that FGM is now forbidden by law in Sudan and those involved can
face arrest, and we hope that his words will translate into action by the
police force.”
Following
the ousting of Omar al-Bashir last year, Sudan’s civilian-led transition
government has set about reforming the country, departing from almost four
decades of hardline Islamist policies.
As
well as FGM and child marriage, the government has ended prohibitions against
religious conversion from Islam, permitted non-Muslims to drink alcohol and
stipulated that women will no longer need permission from a male member of
their family to travel with their children.
World
leaders have pledged to eliminate FGM and end child marriage by 2030.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/nov/27/sudan-says-it-will-stamp-out-child-marriage-and-enforce-ban-on-fgm
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Saudi
Arabia: Court’s Appointment Of Female Citizen As Arbitrator Is First Of Its
Kind In Kingdom
November
28, 2020
Ramadan
Al Sherbini
Cairo:
A commercial court in Saudi Arabia has ordered the appointment of a female
citizen to arbiter two cases for the first time, the latest sign of boosting
women’s empowerment in the kingdom, a local newspaper has report.
The
decision was made by the commercial appeals circuit at the Commercial Court in
the Saudi port city of Jeddah as part of efforts to empower Saudi women in the
area of trade arbitration, the news portal Sabq said. Neither the woman’s name
or age was given.
The
appointment is the first of its kind in the history of Saudi commercial courts
and reflects interest in the justice system to enhance women’s empowerment, it
added.
Empowering
women
The
Saudi Justice Ministry has recently accorded more attention to employing and serving
women in its departments and law courts.
In
recent years, Saudi Arabia has taken steps to empower women in different
domains as part of dramatic socio-economic reforms in the country.
In
2018, the kingdom allowed women to drive for the first time in its history,
ending a decades-old ban on female driving. Saudi authorities have also allowed
women to travel without a male guard’s approval and to apply for a passport,
easing long-time controls on them.
https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/saudi/saudi-arabia-courts-appointment-of-female-citizen-as-arbitrator-is-first-of-its-kind-in-kingdom-1.75547210
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Database
under works to empower women entrepreneurs
28
Nov 2020
ISLAMABAD:
The Ministry of Commerce on Friday said that it will help facilitate creation
of a national database of women entrepreneurs in an effort towards increasing
their participation in trade of goods and services.
The
suggestion came from Commerce Secretary Muhammad Sualeh Ahmad Faruqui, while
chairing the second meeting of consultative committee of the Women Economic
Empowerment (WEE). The committee will work under specific sub groups to come up
with recommendations according to their areas of expertise to be submitted to
Ministry of Commerce for further action within a week.
An
official announcement issued by commerce ministry said during the meeting, most
of which was held virtually, Mr Faruqui emphasised the importance of gender
mainstreaming and economic empowerment of women through greater participation
in trade of goods and services.
He
highlighted the importance of dedicated work on policy issues to ensure
effective engagement with women entrepreneurs as key stakeholders. He proposed
drafting an action matrix on the basis of stakeholders’ input mentioning
timelines for different kinds of actions based on their nature in sequential
and parallel manner.
“This
will cover creation of a national database of women entrepreneurs, business
facilitation, ease of doing business, training and access to finance”, he said
while adding that he took special interest in categorising the sectors and
maintaining the momentum of work on policy issues.
The
meeting was attended via zoom by a great number of participants including
leading fashion designers, Facebook, i2i, P@SHA, e-Commerce market places, women
chambers, the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry
representatives and women chambers.
In
addition, representatives from the Pakistan-Regional Economic Integration
Activity, USAID and the Asian Development Bank also attended the moot and
briefed the house about international best practices on women small and medium
enterprises definition and e-commerce portal, respectively.
Meanwhile,
from the public sector representatives of the State Bank of Pakistan, Trade
Development Authority of Pakistan (Islamabad) and Small and Medium Enterprises
Development Authority also participated in the meeting.
The
e-commerce implementation strategy provides specific targets towards
establishment of a portal for one-window facilitation of related matters and to
promote public awareness for all relevant stakeholders.
The
functions of the portal would be to provide simplified, translated information
about regulations and enhance knowledge and understanding about e-commerce,
aware the public about consumer protection and facilitate implementation of
nine pillars of e-commerce policy. It will mainstream women in the economic
activities.
