eShe, Independent Woman Magazine, Organised ‘Indo-Pak Peace Summit Led By Women’, Focussing On Shared Heritage, Art and Culture
New
Age Islam News Bureau
20
January 2021
• Painting
Inspires Afghan Girls To Break Through Confinements Of Tradition
• France:
Proposal To Ban Islamic Veil Sparks Criticism
• Saudi
Arabia Hosts “Women In Industry” Conference
• Women
Add $5 Trillion To Global Wealth And Control 32% Of Wealth: Experts
• Yemeni
Activists Slam New Government For Lack Of Female Representation
• Somali
PM Reserves 30% Of Parliament Seats For Women In Upcoming Poll
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/eshe-independent-woman-magazine-organised/d/124109
--------
eShe, Independent Woman Magazine, Organised ‘Indo-Pak Peace Summit Led By Women’, Focussing On Shared Heritage,
Art and Culture
Jan
17, 2021
A
two-day women-led Indo-Pak Peace Summit kicks off this weekend to celebrate
heritage, brainstorm solutions for peace in South Asia
-----
BATHINDA:
Taking ahead the peace process between India and Pakistan by the activists of
many shades, independent woman magazine eShe organised ‘Indo-Pak Peace Summit
led by women’. Over 40 accomplished women from various shades of life came
together in virtual summit to share their experiences and brainstorm for
practicable solutions to build lasting peace in South Asia.
In a
different kind of initiative involving only women, talks were held by peace
activists from South Asia apart from Nobel Peace Prize nominee Scilla Elworthy
as filmmakers, global youth activists, writers, designers joined hands.
Aekta
Kapoor, founder and editor of eShe, said “It is time to take practical steps to
foster friendships, collaborations and harmony in neighbouring countries.
Through this summit we not want to indulge only in hollow promises but it is
about brilliant minds who are actually creating value in their own fields
coming together to build peace and women are usually inclined to think in terms
of cooperation, sustainability and building relationships”.
The
Summit focussed on celebrating the shared heritage of India and Pakistan,
channelling the energy of women and youth, and giving a platform to new
approaches in literature, art, culture, design, cinema and youth activism.
"Despite
many things in common there are different priorities on both sides of the fence
as Jinnah has been valourised on one side of the border and villianised on the
other side", said panellist Sheela Reddy.
"Everyone
tends to stereotype Punjab as a place that has only agriculture and no culture
and no intellectual capital. That's not true as Lahore was once the cultural
capital of India. Manjha house, a public space for literature and culture, was
an effort to put Punjab centre stage again", said Preeti Gill.
"As
a couple we have rejected all interviews and documentary requests (to cover the
story of our interfaith marriage). We decided that we won't do numaish but the
last 3 months, especially after the new laws in UP criminalizing interfaith
love, now it's out of necessity. We will stand on the pedestal if required and
tell the story", said filmmaker Natasha Badhwar.
"At
times, (while researching for my book), it would have been easier to just cross
to the other side of the Indus but owing to the presence of Line of Control, I
had to go down to Lahore, cross at Wagah, and go up again to the same spot
across the river", said Alice Albania, author of the book Empires of the
Indus.
"I
feel such a sense of loss and wistfulness at the idea when people travel across
countries in their region without passports in South East Asia. Hope it won't
remain a dream but happens in reality (for South Asia)", said writer Moni
Mohsin.
"The
export ban affected us as we could only sell from the existing stock at the
store. However, our partners played a very important role in establishing the
sentiment of wearing Indian contour", said Sanya Dhir.
Activist
Devika Mittal shed light on the earnest efforts through peace calendars being
made by Aaghaz-e-Dosti involving students from both sides.
Art
educator Tooba Tahir apprised about self healing project, political cartoonist
Saadia Gardezi, who is associated with project Daastan that reconnects
partition survivors to their ancestral homes using technology apprised about
the project.
