Bombay HC Dismisses Petition Filed by 9 Girl Students Against Hijab, Burka and Naqab Ban in Mumbai College
New Age Islam News Bureau
26 Jun 2024
· Bombay HC Dismisses Petition Filed by 9 Girl Students Against Hijab, Burka and Naqab Ban in Mumbai College
· Women Activists in and Outside Iran’s Prisons Targeted for Harsh Retribution
· Iran’s Onerous Hijab Law for Women Is Now a Campaign Issue
· Iranian Wrestling Federation's Women's Camp Raises Questions
· European Bank (EBRD) Promotes Egyptian Women Entrepreneurs
· From Fighting Boys to Saudi Olympic History for Female Taekwondo Star
· CNN Arabic and UN Women in The Arab States Renew Commitment to Promote Gender Equality Through 2026
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New Age Islam News Bureau
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Bombay HC Dismisses Petition Filed by 9 GirlStudents Against Hijab, Burka and NaqabBan in Mumbai College
25 Jun 2024
Muslim women participate in a march
against banning Muslim girls wearing hijab from attending classes at some
schools in Karnataka, in New Delhi. (Photo | AP)
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MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday refused to interfere in a decision taken by a city-based college to impose a ban On Hijab, Burka and Naqab in its premises.
A division bench of Justices A S Chandurkar and Rajesh Patil said it was not inclined to interfere in the decision taken by the college and dismissed a petition filed against it by nine girl students, who are in the second and third year of a science degree course.
The students moved the HC earlier this month, challenging a directive issued by the ChemburTrombay Education Society's NG Acharya and DK Marathe College imposing a dress code under which students cannot wear a hijab, naqab, burka, stoles, caps and badges inside the premises.
The petitioners claimed such a directive was against their fundamental rights to practice their religion, right to privacy and right to choice.
The plea termed the college action as "arbitrary, unreasonable, bad-in-law and perverse".
The petitioner's advocate, Altaf Khan, last week submitted before the HC certain verses from the Quran to support their claim that wearing hijab was an essential part of Islam.
Apart from the right to practice their religion, the petitioners were also relying on their right to choice and privacy while opposing the college's decision, he said.
The college had claimed the decision to ban hijab, naqab and burka in its premises was merely a disciplinary action for uniform dress code and was not against the Muslim community.
Senior counsel Anil Anturkar, appearing for the college management, said the dress code was for all students belonging to every religion and caste.
The girls, however, claimed in their plea that such a directive was "nothing but colourable exercise of power".
They initially requested the college management and principal to withdraw the restriction on naqab, burka and hijab and allow it "as a matter of right of choice, dignity and privacy in the classroom".
The girls also raised their grievance against the notice with the chancellor, vice chancellor of the Mumbai University and the University Grants Commission, requesting their intervention "to upkeep the spirit of imparting education to all citizens without discrimination".
However, when the students did not get any response, they filed a petition in the HC.
Source: newindianexpress.com
https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2024/Jun/26/bombay-hc-dismisses-petition-filed-by-students-against-hijab-ban-in-mumbai-college
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Women Activists in and Outside Iran’s Prisons Targeted for Harsh Retribution
JUNE 25, 2024
Women Activists In and Outside Iran’s
Prisons Targeted for Harsh Retribution
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June 25, 2024—As the Iranian government touts its democratic credentials with a carefully orchestrated presidential election that includes only state-approved candidates, the Islamic Republic’s violent repression of women and the activists defending their rights has intensified across the country.
Investigations by the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) show that since the death of President EbrahimRaisi on May 19, 2024, the Islamic Republic has ramped up its assault on women activists—both inside and outside of Iran’s prisons.
Key findings during this period include:
At least 12 women activists have been sentenced to prison terms, some as long as 21 years, in prosecutions lacking any semblance of due process or fair trial rights, including the denial of chosen counsel.
Some of these women activists were tortured during detention and at least two have been charged with crimes that can carry the death penalty in Iran.
On June 18, imprisoned Nobel Peace laureate NargesMohammadi was sentenced to an additional year in prison on the manufactured charge of “propaganda against the state.”
