Tunisian Women Lead UNESCO’s rating of African and Arab Women in Science
New
Age Islam News Bureau
31
December 2020
• Abuses against Kurdish Women in Afrin under Turkish Parliament Radar
•
Women’s Growing Wealth Prompts Need for Changes in the Banking Sector
•
Shock after Pakistani Woman, Bano Begum, Becomes Village Head In UP
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/tunisian-women-lead-unescos-rating/d/123938
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Tunisian Women Lead UNESCO’s rating of African and Arab Women in Science
December
30, 2020
Tunisian women lead UNESCO’s rating of African and Arab women
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Tunisian
women lead UNESCO’s rating of African and Arab women participation in
scientific research as 55.1 per cent of Tunisian researchers are female; the
largest proportion in Africa and in the Arab world.
The
rating, based on UN branch’s Institute for Statistics (UIS) June 2020 data,
credits the North African country with the best ranking in Africa ahead of
Algeria (47.1 %), Cape Verde (45.8%) Egypt (45.6%), South Africa (44.9%) as
well as Morocco (33.8%).
The
second best ranked Arab country is Kuwait with 53.2%.
This
is the second year in a row that Tunisia tops the Arab world and Africa on the
UNESCO’s ranking. Last year it achieved almost similar score.
UNESCO
also last year in a separate report indicated that 65 per cent of Tunisians
with a bachelor degree and 69 per cent of PhD holders were female, Tunisie
Numerique notes.
https://northafricapost.com/46498-tunisian-women-lead-african-arab-women-in-science.html
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Abuses
against Kurdish Women in Afrin under Turkish Parliament Radar
December
30, 2020
JEDDAH:
Tulay Hatimogullari, a lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party,
filed a parliamentary inquiry on Tuesday, destined to Turkish Foreign Minister
Mevlut Cavusoglu, over the allegations that hundreds of Kurdish women and girls
have been kidnapped in northern Syria by Turkish-backed militias and taken to
Libya to be sold as sex slaves.
The
shocking claims recently made headlines with the Afrin Report news network,
which revealed the testimonies of survivors from the northwestern Syrian city
of Afrin about hospitals full of the corpses of kidnapped women and girls who
were being accused of supporting terrorism.
Hatimogullari
asked Cavusoglu whether the claims that Kurdish women from Afrin were being kidnapped
via Turkey were true.
“Are
you investigating the claims that girls and women from Afrin were sent to Libya
as slaves? Is your ministry aware of the sexual assaults in the camps and
prisons in Afrin? Will you take the steps necessary to deal with these
violations of rights? Will you conduct coordinated activities with
international organizations in this regard?” she inquired.
Hatimogullari,
who became the first lawmaker to bring the case to the Turkish domestic agenda,
emphasized Turkey’s judicial responsibility and complicity regarding these
allegations that concern the criminal acts of Turkey-backed rebels.
While
some women witnessed torture in the northern Syrian camps, other women held as
prisoners were allegedly abused and raped by the mercenaries.
As
the Kurdish women’s cries for help mostly fall on deaf ears, their situation
recalled that of the thousands of Yazidi women from Sinjar in Iraqi Kurdistan
who were abducted, raped, murdered and enslaved by Daesh six years ago.
The
details about the allegations are regularly documented under the Missing Afrin
Women Project that is tracking the kidnappings and disappearances of Kurdish
women and girls in Afrin since 2018. The project features an interactive map
displaying the name of the individual, the date and location of the incident,
the armed group responsible and whether the relevant individual has been
reported released.
On
the basis of testimonials, hundreds of Kurdish girls were kidnapped and taken
to Turkey through military crossing points at the Syrian-Turkish border to be
sold as sex slaves to Qatari traders and sent back to Libya.
Turkey
and Qatar opened this month a hospital for women and children in Afrin.
Since
last year, human rights groups have been expressing concerns over the increasing
abuses against civilians in Afrin.
In
total, more than 1,000 women and girls are believed to be missing only in Afrin
following Turkey’s two-month-long Operation Olive Branch two years ago that
ousted the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) from the region.
The
operation was criticized by the international community as an attempt at
demographic change and forced displacement.
Ankara
considers the Kurdish YPG as part of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which
has been engaged in a more than three-decade-long war against the Turkish
state. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the
EU.
In
February 2019, the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on
Syria released an assessment report about the human rights situation in Afrin.
“The
commission finds there are reasonable grounds to believe that armed group
members in Afrin committed the war crimes of hostage-taking, cruel treatment,
torture, and pillage,” the report said.
“Numerous
cases involving arbitrary arrests and detentions by armed group members also
included credible allegations of torture and ill-treatment, often targeting
individuals of Kurdish origin, including activists openly critical of armed
groups and those perceived to be so,” the UN report added.
In
November 2020, the US Department of State Lead Inspector General for Operation
Inherent Resolve released a report covering the period between July and
September 2020.
The
report indicated that the US Department of State is “deeply concerned by
reports that Turkish supported opposition groups engaged in ‘gross violations
of human rights and violations of the law of armed conflict’ in northeast
Syria,” including murder, torture, rape and kidnapping, among others.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1785076/middle-east
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Women’s
Growing Wealth Prompts Need for Changes in the Banking Sector
December
31, 2020
JEDDAH:
As women increase their financial independence faster than ever before, adding
$5 trillion dollars to the global wealth pool each year, this is leading to a
change in family and banking dynamics, according to new research by Barclays
Private Bank.
A
substantial wealth transfer is set to happen over the next 20 years, with an
estimated $15 trillion set to pass to the next generation. Research has
estimated that four in five women from high-net-worth (HNW) families are
getting ready to inherit substantial wealth over the next decade or two.