"Shaadi
songs are the same. No matter how much rage or your politics, even at the
zenith of conflicts, you will rarely find a Pakistani wedding without Indian
songs", said Natasha Noorani adding my dream is to make an India tour with
Pakistani musicians".
Royal
families are preservers of the subcontinent culture. In Pakistan, the royal
culture is pushed under the carpet" said Anshu Khanna
"Pakistan
artisans are at a level. They are internationally acclaimed. Exposure of each
other's art is required on both sides of the border", said Vaishnavi.
"When
we were on our way to Hingalaj, Balochistan, we were stopped at the checkpoint
by officers. They asked us what we are going, we said we are going to
"Naani ka mandir" (grandmother's temple) which is what it is known
as. They said - "Naani ko humara salaam dena", said writer Reema
Abbasi., telling about her book historic temples in Pakistan.
"We
are not going to manage a conflict free society - that's a Utopian dream. But
are we equipped with conflict resolution, can we talk through it", said
Avni Sethi.
"Women
who build peace today are rebellious women", Meenakshi Gopinath.
"I
first recited this sanskrit verse (on Goddess Saraswati) in a jam-packed hall
in Islamabad, which is a beautiful city, media reports didn't do justice to the
envisage we received there! There was so much love and acceptance from
Pakistan, the people opened up to us and welcomed us with open arms", said
Suparna Chadda
"In
2007, I got a fellowship, from the Asian fellowship foundation - I had the
choice to of going anywhere in Asia to study, and I chose to go to India
obviously! I wanted to research the revival of crafts after colonialisation. I
knew the revival had been taking place in Pakistan and I was curious to know
about India", spoke Amna Sharif.
My
art work of 2 degrees talks about rivers, we have shared rivers, water being
the same, trans-boundary agreements can be ways of having conversations",
Reena Saini Kallat, spanning drawing artist, sculptor who showcased art works
including gate dividing India-Pakistan.
"What
strikes me is that we have art, culture, shared history, heritage, common
problems, but you are letting politics supersede everything. Politics though
divides yet people project moon as saying goes ‘Chand mein bhi daag hai, but
chand toh ye nahi kehta ki main aaj raat ko nahi niklunga’ said Mehr F Hussain
"The
border is only and only and totally political", Ritu Khandelwal.
“Through
the immigration process, I was exposed to lives of people who are not
privileged - people whose families are across the border. For me partition
happened when I landed in India (after marriage)", told Masooma Syed.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/accomplished-women-bare-out-their-minds-for-peace-between-india-pakistan-focussing-on-shared-heritage-art-culture/articleshow/80313494.cms
--------
Painting
Inspires Afghan Girls To Break Through Confinements Of Tradition
2021-01-19
by
Abdul Haleem
Afghan
girls learn painting at an “Art House for Women” managed by artist Hafiza
Mohammadi in Mazar-i-Sharif, capital of northern Balkh province, Afghanistan,
Dec. 18, 2020. (Photo by Kawa Basharat/Xinhua/ians)
-----
MAZAR-E-SHARIF,
Afghanistan, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- "My prime objective is to portray the
suffering of my fellow Afghans in paintings and exhibit them to highlight the
pains of the war-weary people," said Hafiza Mohammadi.
Dressed
in a style mixing Western and traditional features, drawing picture of a
Western-styled girl in her rented office, Mohammadi said that girls in
Afghanistan should have the right to choose how to dress and live for
themselves.
In
the conservative Afghan society where people especially in the countryside
deeply believe in old-fashioned traditions, women and girls are not allowed to
wear Western-style cloths, nor to go to school.
Women
and girls living in Afghanistan's rural areas even cannot go outside home
unless they are accompanied by a close male relative.
Describing
Afghanistan as a traditionalist and militancy-plagued society, fine artist
Mohammadi believes that her paintings and painting exhibitions would help
gradually change people's mindset towards modernism.
"Through
painting and arranging exhibitions, I like to display the problems and pains of
people particularly women and girls have faced in society," Mohammadi told
Xinhua recently.