At least six women prisoners of conscience with serious medical conditions have been denied medical treatment by prison authorities—including an ailing elderly woman prisoner and one pregnant prisoner—and at least five have gone on hunger strike in protest.
Many of these women prisoners have also been denied contact with their families or lawyers.
“The Islamic Republic is using the distraction of its presidential ‘election’ to go after its women activists and cow them into silence through imprisonment and abuse,” said CHRI Executive Director HadiGhaemi.
“Just as these brave women activists continue to speak out—at high cost—for the fundamental rights of Iranian women, so too must the international community stand with them, condemn their oppression, and support the struggles and sacrifices of Iranian women for freedom and equality,” Ghaemi said.
CHRI calls on the international community to:
Renew its full attention to the Islamic Republic’s violent repression and unlawful prosecution of women activists in Iran, and not be distracted by elections in Iran that are neither free nor fair.
Summon the Islamic Republic’s diplomatic representatives to warn the world is watching and will respond to these unlawful prosecutions and the abuse of women prisoners.
Publicly condemn in international forums the Islamic Republic’s intensified assault on women activists and its oppression of women.
Continue to identify and sanction human rights violators, including the intelligence and judicial officials involved in arresting, interrogating, and sentencing Iranian women activists.
Unlawful Prosecutions and Abuse in Prisons
On May 21, 2024, when President EbrahimRaisi’s death was officially announced, there were reports of restrictions on prison phone calls and family visitations for NargesMohammadi, SepidehQolian, AtenaFarghadani, NargesMansouri, and VarishehMoradi in Tehran’s Evin Prison.
On June 11, 2024, cartoonist AtenaFaraghdani was sentenced to six years in prison—five years mandatory if upheld on appeal.
On June 16, 2024, NargesMohammadi’s lawyer Mostafa Nili announced that his client, who is already serving a 13-year sentence in Evin Prison for her peaceful advocacy of human rights, was sentenced to one more year of imprisonment as punishment for her revelations about sexual assault and the physical and psychological abuse of women prisoners.
On June 20, 2024, Branch 5 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Mashhad, northeast Iran, sentenced FatemehSepehri to 18 years and six months in prison on charges of “assembly and collusion against national security,” “insulting” Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and “propaganda against the state.”
Sepehri has been in Mashhad’s Vakilabad Prison since September 21, 2022. According to a source familiar with her case, her phone calls from prison have been strictly monitored for several months, and she has been denied medical leave despite undergoing heart and hand surgeries.
On June 23, 2024, protester Maryam Bayramian, held in Tabriz Central Prison, northwest Iran, was sentenced to two years behind bars by an Islamic Revolutionary Court. She was arrested by security agents on June 8, 2023, while President Raisi was making a speech in Tabriz. Bayramian, 45, is a mother of two children and head of the family.
On June 24, 2024, Maryam Akbari-Monfared, imprisoned for seeking justice for the wrongful execution of four siblings in 1988, is now facing a new case in the Islamic Revolutionary Court.
According to her lawyer, Hossein Taj, the case has been filed by the Executive Headquarters of Imam’s Directive, a state body, requesting the punitive seizure of property owned by Akbari-Monfared and her family.
In October 2024, Akbari-Monfared’s 15-year sentence will be completed. However, in September 2023, she was sentenced by Branch 101 of the Criminal Court in Semnan to an additional two years in prison on the charge of “publishing falsehoods on the internet.”
Heavy Prison Sentences for Women Activists in Kurdistan and Gilan
On May 25, 2024, journalist and women’s rights activist JinaModarresGorji was found guilty on charges of “forming an illegal group to overthrow the state,” “cooperation with enemy organizations and governments,” and “propaganda against the state” by Branch 1 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province, and sentenced to 21 years in prison (10 years mandatory if upheld on appeal) and banished to the Central Prison in Hamedan.