The
establishment of WEE Committee by Ministry of Commerce and National E commerce
Council is a step towards removing barriers and increase women’s participation
in trade activities and commerce policy, giving it a gender lens and reducing
gender disparity across trade and commerce.
The
WEE also aims to project and promote women-led businesses on international
forums through government and private platforms.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1592842/database-under-works-to-empower-women-entrepreneurs
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Empowering
Women To Make Pakistan A True Welfare State
Economic
productivity of a country could be enhanced manifold by empowering the
penniless women folk and Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal (PBM) was doing exactly the same
to help becoming resource less women self sustaining as promised in the
manifesto of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). According to the World Bank’s 2012
World Development Report: Gender Equality and Development, closing these gender
gaps matters for development and policy making. PBM was running 156 Women
Empowerment Centres (WECs) to impart vocational training among deserving women.
PBM has spent Rs 638 million on imparting technical training among 30,000 women
in 2019-20. The women trainees were being paid Rs 30 daily allowance on
attendance basis. The trainees having workable business plan of Rs 25,000 to Rs
100,000 would be provided personal loans in collaboration with Pakistan Poverty
Alleviation Fund. The loan will be returnable in the time span of 18 months
first six months as grace period. As many as 13,322 trainees are currently
getting training from these schools whereas some 135,220 trainees have been
passed out. WECs plans to impart technical training among 62400 deserving women
in the next four years. Currently, the WECs are imparting 16 different trades
including drafting, cutting, sewing, designing, interior decoration,
beautician, cooking, tie and dye, glass painting, computer and current
Microsoft office applications to deserving women. A total of 33 senior citizens
were residing in Great Home for Senior Citizens in Lahore. PBM has established
Child Support Program (CSP) in five districts. A total of 28,462 children were
benefitting from the CSP program. The objectives of establishing these schools
was to wean away children from the hazardous child labour environment, impart
primary education and bring poor children into mainstream of social milieu. The
enrolled children were being provided Rs 10 as daily stipend while parents
receive Rs 300 per month as subsistence allowance. It is PBM initiative to pull
out the children from bonded labor and imparting them education, in line with
the UN & other International Organizations conventions. 159 SRCL,s are
functional all over the country. The children involved in child labor are
enrolled in these schools are imparted free education upto primary level. They
are provided free books, stationery, uniform / shoes and Rs.10/- daily stipend
/ parents subsistence allowance of Rs.300/- per month and Rs.4100/ year as
passed out incentive. Out of 159 SRCL, 46 are in Punjab, 20 are in South
Punjab, 37 are in Sindh, 24 are in KPK, 14 are in Baluchistan, 13 are in
ICT/AJK and 5 are in G.B. 18519 children were enrolled in these schools in
F.Y.19-20. Till now 38059 students have been passed out. 712 millions were
utilized during F.Y.19-20. A total of 5,683 scholarships and 18,519 education
stipends had been given to deserving students during financial year 2019-20.
Some 21,618 deserving persons had been provided medical assistance in last
fiscal year. Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal is offering scholarships to deserving students
admitted in any Government College or University. PBM has planned to establish
Great Homes for senior citizens in many cities. Great Homes will provide basic
necessities of life in a dignified manner and in a family like environment
including boarding, lodging, food, clothing, medical case and recreation. PBM
also providing grant in aid to registered non government organisation (NGOs).
PBM has established Facilitation Centres at Pakistan Institute of Medical
Sciences (PIMS) and Nuclear Medicine, Oncology and Radiotherapy Institute
(NORI) to promptly complete medical assistance case of the deserving. Some
other Facilitation Centres would soon be established at provincial headquarters
and at divisional levels to facilitate the beneficiaries.In the third phase,
the facilitation centres will be established at district level. The
Facilitation Centres have already been working at PBM head office and it
regional offices to provide speedy, hassle free medical services to the
beneficiaries visiting the office and stream lining the process of providing
medical assistance. PBM was contributing in poverty reduction through various
Individual Financial Assistance (IFA) programmes including general financial
assistance, education stipend, individual rehabilitation programmes, etc.
Likewise, PBM is planning to establish 15 more Women Empowerment Centres (WECs)
by June 2021.
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/11/28/empowering-women-to-make-pakistan-a-true-welfare-state/
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/jana-amin,-17-year-old/d/123601