Young
people, especially girls in the relatively peaceful Mazar-e-Sharif city,
welcome fine art and have approached her to learn, she said.
"Many
people, especially the women and girls are interested in learning painting, but
unfortunately many parents do not allow their girls to come out of their homes
to learn the art due to cultural barriers and security incidents," the
ambitious female Afghan painter said.
To
win parents' support and assure them of their girls' safety in painting
classes, Mohammadi has rented a house in the city's safe area and turned it
into an "Art House for Women" for her teaching.
"A
number of talented girls have been learning the art of painting in the 'Art
House for Women' and some have become skilled painters to display the miseries
of people especially of women with their paintings," said Mohammadi
happily.
The
war-weary Afghans have suffered a lot over the past more than four decades of
war, Mohammadi said, suggesting that a painter is in a good position to portray
the outcomes of war, which is nothing more than killing, crippling of the
people and destruction of the country.
"It
is my dream to highlight the problems of women and those who have been disabled
due to the protracted war. Today I'm able to fulfill this dream," Habiba
Yusufi, a third-year student of fine art who often attends Mohammadi's classes
at the Art House for Women, told Xinhua.
Yusufi
said that working as a painter, especially for women, is difficult in
Afghanistan's conservative society.
Nevertheless,
she believes that the "struggle to overcome challenges empowers you"
to achieve your noble goals.
"Although
our families didn't allow us to come out of house and opposed the girls to
study or work outside home, we resisted and continued to learn painting,"
said another junior painter Sajida Hekmatzada.
"Today
I and some of my classmates are professional painters and our paintings have
been displayed in some exhibitions," she said happily. Enditem
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-01/19/c_139681065.htm
--------
France:
Proposal To Ban Islamic Veil Sparks Criticism
Shweta
Desai
20.01.2021
PARIS
An
ongoing debate on the controversial draft of a "separatism" bill has
sparked criticism, resulted in a diversion, dividing the house on the question
of veil, whether to include amendments to ban veiled students at the university
and accompanying parents from displaying any religious symbols at school
premises.
Several
parliamentarians on Tuesday have deemed the move to be counterproductive.
Sacha
Houlie, a member of President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist liberal La Republique
En Marche party, warned that prohibiting university students and accompanying
parents from public services and school trips, and preventing their
participation in cultural and sporting activities would "be totally
counterproductive in relation to the very objective of this text which fought
against the separatists" and "would refer these people to their
identity" so "would favor the community withdrawal."
Boris
Vallaud, a member of the Socialist Party also reacted: “Students are users of
the public service, this secularism does not apply to them."
“To
ban the veil at the university would be to say that all women who wear the veil
pose a problem, which would mean we consider that it is Islam which poses a
problem," said Pierre Yves Bournazel, an Act Together party member
representing Paris.
A
2004 law prohibits the wearing or open display of religious symbols in all
French schools, but it does not apply to universities. There is no law banning
mothers from wearing the hijab on school trips, but there have been several
instances when veiled women were verbally abused or asked to not accompany
their wards.
The
discussion was ignited by right wing and conservative Republican party member
Eric Ciotti’s demand on Tuesday to ban the Islamic veil at the university. “We
cannot tolerate that the university, temple of the knowledge of reason and
science, can tolerate a garment of enslavement of the woman within it,’’ he
told the hearing by the special commission examining the text of the bill
“confirming respect for the principles of the Republic” at the National
Assembly.
The
government says the bill presented to the Council of Ministers on Dec. 9 aims
to fight “separatism” and radicalization by a series of provisions such as
banning polygamy or forced marriages, virginity certificates, homeschooling,
controlling foreign funding, making places of worship more transparent,
proscribing political meetings in a religious building, fighting against online
hate speech and illegal content, among others.
Around
1,700 amendments were presented for discussion ahead of the examination of the
bill which began on Monday, majority of which were labelled as “inadmissible”.