On May 28, 2024, Branch 11 of the Appeal Court in Gilan Province upheld prison sentences for women’s rights and political activists without a hearing, on charges of “forming an illegal group to overthrow the state,” “assembly and collusion against national security” and “propaganda against the state”: ZohrehDadras (9.5 years), ForoughSaminia (six years), Sara Jahani (six years), Yasmin Hashdari (six years), Shiva Shahsiah (six years), NeginRezaei (six years), AzadehChavoshian (six years), Zahra Dadras (six years), MatinYazdani (six years), JelvehJavaheri (1 year) and Houman Taheri (1 year).
They were arrested on August 16, 2023, in Rasht, Bandar Anzali, Lahijan and Foman in northern Iran’s Gilan province and released on bail approximately two months later.
According to a source familiar with the case, Ministry of Intelligence officials in Gilan claimed that the activists were planning subversive actions, without presenting any evidence.
The activists were tortured during detention, the source added.
On May 28, 2024, the first court session of political activist PakhshanAzizi was held in Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran. She has been charged with “rebellion,” which can result in the death penalty.
During detention, Pakshan was denied legal counsel and tortured into giving false statements, a routine practice used in the Islamic Republic against activists. Her second trial session was held on June 16.
Also on June 16, another woman political activist, VarishehMoradi, went on trial in the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran on the charge of “rebellion.”
A source familiar with the case told CHRI that presiding Judge AbolqasemSalavati (a notorious hardline judge known for handing down harsh sentences in political cases) did not allow Moradi or her lawyers to present a defense.
“Since a month ago, Judge Salavati has denied Moradi the right to contact and receive visits from family members and lawyers,” the source added.
Meanwhile, VarishehMoradi and PakshanAzizi held a two-day hunger strike to protest the behavior of prison authorities.
On June 23, 2024, AtefehRangriz, a women’s rights activist, was ordered to appear at the Prosecutor’s Office in Damghan, Semnan province, accused of “forming an illegal group to overthrow the state,” “publishing falsehoods on the internet to disturb public opinion,” and “propaganda against the state.”
Rangriz was arrested by state agents in Damghan on September 10, 2023, and transferred to the Ministry of Intelligence detention center in Semnan. She was later moved to the Central Prison in Shahroud and released on bail on October 21, 2023.
Hunger Strikes and Denial of Medical Care
On May 28, 2024, there were reports that two women political prisoners, NargesMansouri and LianDarvish, had started a hunger strike to protest unlawful judicial processes and the denial of medical treatment.
A person close to Darvish, a 46-year-old political prisoner, told CHRI: “Lian, who was in Cell 1 in the 5th Women’s Ward in Evin Prison, started a hunger strike because of lack of attention by prison officials to her poor health, especially severe kidney disease. According to one of her cellmates, her condition is serious, but the authorities have prevented her from being sent to a hospital.
“Lian’s main demand is to be sent to a hospital for treatment or be released on sick leave. She told prison officials if don’t they don’t agree to her demands, she will stop drinking liquids as well. Because of this, prison guards harassed her a lot and sent her to solitary confinement for 24 hours to force her to break the hunger strike.”
LianDarvish, a resident of Tehran, was initially arrested by Ministry of Intelligence agents in December 2017. In 2019, and sentenced to eight years behind bars by the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran on charges of “insulting the leaders of the country” and “propaganda against the state.”
According to a close associate, “ًWhenLian was convicted in 2018, she was taken to a hospital for a severe illness and then she escaped during sick leave and lived secretly in different cities until she was violently rearrested in February 2024 and taken back to Evin Prison.”
On June 9, 2024, FarzanehGhareh-Hasanlou, arrested during the “Women, Life, Freedom” uprising and sentenced to five years in prison and exile, went on a hunger strike for being deprived of medical care in Mashhad’s Vakilabad Prison.
A source familiar with Ghareh-Hasanlou’s status, told CHRI: “Mrs. Ghareh-Hasanlou’s health in prison is not well at all. The left side of her body becomes completely numb at times.”
On June 11, 2024, there were reports about continuing health issues facing 71-year-old RahelehRahemipour, in Evin Prison. Despite her inability to endure imprisonment, Rahemipour, who is seeking justice for the execution of her brother in 1984, has been deprived of proper medical care and hospitalization outside prison.
Also on June 11, the Coordinating Council of the Iranian Teachers Trade Associations (CCITTA) announced that Nejat AnvarHamidi, an ailing retired teacher imprisoned in Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz, Khuzestan province, was denied medical treatment.
Hamidi, who has been serving a 15-year sentence since March 2017, has not had any sick leave during imprisonment.
“The imprisoned teacher suffers from thyroid dysfunction, high blood pressure and chronic headache. She has cataracts in both eyes, which are bleeding due to lack of medical care,” said the CCITTA.
On June 16, 2024, it was reported that Maryam Jalal Hosseini, a political prisoner in Kachuei Prison in Karaj, Alborz province, was being denied proper medical attention.
An informed source told HRANA: “For several months Maryam has been suffering from health problems, namely kidney disease and needs specialized treatment. However, she has not been dispatched to medical centers outside the prison for proper treatment. Officials have considered sending her on medical leave only on a heavy bail, which her family is unable to provide. This has increased worries about her health.”
On June 23, 2024, there were reports on the continued poor health of RezvanehAhmadkhan-Beigi, a civil rights activist in Evin Prison where the authorities were preventing her from being sent to the hospital, despite being six-months pregnant and suffering from epilepsy.
Women Activists Support a Boycott of the Election
Meanwhile, some imprisoned women activists have declared they would boycott the presidential election, which is set for June 28.
In the latest case, Nobel laureate Mohammadi wrote an open letter from Evin Prison, stating:
“I will not participate in the illegal elections of the oppressive and illegitimate government.…The only purpose of holding elections for a regime that believes in repression, terror, and violence as the sole means to maintain power is not to uphold democracy and the rights of the people, but to consolidate power and tyranny. Such elections will not bring legitimacy to the Islamic Republic.”
Source: iranhumanrights.org
https://iranhumanrights.org/2024/06/iran-goes-after-its-women-activists-as-worlds-attention-turns-to-its-sham-election/
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Iran’s onerous hijab law for women is now a campaign issue
26-06-24
Iranian officials insisted for decades that the law requiring women to cover their hair and dress modestly was sacrosanct and not even worth discussion. They dismissed the struggle by women who challenged the law as a symptom of Western meddling.
Now, as Iran holds a presidential election this week, the issue of mandatory hijab, as the hair covering is known, has become a hot campaign topic. And all six of the men running, five of them conservative, have sought to distance themselves from the methods of enforcing the law, which include violence, arrests and monetary fines.
“Elections aside, politics aside, under no circumstances should we treat Iranian women with such cruelty,” Mustafa Pourmohammadi, a conservative presidential candidate and cleric with senior roles in intelligence, said in a round-table discussion on state television last week. He has also said that government officials should be punished over the hijab law because it was their duty to educate women about why they should wear hijab, not violently enforce it.
The hijab has long been a symbol of religious identity but has also been a political tool in Iran. And women have resisted the law, in different ways, ever since it went into effect after the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
It is unlikely that the law will be annulled, and it remains unclear whether a new president can soften enforcement. Different administrations have adopted looser or stricter approaches to hijab. EbrahimRaisi, the president whose death in a helicopter crash in May prompted emergency elections, had imposed some of the harshest crackdowns on women.
Still, some women’s rights activists and analysts in Iran say forcing the issue to the table during elections is in itself an accomplishment. It shows that the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement of civil disobedience, which began nearly two years ago, has become too big to ignore.
Women and girls are walking on the streets, eating in restaurants, going to work and riding public transportation wearing dresses, crop tops and skirts, and leaving their hair uncovered. In doing so, they take great risks, as the morality police lurk on street corners to arrest women defying the rules.
FatemehHassani, 42, a sociologist in Tehran, said in a telephone interview that the fact that hijab and morality police had become an election issue showed that women, through their determination and resistance, had been “effective in influencing the country’s domestic policies and forcing the government to recognize their demands for more rights.”
Women represent about half of Iran’s 61 million eligible voters. Although voter apathy is high among critics of the government, opposition to the hijab law and the morality police is no longer confined to them. It has transcended gender, religious and class lines, and now some of the loudest complaints come from religious people and conservatives, the backbone of the government’s constituents.
During a live televised debate on Friday on social issues, women and the hijab dominated the four-hour event. The issue has also surfaced in campaign videos that appear to be targeting female voters and rallies in cities around the country.
In Isfahan, video from a rally for one candidate, Dr. MasoudPezeshkian, showed an 18-year-old girl, her long black hair flowing around her shoulders, taking the microphone. She said she represented the young generation and first-time voters, the generation that stands up for its demands, and asked, “Do you have the power to confront the morality police, the hijab monitors and the autonomous security forces?”
Pezeshkian is the lone candidate for the reform faction, which favors more social openness and engagement with the West. He has been the most forceful voice against the mandatory hijab and the morality police, and the only candidate to clearly say he opposes telling anyone how to dress.
“We will not be able to force women to wear the hijab,” he said during the debate on Friday. “Will arrests, confrontations and shameful behavior resolve this issue?”
Not all female voters are convinced that a change is coming. Even with the condemnations by the candidates, the morality police still patrol the streets around Tehran and other big cities daily with vans and police cars. They sometimes stop women and give them a verbal notice, and sometimes they arrest them. Several videos on social media have shown women being beaten and dragged into vans.
“I don’t believe them. The president has no authority over this issue because it’s a red line for the Islamic Republic,” Sephideh, a 32-year-old teacher from Tehran, said in a telephone interview, asking that her last name not be published to avoid possible retribution. “But in previous elections, the issue of hijab was abandoned, and now they are all talking about it,” she added, concluding that women’s struggle “will win.”
Iranian women who do not believe in wearing hijab have been fighting the law for as long as it has existed since after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Back then, clerics who toppled the monarchy imposed Islamic sharia laws on all aspects of social life, from women’s attire to mingling of genders and drinking alcohol.
The Women, Life, Freedom movement began in 2022 after the death of MahsaAmini, 22, in the custody of the morality police, who had arrested her on accusations of violating the hijab law. Outraged women and girls led nationwide protests burning their headscarves, dancing in the streets and chanting for women to be free. The uprising spread in scope, with demands for an end to clerical rule. The government ultimately crushed the protests with violence.
In December, Iran announced it had abolished the morality police but then put them back on the streets in April, after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, said that observing the hijab law was a moral and political obligation.
Iran’s parliament has been working on legislation that would impose punitive damages on women who disobey the rules, including denying them social services, imposing travel bans and permitting the judiciary to withdraw funds from their bank accounts.
Pourmohammadi, the cleric candidate, said during one debate that if elected, he would repeal the legislation. Gen. Mohammad BaqerGhalibaf, the front-runner conservative candidate and current speaker of the parliament, said in the debate that the legislation still needed work and that “you cannot achieve anything with violence, tension and without respect — all of this is condemned.”
In recent months, facial recognition software, both in traffic surveillance cameras and drones, has been used to identify hijab scofflaws, who then are texted a summons to appear in court, according to three women interviewed who had received such messages and a report by Amnesty International.
Nahid, 62, a resident of Tehran who did not want her last name published for fear of retribution, said that when she was summoned the judge showed her a photograph of her near a mall, her blond hair uncovered, and that she was fined.
Another woman, Minoo, 52, who wears hijab, said in an interview that her car had been confiscated for two weeks because traffic cameras caught her 20-year-old daughter driving while not wearing one. She said the police had also made her pay the parking fee for the impounded car.
Enforcement of the law has brought widespread condemnation abroad from rights groups and Western countries.
A teenager on her way to school in October collapsed in the subway, after reports of an argument with a hijab police officer, and died in the hospital.
Fahimeh, a 41-year-old fashion blogger, said in an interview in Tehran that whoever becomes the next president would have no bearing on the fight for more rights. “We women don’t wait for their permission to remove our hijab; right now already, many don’t wear hijab.”
NargesMohammadi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who is the most prominent women’s rights activist in Iran and currently serving a 10-year prison sentence, issued a statement on Saturday describing the election as a sham.
“How can you, while holding a sword, gallows, weapons and prisons against the people with one hand, place a ballot box in front of the same people with the other hand, and deceitfully and falsely call them to the polls?” Mohammadi said.
Source: ekathimerini.com
https://www.ekathimerini.com/nytimes/1242355/irans-onerous-hijab-law-for-women-is-now-a-campaign-issue/
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Iranian Wrestling Federation's Women's Camp Raises Questions
JUNE 25, 2024
AlirezaDabir, the federation's president, has organized a women's wrestling training camp. However, the structure of the camp raises questions about the federation's motives, sources within the Iranian Wrestling Federation revealed to IranWire.
Dabir aims to both secure additional funding and attract attention from the World Wrestling Federation.
According to an insider at the federation, the camp's structure deviates significantly from standard practices.
Traditionally, multiple wrestlers are invited for each weight class to ensure proper training.
However, this camp has invited only one female wrestler per weight class, forcing participants to practice with opponents from higher or lower weight categories due to the lack of suitable training partners.
Iranian media, citing the wrestling federation's public relations department, announced the preparation camp for Iran's national women's wrestling team.
IranWire's source highlighted concerns about the selection criteria for coaches, suggesting that "non-technical criteria" were prioritized in some appointments.
According to the source, the selection process is not based on a coach's "number of champion students" but on criteria determined by the head of the wrestling federation.
These criteria are not unique to wrestling, similar policies are seen in other sports federations, such as football.
In wrestling, unlike team sports such as football and volleyball, the primary criterion for choosing the head coach of the national teams is the number of athletes the coaches discovered or brought to the championship level.
The Islamic Republic does not permit Iranian women to work professionally in wrestling.
However, to avoid the suspension of the sport, the wrestling federation has initiated Alysh wrestling for women.
This discipline is similar to judo, allowing women to compete while wearing a mandatory Islamic hijab.
According to International Olympic Committee (IOC) regulations, all sports federations worldwide must permit women to work professionally in their respective fields.
Consequently, Iran's boxing, wrestling, and weightlifting disciplines were compelled to issue limited licenses for women's activities to prevent suspension.
The Iranian Wrestling Federation organizes short-term camps for some female wrestlers to demonstrate the extent of its activities to international bodies.
The primary objective of these camps is to publish news about the girls' camps, collect their photos, and send them to international institutions.
AlirezaDabir aims to use the current Iranian wrestling girls' camp to meet these goals.
The IranWire source pointed out that having a girl in the 60 kg category train with girls in the 65 or 70 kg category is not only technically ineffective but also increases the risk of injury.
The source argued that the federation views the girls in this camp merely as tools to achieve its objectives.
The issue of budget allocation was also underlined. The wrestling federation has previously requested large budgets from the Ministry of Sports, the Olympic Committee, and even Tehran Municipality by inflating actual costs.
The source stated that these camps, which are not scheduled around international competitions, lack technical justification.
Source: iranwire.com
https://iranwire.com/en/sports/131022-iranian-wrestling-federations-womens-camp-raises-questions/
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European Bank (EBRD) Promotes Egyptian Women Entrepreneurs
25 Jun 2024
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is boosting its support for women entrepreneurs in Egypt, with a loan of EGP 700 million (€13.2 million equivalent) to Tasaheel for Financing (Tasaheel), Egypt’s largest lender to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
Under the EBRD’s Women in Business programme, the loan will help increase access to finance for privately owned, women-led MSMEs, with a focus on regions outside Greater Cairo and Alexandria that are underserved by the banking sector. Alongside the loan, the EBRD will provide Tasaheel with a comprehensive technical cooperation package that will help introduce new financial products, tailored to the needs of women-led MSMEs, and improve access to finance. It will also include capacity-building activities for specialised lending and monitoring.
The EBRD’s Women in Business programme promotes the participation of women in the economy and provides financial, advisory, training and mentoring support to women entrepreneurs. The programme, which covers most sectors and industries, focuses on women-led small businesses with fewer than 250 employees and less than €50 million in annual turnover. This loan marks the EBRD’s third engagement in Egypt’s microfinance sector.
Tasaheel, a subsidiary of MNT Halan, is Egypt’s largest microfinance institution and a non-bank SME lender with a market share of approximately 26 per cent in the microfinance sector. Since its establishment in 2015, Tasaheel has continually enhanced its lending strategies and diversified its portfolio. The company began its digital transformation in 2020 and added SME financing services in 2021. Tasaheel operates in 25 governorates, with more than 700 branches and a commitment to the economic and social empowerment of women. It has served 2.2 million customers, with women accounting for approximately 62 per cent of the company’s clientele.
Tasaheel aligns with MNT Halan’s mission by prioritising financial services and tailored products for underbanked segments. The company focuses on fostering inclusion through empowerment, helping low-income earners and marginalised communities to generate higher incomes, improve their living standards, and support the development and economic growth of the wider community.
Egypt is a founding member of the EBRD.
Since the start of the Bank’s operations there in 2012, the EBRD has invested
almost €11.9 billion in 178 projects in the country. The EBRD’s areas of
investment include the financial sector, agribusiness, and manufacturing and
services, as well as infrastructure projects such as power, municipal water and
wastewater services, and contributions to the upgrade of transport services.
Source: ebrd.com
https://www.ebrd.com/news/2024/ebrd-promotes-egyptian-women-entrepreneurs.html
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From Fighting Boys To Saudi Olympic History For Female Taekwondo Star
June 25, 2024
We are offering the following stories which have been selected by AFP's chief editors for re-publication as some of the best of the week. Pictures by AbdulrahmanAssiri
Saudi taekwondo standout Donia Abu Taleb had an unusual introduction to the sport: for years she trained at a boys' club because there were no girls to compete with.
Now the 27-year-old has become the first Saudi woman to qualify for the Olympics and is dreaming of bringing home the Gulf kingdom's first gold medal when she competes in Paris.
Though her smiling face today appears on posters and billboards, underscoring Saudi officials' recent push to champion women's athletics, the Jeddah native had much humbler beginnings.
"I started taekwondo when I was eight years old and there was no support like now," Abu Taleb, who also has a law degree, told AFP after a recent training session in the southern mountain city of Abha.
"I always played with the boys in the boys' centre, originally without girls. I used to wear a head-covering on my hair so as not to show that I was a girl."
Facing off against boys, she added, "distinguished me and made me strong... I love the challenge".
For many decades, Saudi Arabia's restrictions on women's rights extended to their participation in sports, even as spectators.
While privileged Saudi women could compete in tennis and even football in private compounds, there was limited official backing for women in other sports.
In 2012 in London, judo athlete WojdanShaherkani became the first Saudi woman to compete at the Olympics thanks to a special invitation from the International Olympic Committee.
Her historic debut lasted just 82 seconds, as she was beaten in the first round.
US-born Sarah Attar, another invitee, finished a distant last in her 800m heat on the track.
Attar was one of four Saudi women to compete as wildcards at the 2016 Olympics, and they were followed by two more at Tokyo 2020.
But Abu Taleb is the first to qualify by right.
Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi's de facto ruler who became heir to the throne in 2017, Riyadh has tried to revamp its forbidding image in part by expanding rights for women, allowing them to drive and encouraging them to work.
Authorities have also lifted a ban on women attending football stadiums and invested in developing a women's national football team.
Abu Taleb has taken advantage of the newfound state backing, bagging gold at the 2020 Arab Taekwondo Championship and bronze medals at the Asian and world championships in 2022.
Earlier this year she upgraded to gold at the Asian Taekwondo Championships.
She has high hopes for Paris, she told AFP at the Abha training centre, standing near a large banner bearing her picture.
"From the beginning, I dreamed of being a world champion, participating in the Olympics, and winning gold," she said.
To date, Saudi Arabia has won two bronze and two silver medals at the Olympics, all for men.
Abu Taleb's success at the Olympics would give added momentum to Saudi Arabia's campaign to rebrand itself as a sports hub.
The kingdom will host the 2027 Asian Cup football tournament, the 2029 Asian Winter Games and the 2034 Asian Games, and regularly holds Formula One races and heavyweight boxing title fights.
Last year it also emerged as the sole bidder to host the 2034 football World Cup, and lavished more than a billion dollars on luring top footballers to the Saudi Pro League.
Saudi Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal told AFP in 2022 that hosting an Olympics was the government's "ultimate goal".
Though she competes in a relatively low-profile event, Abu Taleb has gained officials' attention.
Saudi Arabia hired Russian coach KurbanBogdaev, who guided Tunisian Mohamed Jendoubi to silver at the Tokyo Olympics, to coach the Saudi taekwondo team.
"The first time I saw Donia, her level was low, but I saw her eager to grow and achieve," Bogdaev said, adding that he did not necessarily view her as an Olympic prospect at first.
But she "trains hard, always believes in herself, and is confident in what she can do", he added.
At the recent training session in Abhaorganised by the Saudi Taekwondo Federation, Abu Taleb, wearing a blue helmet and using a kick pad, nimbly avoided blows from athletes from Russia and Uzbekistan.
"Preparing an Olympic champion takes many years and is a state project," Shaddad Al-Omari, the federation's president, told AFP.
Abu Taleb has quickly blossomed from "an unranked athlete to a player near the top of the rankings".
As the Olympics approach, Abu Taleb is fully aware of the pressure she'll be under but insists she can handle it.
"As the first Saudi woman to qualify for the Olympics, I have reached the stage of kill or be killed," she said.
"I have reached a place where I must achieve something."
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The Barron's news department was not involved in the creation of the content above. This article was produced by AFP. For more information, go to AFP.com.
Source: barrons.com
https://www.barrons.com/news/from-fighting-boys-to-saudi-olympic-history-for-female-taekwondo-star-416c222b
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CNN Arabic and UN Women in the Arab States renew commitment to promote gender equality through 2026
June 26, 2024
Dubai, United Arab Emirates - CNN Arabic and the UN Women in the Arab States announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to renew their partnership, which began in 2022, to support the acceleration of gender balance, financial inclusion and female employment throughout the Arab States. This renewal builds on the strengths of UN Women's technical expertise and CNN Arabic's unique position as a powerful media house with widespread reach to reinforce their ongoing commitment to these crucial issues.
"A powerful two year partnership between CNN Arabic and UN Women is today celebrated, extended and expanded,” said Susanne Mikhail Eldhagen, Regional Director of UN Women in the Arab States. “Together, both entities commit to supporting a media landscape promoting women’s rights, with a focus on women’s employment. To jointly fight polarization based on misconceptions, women have long played a critical role in promoting bridge-building initiatives in their societies and beyond."
Over the past two years, this partnership has made a significant impact by adopting an evidence-based strategy and creating compelling editorial stories and videos, including an impactful commemoration of the '16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence’, which calls for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls, and amplifies the voices of domestic violence survivors and supported activists and women's organizations globally.
"Providing a platform where every voice can be heard and every story can be told is fundamental to the ethos of CNN Arabic. This partnership with UN Women in the Arab States exemplifies our commitment to this principle," added Caroline Faraj, Vice President of Arabic Services. "The initial two years of this partnership have seen consistently high levels of engagement in the stories and projects we have undertaken together, which underlines the power, relevance and importance of our collaborative efforts. These have not only resulted in impactful storytelling but have also built and strengthened new and important bridges across our communities. We are excited to continue this work and amplify even more voices across the region."
For the next two years, CNN Arabic and UN Women in the Arab States will continue to focus on developing and sharing high-quality, data-driven content and engage in various strategic events and campaigns that underscore the importance of women's economic empowerment and their integral involvement in peace and security matters.
The collaboration will also include capacity development and training initiatives for internal and external stakeholders, including UN Women’s staff and women journalists in the region, joint activity and knowledge-sharing products that aim to further enhance the visibility and influence of gender equality narratives across the Arab States.
Source: zawya.com
https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/companies-news/cnn-arabic-and-un-women-in-the-arab-states-renew-commitment-to-promote-gender-equality-through-2026-qm9wggsx
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/bombay-hc-students-hijab-naqab-ban/d/132580