Rasha
Badawi, director at Barclays Wealth and Investment Management in the Middle
East said: “As traditional family roles change and more women hold prominent
positions in international business, their growing global influence is going to
be a major economic force over the next decade, redefining areas that have
historically been focused on, and dominated by, men.”
A
HNW individual is someone with at least $1 million in cash or assets that can
easily be converted into cash.
The
research investigating the role of women in wealth was conducted in the second
quarter of 2020, targeting 402 HNW families with at least £5 million ($6.83
million) in assets and living in France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy,
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Singapore, the UAE and the UK.
The
research focused on women’s roles in succession planning, family business
decision-making and how these roles contribute to shifting family and banking
relationships.
Although
a third of the world’s wealth is under women’s control today, four in ten
wealthy women are currently not involved in the management of their family
finances compared to only one in ten men.
Moreover,
even those women who are involved in their family’s finances tend not to be the
main decision-maker, with 83 percent of key financial decision-makers in HNW
families being men.
This
bias, common in Indian (76 percent) and Middle Eastern families (46 percent),
derives from the traditional roles of women in these families. And due to
women’s lack of involvement in the management of family finances, they tend to
be significantly less interested in finance and investment. This also
contributes to women being overlooked during financial conversations, research
found.
“The
tide across the Gulf is changing for women in ultra HNW families…We are seeing
women take more leadership positions and become increasingly involved in all
financial decisions,” said Rahim Daya, head of Barclays Private Bank for the
UAE and Middle East.
The
role of women within wealthy families is certainly evolving. Social and
cultural change is prompting a shift in family and banking dynamics, with women
now holding similar levels of direct ownership in family businesses (54 percent
compared to 57 percent for men), and more HNW women achieving postgraduate
qualifications, often at international institutions (43 percent), compared to
the generation of their parents (14 percent).
The
younger generations also have a less traditional outlook on life. Seventy-nine
percent of those surveyed said that their parents hold traditional beliefs, but
only a third of parents believed the same of their children.
Among
women of all ages, 35 percent said that they do not have a traditional personal
outlook on life, compared to 59 percent of men who admitted they do.
However,
women also lack representation and remain largely underserved by the wealth-management
community. Wealthy women are currently more than twice as likely as men to not
have a financial adviser.
This
is a consequence of male domination within the financial-advisory industry,
making women feel uncertain or unheard. Around 60 percent of participants
believe that women are treated differently to men by professional financial
advisors, the Barclays study found.
HNW
women said they are less likely than men to feel that their adviser understands
their knowledge about investing and risk tolerance.
These
obstacles are owing to the fact that the industry was traditionally curated for
wealthy men and by professional men, meaning women were often excluded.
In
the absence of any support, wealthy women are often less confident about making
family financial decisions, prompting the need for banking relationship
dynamics to change.
Around
60 percent of wealthy women are confident in making financial decisions for
themselves, but among those not yet involved in family wealth management,
confidence drops to 43 percent. In contrast, 78 percent of all men say that
they feel confident in making financial decisions for their families.
The
research suggested that changes within financial services are needed to better
support the growing number of HNW women as they are inheriting more and more
wealth and responsibility.
Therefore,
wealth managers need to empower wealthy women and embrace their increasing
power and influence.
Dr.
Ylva Baeckstrom, a behavioral finance and gender expert, said: “The industry
needs to overcome existing biases, work to deliver services and advice that are
the equal of those presented to their male relatives and provide women with the
base to support their role as global business leaders of the future.”
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1785366/business-economy
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Shock
after Pakistani Woman, Bano Begum, Becomes Village Head In UP
Dec
31, 2020
AGRA:
A 65-year-old Pakistani woman was found running the affairs of a village
panchayat as its interim head in UP’s Etah district, a revelation that shocked
local police and the administration. A probe has been ordered to know how she
got the Aadhaar, voter ID and other documents while staying on a long-term
visa. An FIR has also been filed against her.
Bano
Begum, a resident of Karachi, Pakistan came to India 35 years ago at her
relative's home in Etah. Later, she got married to a local, Akhtar Ali. Since
then, she had been staying in Etah on a long-term visa, and had applied for
Indian citizenship several times.
During
2015 local body elections, Bano managed to get elected as a member of Guadau
gram panchayat. Five years later, on January 9 this year, the pradhan, Shehnaz
Begum, passed away. And after a few days, Bano took over as interim pradhan on
the recommendation of the village committee.
According
to sources, the matter came to the fore after a villager, Quwaidan Khan, filed
a complaint saying that Bano is a Pakistani national.
Though
Bano resigned from the post, the district panchayati raj officer (DPRO) Alok
Priyadarshi raised the matter with Etah’s district magistrate (DM) Sukhlal
Bharti, who ordered an FIR and a probe.
DPRO
Priyadarshi said, “Investigation on the basis of a complaint received against
Bano Begum found that she is a Pakistan national. She got an Aadhaar card and
voter ID made on her name by fraudulent means.”
He
said that the recommendation to appoint Bano as head of the village committee
and designating her as interim pradhan was made by village secretary Dhyanpal
Singh. He has been removed from the post.
DM
Bharti said, “Orders have been issued to investigate how she managed to get an
Aadhaar card and other documents for contesting election to become gram
panchayat member. Strict action will be taken against those found guilty of
helping her.”
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/agra/pakistani-woman-becomes-interim-pradhan-in-etah-shocked-admin-orders-probe-fir/articleshow/80032288.cms
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