This included an amendment by Aurore Berge and Jean-Baptiste Moreau, members of
Macron’s party, to ban the wearing of the veil for "little girls" and
mothers accompanying school trips, which was eventually rejected.
In a
comment to the French daily Le Express, Berge said she stood by her suggestion,
adding: “Supporting the improvement of access to abortion and fighting against
the veiling of young girls are part of the same fight for the emancipation of
women. You cannot be a variable-geometry feminist, or only be one when the battle
is on."
Earlier,
Macron had warned over such amendments that there was a probable “danger to
divert the debate on this question which has no place today” and it had
"no relation with the bill”.
“And
this can lead to a stigmatization of Muslims, while we have repeatedly said it
was not a text against the Muslim religion,” the daily Le Parisien quoted him
as saying at a seminar last week.
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/france-proposal-to-ban-islamic-veil-sparks-criticism/2116269
--------
Saudi
Arabia Hosts “Women In Industry” Conference
20.01.2021
As
Saudi Arabia continues working on empowering women across industries, it has
been witnessing the fruition of its efforts across the board, from the increase
in women’s contribution to the Kingdom’s economy, to their increased presence
in various sectors, to more women taking on leadership roles. Last week, as
part of its ongoing efforts, the Kingdom hosted a conference entitled “Women in
Industry,” designed to provide job and networking opportunities for women, as
well as support their employment in various industrial sectors.
The
event was launched by the Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology
Zones (MODON) under the patronage of Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources
Bandar Al-Khorayef, and was hosted in the capital city, Riyadh. In the agenda
were a number of key matters such as the development of suitable work
environments for women, the achievement of overall sustainable economic
development, and the empowerment of women by public and private organizations,
amongst other objectives.
Over
the past few years, Saudi Arabia has expedited its efforts towards supporting
women’s inclusion and active participation in the labor market, through various
reforms, initiatives, programs, and more. For instance, on the sidelines of the
2020 edition of Forum for Empowering Women in the Communications and
Information Technology Sector, a milestone program was launched entitled the
Women Empowerment Program. This initiative focuses on highlighting the contributions
and accomplishments of Saudi women in the field of communications and
information technology, and aims to nurture a system that attracts and supports
the right skills for the industry, build a competitive and sustainable sector,
and create more work opportunities for women in the field.
Beyond
industry, women’s participation in society has been a primary focus as well in
Saudi Arabia, such as in the field of sports where the percentage of women
participating has jumped to a staggering 70 percent in just a few years.
Indeed, last year’s G20 summit, under Saudi Arabia’s presidency, coincided with
the launch of the first Women’s Football League (WFL) in the Kingdom, marking a
key achievement for the country and its women.
https://www.abouther.com/node/35326/people/events/saudi-arabia-hosts-%E2%80%9Cwomen-industry%E2%80%9D-conference
--------
Women
Add $5 Trillion To Global Wealth And Control 32% Of Wealth: Experts
January
20, 2021
DUBAI,
UAE — Legal and social barriers that exist for women’s access to jobs is
costing the MENA region $575 billion. According to a survey done by global
accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), only 56 percent of women felt
they were treated equally to men when it came to promotions (55 percent in KSA
and Egypt and 66 percent in UAE).
Women
entrepreneurs add $5 trillion to global wealth pool every year and currently
control 32 percent of the global wealth, according to a latest research by
Boston Consulting Group that reflects a growing influence of the women
entrepreneurs in the corporate world.
“With
a third of the world’s wealth under their control, women have become a sizable
economic force. They are increasing their wealth faster than before — adding $5
trillion to the wealth pool globally every year — and outpacing the growth of
the wealth market overall,” Boston Consulting Group (BCG) says.
Women
influence 85 percent purchase decisions in the retail sector. However, only
12.5 percent of apparel and retail companies in the Fortune 1000 list are led
by women, which needs to change, experts at the Images RetailME’s Virtual
Roundtable 7.0, titled ‘She Means Business’, said.
Justina
Eitzinger, chief operating officer of Images RetailME, said, “Women constitute
70 percent of the UAE’s university graduates and 44 percent of the total
workforce. The socio-economic conditions create the perfect environment for
women entrepreneurship and we have seen how a number of women have come up in
the business and corporate world.
“Women
are now actively participating in the start-up movement to change and disrupt
various industries by developing innovative start-ups — some of which we are
highlighting today.
“Women
are key to the UAE’s economic future. With a surge in women entrepreneur
support groups and increased funding for new businesses, there have never been
better entrepreneurial opportunities for women to start businesses in the UAE
than now.”
The
UAE business environment is committed to driving equality in the business
world. It recognizes greater gender equality than any other country in the MENA
region.
The
UAE government is driving initiatives to address gender equality in the
workforce directly. It pledged $50 million to the Women Entrepreneurs Finance
Initiative fund in 2017, leading to the closure of 64 percent of the overall
gender gap in the UAE workforce.
Gender
equality is one of the UAE government’s declared sustainable development goals
so that it becomes one of the top 25 countries in the world for gender equality
by 2021.
Moderated
by Shruthi Nair, executive editor of Retail ME, the Virtual Roundtable was
addressed by Kalika Tripathi, head of marketing – MENA Region, Visa, Sara Al
Madani, chief executive officer and co-founder of Halahi.com, Halima Jumani,
director of Kibsons and Donna Benton, founder and chief executive officer of
Caha Capo.
Despite
the increasing power of their purse strings, however, women remain largely
underserved by the wealth management community. Too many banks and firms rely
on broad assumptions about what women are looking for, resulting in products,
services, and messaging that can feel superficial at best and condescending at
worst, it said.
“Women
are amassing greater wealth than before, and that share is likely to grow
significantly in the years ahead. From 2016 to 2019, women accumulated wealth
at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.1 percent. Over the next four
years, that rate will accelerate to 7.2 percent. BCG’s analysis finds that
women are adding $5 trillion to the wealth pool globally every year — faster
than in years past. With future growth expected to accelerate, that tally will
get even larger,” it said.
Apart
from addressing the pressing issue of gender gap in business, the health of the
region’s retail sector and predictions for 2021 was also a key theme during the
webinar. According to the panelists, this crisis added a significant number of
‘first-timers’ for various categories including shopping, entertainment, and
services across the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa markets.
Tripathi
said, “As much as 90 percent of companies surveyed by Visa in the UAE expect
that business will return to normalcy in 2021. Almost 60 percent of businesses
in the UAE are adapting to a changing environment, our research shows.
“And
that goes back to the fact that it's not a one-time change. It’s a step change
and it’s going to take time to really get to where the customer wants us to,
and the moment we get there, they will want something more, so it’s a
continuous investment.
“41
percent of businesses surveyed in the UAE said they plan to increase the
investment in 2021, even though most of them don't expect to get it back to
pre-COVID levels. So it's going to be a year of investment in new digital
payment technologies. That's one of the big trends.”
Al
Madani said, “Whatever I do in business, I try to solve a problem in society.
Getting investment wasn’t a problem — as there are investors who have been
investing in businesses that solve a social or economic problem.
I had
to shut down some of my businesses, transform some others and I created new
businesses to diversify my portfolio. You need to be open to change businesses
to fit to the new realities. You can’t be rigid and stay the same way.”
Speaking
of gender barriers, she said, “We all know that it’s a man’s world. However, it
is a mindset — girls have been raised with the notion that it’s a man’s world
and that needs to change first,” she said.
According
to Alpen Capital, the GCC retail sector is projected to grow at a CAGR of 4.0
percent from $253.2 billion (Dh929.24 billion) in 2018 to $308 billion (Dh1.13
trillion) in 2023. Retail sales have been under pressure in the recent years
but are estimated to recover and grow through 2023.
Jumani
said, “We have suddenly found a huge amount of empathy within the team, during
the pandemic. Most team members started to work extra hours — during the
pandemic. Our structure, empathy and agility have been tested during the
pandemic and we handled it well”.
In
2021 the bigger brick-and-mortar retailers made many changes to their business
model having understood the potential of e-commerce, organic supplies, loyalty
and innovation. Did that put added pressure of increased competition for
Kibsons?
“We
don’t see any of the brick-and-mortar supermarket retailers as our competition
because we are very different. We have always been about healthy eating, great
quality, and affordable value. We are helping our customers find things that
you wouldn’t find in a normal supermarket to live a healthy life”, she said.
Benton,
the co-founder and CEO of The Benton Group that recently sold The Entertainer
app, has launched her swimwear brand Caha Capo. “With The Entertainer we had
over 300 staff, 15 countries and we grew over 18 years into this multi-million
dollar company.
“Caha
Capo is a startup and we are facing the initial setting up challenges. However,
what we need to understand is that there are still people with money. People
pay for what they get, when they come to us and buy something.”
“I
think 2022 is the year for results and 2021 is the year for investments and
survival and the vision and the expansion and that’s what we need to focus on,”
she concluded. — SG
https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/602688/BUSINESS/Women-add-$5-trillion-to-global-wealth-and-control-32-of-wealth-Experts
--------
Yemeni
Activists Slam New Government For Lack Of Female Representation
28
DEC 2020
The
war-torn country announced a power-sharing government this weekend, but it
excludes women for the first time in 20 years.
Yemeni
women’s activists denounced the new power-sharing government in Yemen over its
omittance of women for the first time in two decades.
In
December, a feminist movement launched a campaign on social media titled, “No
Women, No Government”, which described this action as an "unfair
discrimination against women’s rights to political participation".
"While
we appreciate the formation of the government as a fruit of consensus among
Yemeni political powers in the Riyadh agreement, we denounce women's exclusion
from the government," it added in the statement signed by over 70 youth
and women’s networks.
The
government was sworn in on Saturday with a 24-member cabinet representing major
political blocs in Yemen, headed by Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik.
The
formation of the government is part of an effort to end a power struggle
between the Saudi-backed government of Abdrabbu Mansur Hadi, and the UAE-backed
separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), both officially in coalition
against the Iran-backed Houthis. The rivalry between the two Gulf powers has
complicated international efforts to end the Yemen war, which has raged since
2014.
Further
challenges
The
women’s groups stated that the lack of women in the new cabinet violated the
National Dialogue Conference, which convened from 2013 to 2014, and the results
of which were to be the basis of the constitution. The signed document put a 30
percent quota for women in government.
Anadolu
Agency also reported objections to the cabinet from within, including 12
lawmakers from the Tihama region who, in a written letter, opposed the
formation of a new government without a minister from their region, which
includes the provinces of Hudaida, Rayma, Mahwit and Hajjah. Hudaida, the main
port city in Yemen, is the entryway for over 70 percent of food, humanitarian
supplies, and other goods entering the country. It was the site of a major
struggle between the Saudi-led coalition and Iran-backed Houthis in 2018,
deeping the humanitarian crisis in the country.
The
new Minister of Local Administration, Hussain Abdul Rahman, also reportedly
refused to travel to Riyadh to take his oath before President Mansur Hadi, in
accordance with the Riyadh Agreement, which states that the ministers were to
be sworn in before the president in the southern Yemeni city of Aden.
Reviving
the Riyadh Agreement
The
government was formed under the Saudi-initiated Riyadh Agreement, which was
signed between the internationally-recognised government and the STC in
November 2019, after weeks of bloody clashes between the two sides.
The
aims of the deal were twofold: to put an end to the military confrontations and
help overcome Saudi-UAE differences in Yemen and strengthen strategic relations
to “re-focus efforts on bringing an end to the conflict with the Iran-backed
Houthis”.
According
to the deal, a new government would be formed in Aden, and all military forces
would be integrated into the unified defence and interior ministries. The
agreement also stated a desire to “revive the role of all state institutions,
create job opportunities for Yemenis, ensure payment of overdue salaries, increase
the capabilities of state institutions...[ensure that] all state revenues
(including oil exports, customs, etc.)...be deposited in the central bank of
Aden” and other other civil, social, and economic stipulations.
Experts
thought the agreement’s vague language would make its implementation
challenging.
And
it was not implemented.
In
April 2020, the STC declared self rule, and a series of negotiations in the
following months led to a reactivation of the deal in July. On December 10, the
coalition announced that the parties that signed the Riyadh Agreement had
agreed to form a new government.
Despite
the formation of the government many political, economic, social and civic
hurdles remain: hundreds took to the street in the southern city of Taiz on December
19 in a “revolution of the hungry” to protest a deteriorating currency and
economy; the Hadi government, whom they accused of living in Saudi hotels
distant from the struggles of ordinary citizens; the Saudi-led coalition; and
the Houthis.
Both
the Saudi-led coalition and the Iran-backed Houthis have been accused of war
crimes, as civilians continue to bear the brunt of the devastating war. Yemen,
one of the poorest countries in the world, has been embroiled in conflict since
2014 and has seen an estimated 233,000 deaths, including over 130,000 from
indirect causes like starvation, lack of health services and infrastructure.
https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/yemeni-activists-slam-new-government-for-lack-of-female-representation-42750
--------
Somali
PM Reserves 30% Of Parliament Seats For Women In Upcoming Poll
JANUARY
11, 2021
GAROWE,
Somalia, Jan 11 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - N early a third of Somalia’s
parliamentary seats will be reserved for female lawmakers in an election next
month, the prime minister said, a measure long demanded by women’s rights
campaigners in the Horn of Africa nation.
While
welcoming Saturday’s announcement by Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble, some
women’s groups cautioned that implementing the measure in time for the Feb. 8
poll would be challenging and depended on the commitment of clan leaders.
Somalia
has been riven by civil war since 1991, and due to the fragile security
situation, elections consist of clan delegates choosing members of parliament
as opposed to a one-person, one-vote electoral system.
Roble
made the quota pledge after talks with female lawmakers - who currently hold
24% of the 329 seats in Somalia’s lower and upper houses of parliament,
according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
“Somalia
Prime Minster his Excellency @MohamedHRoble assured that the Federal Government
of #Somalia is committed to ensuring a 30% quota for women in both houses of
Somali parliament for the upcoming elections ...,” government spokesman Mohamed
Ibrahim Moalimuu said on Twitter on Sunday.
Ensuring
that clan leaders nominate enough women representatives will be vital to
securing the full 30% quota, women’s activists said.
“The
seats are shared among clans ... we want assurances that we will reach our
target of 30% women in the next parliament,” said Suad Salah, co-founder of
LeadNow, a grassroots movement aimed at increasing women’s political voice.
Somalia
has high rates of child marriage and gender violence, including rape and female
genital mutilation (FGM). The United Nations says 45% of women are married
before 18, while 98% have undergone FGM.
Women’s
rights groups say a stronger voice at the top would have a trickle-down effect,
helping women at the grassroots level fight abuse, discrimination and
inequality.
Ruqiya
Muhiyadin, 38, who is aspiring to run as a candidate in the capital, Mogadishu,
also expressed concern over whether the clan leaders would choose women
candidates.
"Initially
we doubted we would get our share in the next parliament. I appeal for our
cultural leaders to consider the PM's latest pledge for women." (Reporting
by Mohammed Omer; Writing by Nita Bhalla; Editing by Helen Popper. Please
credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters,
that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or
fairly. Visit news.trust.org)
https://www.reuters.com/article/somalia-women-election-idAFL4N2JM1C4
--------
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/eshe-independent-woman-magazine-organised/d/124109
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism