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Islam, Women and Feminism ( 26 Jan 2021, NewAgeIslam.Com)

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Hillary And Chelsea Clinton To Produce Series On Kurdish Female Fighters

New Age Islam News Bureau

26 January 2021

• Shihana Alazzaz, The Public Investment Fund Executive Making Saudi Women Proud

• Zahra Badri, the Houston Woman Faces Historic Indictment Over Female Genital Cutting

• Swiss Voters Favour ‘Burqa Ban’, Poll Shows Ahead Of Public Vote

• NCW Issues 2nd Edition Of Egypt's Full Women Policy Tracker On Responsive Programs Amid Pandemic

• Small Scale Women Farmers Association of Nigeria Seek Security From Federal Government

Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau

URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/hillary-chelsea-clinton-produce-series/d/124150

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Hillary And Chelsea Clinton To Produce Series On Kurdish Female Fighters

January 26, 2021

Behind the camera: Hillary and Chelsea Clinton are set to produce a TV show about an all-female militia unit that helped to defeat ISIS in Syria

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DUBAI: Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s new production company, HiddenLight Productions, has acquired the adaptation rights of the Kurdish drama “The Daughters of Kobani: A Story of Rebellion, Courage, and Justice.”

The upcoming series is originally a book, which is expected to be published on Feb. 16, by best-selling US author Gayle Tzemach Lemmon. It tells the story of an all-women Kurdish unit who took on Daesh in the Northern Syrian town of Kobani and won.

According to Deadline, the former first lady said: “‘The Daughters of Kobani’ is an extraordinary account of brave, defiant women fighting for justice and equality.

“We created HiddenLight to celebrate heroes — sung and unsung alike — whose courage is too often overlooked, and we could not be more thrilled to bring this inspiring story to viewers around the world,” she added.

HiddenLight Productions, which was co-founded by Clinton’s daughter Chelsea and actor Sam Branson, was launched in December 2020.

The studio’s first project is a straight-to-series order for Apple TV+, “Gutsy Women,” that is hosted by the mother-and-daughter duo and inspired by their best-selling book “The Book of Gutsy Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience.”

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1798651/lifestyle

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Shihana Alazzaz, The Public Investment Fund Executive Making Saudi Women Proud

NOOR NUGALI

January 25, 2021

Shihana Alazzaz's senior position on the PIF was guarenteed - she had to fight to get to where she is today. (Supplied)

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RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s stance on women and their place in society remains firmly under the spotlight – with many questioning if anything has changed - that’s despite the countless female engineers, managers and boardroom directors that the Kingdom so proudly boasts of.

Still not convinced?

Then consider Shihana Alazzaz, the general counsel and Secretary-General to the board at the Public Investment Fund PIF – you might recognize her.

She was the woman sitting across from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as he addressed a historic meeting on Sunday night.

Women’s status in Saudi society has been on the up since the launch of Vision 2030 in 2016, enabling them to pursue professions and positions of power they had only previously dreamt of – and Alazzaz’s story acts as a beacon of this achievement.

Impressed by her credentials, many took to social media to voice their appreciation of her presence at the otherwise male-dominated table.

Twitter user @ibrahimaljallal described her as “An excellent model for Saudi women. Her competitiveness at work is the same as any man.”

Alazzaz first joined PIF as the head of transactions in the legal division in 2017.

She is now a member of the management committee at PIF, as well as other executive committees in the fund.

Alazzaz also chairs and serves on several boards and board committees of PIF portfolio companies.

Her rise to success was not an easy one.

Her father’s death in 2002 saw her in the Saudi courts at just 16-years-old where - filled with grief – she fought for her family’s inheritance.

Armed with a handwritten note by her father, she fought long and hard to fulfill her father’s final wishes - that their guardian be her mother’s brother.

Despite her hardships, she refused to be a victim, instead choosing to chase her goals, pursue her education and make her life a success.

With her mother’s support she travelled to the UK, where she achieved her bachelor’s degree in law at Durham University.

Years later in 2019 the Kingdom’s guardianship laws saw a major overhaul as part of the ongoing Vision 2030.

The changes allowed Saudi women over 21 to be allowed to apply for passports and travel freely without the permission of a male guardian.

Other changes issued in the decrees permitted women to register a marriage, divorce, or child’s birth and to be issued official family documents – and most relevantly to Alazzaz – women were equally allowed to be their children’s guardian.

Alazzaz continued with her studies and achieved her license to practice law at the Supreme Court of New York and Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Justice.

This in itself was major achievement as women lawyers were only allowed to be granted a license to practice from 2013 by the Ministry of Justice.

Non-conformity seems to have run in her family.

Her father, Saleh Alazzaz, chose an equally unconventional career path for a Saudi, as a photographer and author – both fields previously deemed taboo in the Kingdom - having dropped out of college where he was studying engineering.

He was diagnosed with cancer when he was 40-years-old – previously seen as a healthy man - his illness shocked the family – his death 18 months later left them devastated.

Saleh was celebrated for originality, his keen eye and passion - some of his most acclaimed pieces were conceived when he was ill.

Prior to joining PIF, Alazzaz was a practicing lawyer for nine years at various international law firms where she gained exposure to legal advisory services, transactions, and litigation across multiple sectors.

She has received recognition for her work locally, regionally and internationally.

She made Forbes Middle East’s 100 Most Powerful Women of 2020, and received multiple awards including Finance Monthly Deal Maker Awards 2016, and the Women in Business Law award presented by the International Financial Law Review (IFLR).

In an interview with KRCL RadioActive in 2017 Shihana said, “My role is to ensure that I’m not the only one. And to ensure that I encourage a lot of other females to pursue this convoluted path.”

“I think we’ve accomplished quite a lot in a very short period of time,” she added.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1798191/saudi-arabia

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Zahra Badri, the Houston Woman Faces Historic Indictment Over Female Genital Cutting

January 14, 2021

By Aysha Khan

A Texas woman is facing the first-ever indictment for transporting a child outside the U.S. for female genital cutting, according to federal authorities.

The indictment alleges Zahra Badri, a 39-year-old British Muslim woman residing in Houston, knowingly transported a minor from the U.S. in foreign commerce for the purpose of female genital cutting between July and October 2016.

The indictment was announced Wednesday (Jan. 13) by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. Badri is expected to appear before a U.S. magistrate judge soon.

“Female genital mutilation is child abuse,” U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick said in a statement. “The long term damage, both physically and physiologically, is well documented. Unnecessary medical procedures on children will not be tolerated.”

While female genital cutting has been illegal in the U.S. for about 25 years, officials said it was the first time the Department of Justice has brought charges against an individual under the 2013 provision that criminalizes transporting a minor outside U.S. borders for this purpose, a process sometimes called “vacation cutting.”

Female genital mutilation or cutting, also known as FGM/C or female circumcision, refers to the removal of the external female genitalia, in part or in whole, or other deliberate injury to genitalia without a medical reason. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 513,000 U.S. females — from a variety of religious and ethnic backgrounds — are at risk of undergoing cutting.

The practice is “a violation of the rights and bodily integrity of women and girls, and can have long-term physical, psychological and sexual consequences for them,” said the nonprofit group Sahiyo, founded by FGM/C survivors in 2015.

The group is particularly focused on ending the practice within the Dawoodi Bohra community, a small branch of Islam’s Ismaili Shiite minority, in which many girls are cut at about 7 years old. Female genital cutting is known as khatna or khafz among Bohras.

Female genital cutting is not mentioned in the Quran and the practice is widely condemned by most Muslims. But many Bohras consider it both a cultural norm and a religious practice. The sect’s religious authorities say that khatna is sanctioned by some of the community’s other religious texts. Sahiyo’s research suggests most Bohras believe cutting is important for religious purposes, to decrease sexual arousal and to maintain traditions.

In 2017, two Michigan doctors and six other members of the Bohra community became the first Americans prosecuted for performing or facilitating the practice, on nine girls. Federal officials believed the doctors may have been cutting girls since at least 2005.

But the following year, a U.S. District Court judge ruled the law was unconstitutional, declaring Congress lacks the authority to ban the practice at a federal level and dropping charges against the defendants in the watershed Michigan case. Several states have since passed state-level bans.

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed into law the bipartisan Strengthening the Opposition to Female Genital Mutilation Act, which gives federal law enforcement the authority to prosecute perpetrators of female genital mutilation.

The indictment against Badri, which concerned crimes allegedly committed in 2016, took place under the 2013 amendment to the original federal ban, which was not challenged in the 2018 ruling.

“In light of this indictment of the Houston woman, we strongly urge members of all FGC-practicing communities to completely abandon this age-old ritual, not just because it is illegal in the US and several other countries, but because it is harmful, patriarchal, medically unnecessary, and detrimental to the well-being of girls and women,” Sahiyo said.

https://religionnews.com/2021/01/14/houston-woman-faces-historic-indictment-over-female-genital-cutting/

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Swiss voters favour ‘burqa ban’, poll shows ahead of public vote

22 Jan 2021

A clear majority of Swiss voters favour introducing a nationwide prohibition against the wearing of full facial coverings such as burqas and niqabs in public spaces, a poll showed on Friday.

According to the Tamedia poll of 15,000 eligible voters, 63 percent of those questioned said they would vote yes or were considering voting yes in an upcoming referendum on the so-called “burqa ban”, the Tages Anzeiger newspaper reported.

The Swiss are set to vote on whether they want to ban full facial coverings in public on March 7, when they will also vote on a range of other issues as part of the country’s direct democratic system.

The text of the proposed ban does not mention Muslim veils explicitly, stating only that “no one shall cover their face in public, nor in areas accessible to the public or in areas where services are ordinarily accessible to all”.

But the proposal, which has been opposed by the Swiss government, is widely seen as targeting niqabs, burqas and other face-covering veils worn by some Muslim women.

The initiative proposes some exceptions to the ban, including in “places of worship” and for “health reasons”.

The grouping behind the proposal – the “Egerkinger Komitee” – includes members of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP). Some left-leaning politicians have also joined the campaign in the name of protecting women’s rights.

Bad idea

But the Swiss government has warned against a nationwide constitutional ban, saying this week such a move was a bad idea. Swiss Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter stressed that women wearing full facial veils were rarely seen in Switzerland.

She also said that most women seen in the country wearing such veils are tourists.

Keller-Sutter insisted the issue should be left up to Switzerland’s 26 cantons.

Two cantons, Ticino and St Gallen, have already introduced such bans, while three other cantons, Zurich, Solothurn and Glarus, have rejected doing so in recent years.

The government and parliament are backing a counterproposal, which would require people to reveal their faces to the authorities for identification purposes, for instance at borders or on public transport.

Fines of up to 10,000 Swiss francs ($11,300) could be given to anyone who refused, according to the counterproposal, which will enter into force if the proposal to ban full facial coverings is rejected.

The “Egerkinger Komitee” was also behind Switzerland’s 2009 move to ban the construction of new minarets, which was approved by nearly 60 percent of voters.

Supporters of the 2009 proposal saw the minarets as alien to Swiss traditions and values.

Muslims make up only about 5 percent of Switzerland’s 8.6 million people, official statistics show.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/22/swiss-voters-favour-burqa-ban-poll-shows-ahead-of-public-vote

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NCW Issues 2nd Edition Of Egypt's Full Women Policy Tracker On Responsive Programs Amid Pandemic

25 Jan 2021

CAIRO – 25 January 2021: The National Council for Women issued the second edition of its women policy tracker report that monitors the policies and measures that were taken by the government to contain the spread of Covid-19.

The report included an analysis of the existing situation amid the government's efforts to combat the virus during the period from March 14 to April 6, 2020.

Below is the full text of the report

The COVID-19 outbreak has an impact on both men and women. However it impacts women in different ways. In Egypt, women make up around 42.4% of human doctors and 91.1% nursing staff of who are actually working for the Ministry of Health, in addition to 73.1% of nursing staff in hospitals and therapeutic facilities in the private sector are women . Women in the health sector are more likely to be exposed to the virus and dealing with enormous stress balancing paid and unpaid work roles. Furthermore, overwhelmed health services may limit access to family planning services and to contraceptives, potentially leading to a rise in fertility rates and the socio-economic impact on individuals, households and communities. COVID-19 is expected to interrupted access of women to reproductive healthcare services and commodities. Given that pregnant women are more likely to have contact with health services (antenatal care and delivery), they can be greatly exposed to infections in health facilities which may discourage attendance.

COVID-19 poses a serious threat to women’s engagement in economic activities, especially in informal sectors, and gender gaps can be increased in livelihoods. In Egypt, 18.1% of women are heads of households . 40.9% of females’ total non-agricultural employment is in informal employment and 33.9% of females’ employment is vulnerable employment. Meanwhile 6.7% of female employment in industry; 36.4% of females’ employment is in agriculture; while 56.8% of female employment in services; Egyptian women also represent 70% of the paid care sector workforce (mainly as teachers, health and social workers). Moreover, the paid care sector in Egypt represents around 28–31 % of overall female employment. Women are almost four times more likely than men to work in the paid care sector.

Recognizing that, the Egyptian government started to take stringent procedures and measures to contain and prevent the spread of COVID-19 according to the pace of its spread, while considering all segments needs and women in specific during the execution of those measures. The government was particularly keen to integrate & mainstream all the needs of Egyptian women into the entire decision making process needed and the implementation of programs in order to ensure women’s empowerment & protection against the socio-economic and psychological repercussions of the new COVID-19 pandemic.

During the meeting held on 22 March 2020 in celebration of the Egyptian Women’s Day, the speech of the President of the Republic conveyed a number of messages that in general represent a mechanism to face the risks of spread of COVID-19. The President also issued a set of economic and social protection decrees to support and protect all society, and recognized the role and status of the Egyptian woman and the importance of continuing her supportive role during this current phase.

Since the National Council for Women is the national machinery concerned with proposing the government public policy on women’s development pursuant to Law No. 30 of 2018, NCW has prepared a policy paper regarding Egypt’s rapid response to women’s situation during COVID-19 outbreak, which includes an analysis of the status quo. In this paper, NCW has presented a number of proposed response measures, whether immediate or middle-term responses, for concerned all line ministries & government institutions, regarding the following pillars:

1. Impact on human endowment (health, education and social protection) through applying/upscaling the already existing support programs regarding all health aspects including psychological, mental & physical as well as reproductive health care services; social protection programs; particularly response measures for older women; women with disabilities; pregnant women, and women of reproductive age, and education, to deal with the consequences of the school lockdown and the potential girls’ dropout.

2. Women’s voice & agency (Violence Against Women, Leadership and Representation in decision making during crisis managment) women’s participation in the decision making process can enhance the health security control mechanisms, examination and protection of health, and ensure women’s accessibility to the relevant information. Also response measures can be adopted to provide psychosocial, legal and advisory support for women who may be subject to violence resulting from the implications of social conditions generated by the precautionary measures taken to respond to COVID-19 outbreak.

3. Impact on economic opportunities: the proposed response interventions depend on the already existing mechanisms as well as introducing new ones to support the women workers whose livelihoods have been affected or whose income from freelance work has declined. Alternative solutions should be proposed to address the economic downturn and its impact on working women in the formal or informal sector.

4. Promoting data and knowledge: promoting the compilation of data designed by sex, age and disability-disaggregated data on COVID-19, including tracking the emergency response measures, support policy research & social innovation; monitoring & evaluating the impact of the COVID-19; and conduct public opinion surveys in order to recognize the differences in exposure and treatment & help design the preventive measures accordingly.

The report included an analysis of the existing situation amid the government's efforts to combat the virus during the period from March 14 to April 6, 2020.

Below is the full text of the report

In this regard, NCW established the “Women policy tracker on Responsive Policies and Programs During COVID-19 Pandemic” to serve the following purposes:

1) Monitor all issued policies and procedures responsive to the needs of Egyptian women in light of the efforts made to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

2) Design an easier tool that can be used as reference to all women related issued policies that can be used by decision makers for a more collaborative & comprehensive vision on means of moving forward.

3) Document the efforts & highlight the outcome of the coordinated efforts of the government on women related policies to protect them & their families from the COVID-19

4) Reflect on all those policies with necessary supporting programs & initiatives

The major women related responsive policies and measures taken by the Egyptian Government

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) in collaboration with all the concerned bodies constantly issues measures and programs to combat the spread of the virus. Moreover, MoHP issues all the data on the numbers of COVID-19 cases transparently and disaggregated by sex & age.

(14 March 2020)

- The President issued a decree on suspending classes in universities and schools for two weeks; as protection for the children allowing the mothers to rest assure of their safety.

- The Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS) issued a decree on the lockdown of nurseries for two weeks; as protection for the children allowing the mothers to rest assure of their safety.

(16 March 2020)

- The Prime Minister issued Decree No. 719 of 2020, including inter alia:

o The number of employees in government authorities and bodies shall be reduced under the set of the precautionary measures taken by the government to prevent the spread of COVID-19;

o Pregnant women or those looking after one child or more of less than 12 years shall be granted an exceptional leave for as long as the Decree remains in force; allowing all working mothers to be able to do their family duties without losing their jobs.

o Women employees looking after their children with disabilities shall be granted a leave pursuant to a circular; allowing mothers of children with disabilities to be able to take care of their children without losing their jobs.

- MoHP announced taking special measures on dispensing medicines for chronic diseases, formula milk and Family planning methods (contraceptives) for three months; accessibility needed reproductive healthcare services for women

(19 March 2020)

- Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS) announced intensifying the precautionary measures for children in foster homes and providing all the health precautions and awareness-raising leaflets, including welfare homes, correctional institutions, orphanages, nursing homes, social protection facilities, people with disabilities, and women shelters; protection of elderly women and women with disabilities living in the shelters; Preparedness to any potential case of violence against women through secured concerned shelters.

(22 March 2020)

- The President instructed as part of a set of decrees and directives aimed to address the new COVID-19 to launch campaigns for raising the awareness of citizens for guidance and providing precise information, and strengthen health control according to the highest standards, at the points of entry to the country; Awareness raising & promoting data & knowledge to include women beneficiaries.

- MoSS announced increasing the number of beneficiaries of conditional cash transfer from Takaful and Karama Program to 100,000 households; Social protection especially for women heads of households

- MoSS announced increasing the monthly income for rural women leaders from EGP 300 to EGP 900 per month; increased support to women rural leaders on ground

- MoSS announced integrating women aged 65 and above in nursing homes under the umbrella of social protection; protection of elderly women

- MoSS announced increasing the number of beneficiaries of soft loans and loans with negligible interest rates to set up micro enterprises so that they can improve the living standard of their families; economic opportunities to include women in need to microfinance loans

(24 March 2020)

- Extending the suspension of classes in schools and universities and lockdown of nurseries of whatever type;

- The Ministry of Manpower (MoM) announced the steps of registration of irregular workers on MoM website to receive an exceptional allowance of EGP 500, as part of the government plan to protect them due to being affected by the COVID-19; providing economic support to include women irregular workers

(26 March 2020)

The Prime Minister issued Decree No. 776 of 2020 on establishing a workers’ emergency benefits fund and forming a committee for the irregular workers affected by the economic repercussions of the new Coronavirus, composed of (the Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Minister of Manpower, Minister of Social Solidarity, NCW President, Chairman of Information and Decision Support Center, Head of the Suggestion and Complaints Committee of the National Wage Council, and a member of the Administrative Control Authority). Including NCW in this committee reflects the government’s belief in the importance of women’s voice & agency through representation, participation & involvement in the process of decision making and taking into account the needs of Egyptian women while designing the policies and strategies aimed to respond and mitigate the impacts of the new Coronavirus.

The Committee shall be responsible for the following:

o Collect the data of the workers affected by the economic repercussions of the new Coronavirus, and take the necessary actions in coordination with the various concerned bodies to offer financial and social support to the workers to overcome the crisis.

o Coordinate the efforts and initiatives introduced by financial institutions, companies, businessmen, non-governmental institutions and other concerned bodies so that the aids are delivered to those eligible.

o Coordinate with the Workers’ Emergency Benefits Fund to ensure the existence of a consolidated database for the affected workers to avoid double disbursement.

o Develop policies for workers’ compensation in case of partial or full lockdown of the facilities in which they work, in coordination with the concerned funds and accounts.

(29 March 2020)

- The President issued a decree on increasing the monthly allowance for medical professionals by 75% and establishing a risk fund for medical professionals; Economic benefits to include women health care providers (doctors & medical professionals)

- The President announced the disbursement of exceptional bonuses from “Tahya Misr” Fund for all the workers in quarantine, fever and chest hospitals and central labs allover Egypt; Economic benefits to include women health care providers

- The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) issued a set of resolutions on the activity of microfinance for the benefit of 3.1 million citizens, including:

o Reduce or postpone the installments due from the clients by 50% of the value of each installment for microfinance clients.

o Exempt microfinance clients who make timely payments from the commission of the prepayment of indebtedness or reducing the administrative fees to renew the existing funding; economic opportunities benefiting women in microfinance

(2 April 2020)

- The President instructed to provide additional support to the health sector and enhance the financial conditions of the health workers, doctors and nurses, by increasing the bonuses granted to medical interns during their internships in university hospitals under the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE0) and Scientific Research and Al-Azhar University hospitals, to EGP 2200 per month, instead of EGP 400, as of December 2019 class; economic benefits to include women doctors

(5 April 2020)

- The MoH launched 2 hotlines to provide necessary psychological support to citizens at home; psychological support programs to include women beneficiaries

(6 April 2020)

- The President instructed to provide allowances of 500 EGP for irregular workers who might be impacted by the COVID-19 for 3 consecutive months; economic benefits to include women irregular worker.

- The President instructed to upscale decent housing by building 250,000 new housing unit and another 100,000 housing unit for the people living in unsafe habitat; Social protection intervention to include women beneficiaries

The National Council for Women will continue tracking & monitoring all issued policies & programs that mainstream & respond to the needs of women during this crisis. NCW commits to a strong coordination with all concerned ministries and bodies to support the implementation of those policies as well as suggesting new polices in favor of Egyptian women.

Read the whole text:

The NCW report reviewed many decisions made this month, as following:

(2 January 2021)

- The Ministry of Justice has launched a new package of electronic real estate registration services to make documentation services easily and conveniently available to citizens and bring them closer together. This will be realized in cooperation with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the Egyptian Post Authority through six new authentication branches and more headquarters will be opened in succession to the launch of Egypt's digital services provided through the website digital.gov.eg, which saves time and effort and reduce crowding in branches in light of the COVID-19. At the end of last year, the Ministry of Justice limited the provision of documentation services in certain branches to pre-booking and supporting the real estate, documentation, expert and forensic sectors

- The Ministry of Manpower, during the year 2020, as part of the state's plan to confront the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic took the following actions:

o Issuing "Aman" certificates, of a total of two million and 72 thousand Egyptian pounds for the irregular workers’.

o Establishing an operations room to follow up the implementation of precautionary measures for the repercussions of the COVID-19 in 38,459 facilities

o Launching a number of initiatives, including the "Egypt is more beautiful" initiative to train, qualify and employ people with disabilities. The first phase was implemented in Aswan, Assiut, Beni Suef, Alexandria, Daqahlia and Sharkia. 893 trainees were trained through 18 programs, and 622 job opportunities were provided for people with disabilities.

o Increasing periodic bonuses and additional incentives from 150 to 375 pounds, increasing the tax exemption limit by 60%, reducing tax rates for middle and low-income people, and approving an additional package for 60% of workers in the state.

(5 January 2021)

- The Ministry of Social Solidarity confirmed the perpetuation of work in nurseries, while reducing the density to 50% and strengthening the necessary precautionary measures and closing in case of an increase in HIV infections, and that only 11 of the 4,000 nurseries were closed due to injuries.

- The Ministry of Health announced the allocation of 34 centers to provide vaccination services with vaccines for the COVID-19 throughout the week, and that the priority in obtaining vaccines will be for health sector workers, oncology patients, and people with chronic diseases, provided that the state shall cover the costs of the vaccine for the beneficiaries and beneficiaries of the "Takaful & Karama" program and for people with chronic diseases.

- The Cabinet announced that the number of hospitals that currently provide services to COVID-19 patients has reached 500 hospitals, either Ministry of Health hospitals, which have reached about 363 hospitals or higher education hospitals, and other government agencies that provide their services.

- The Cabinet announced the activation of an electronic system to follow up the rates of medical oxygen consumption in all hospitals 24 hours a day with sufficient reserve stock in each governorate.

(7 January 2021)

- The Doctors Syndicate has agreed with the Insurance and Pensions Authority on the rules for disbursing the work injury pension to women and men doctors’ martyrs of the COVID-19, according to the decision issued on May 30, 2020, considering the COVID-19 as an infectious disease that is entitled to a work injury pension after submitting the required documents to the authority. it will reach an amount of 6000 pounds during this year.

(9 January 2021)

- The Ministry of Health, Population and Health Insurance decided to grant exceptional leave to pregnant women whose pregnancy passed 28 weeks (7 months) until the date of birth.

(20 January 2021)

- The Egyptian Cabinet approves the draft law submitted by the National Committee for the eradication of FGM -after the study/review of Ministry of Justice- amending some provisions of the Penal Code to increase the punishment of FGM crimes, the amendments were stipulated in Article (242 bis & 242 (a) bis)

International Recognition:

The Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN-Women praised the many efforts and decisions that Egypt is currently making to face the repercussions of the COVID19 , taking into account the needs of Egyptian women, and the women policy tracker and Programs in Support of Women during the Pandemic.

Egypt ranked first in the Middle East and West Asia in terms of the number of measures taken to support women in the face of the emerging COVID-19 and the number of measures taken by Egypt according to the standards of the United Nations, reaching 21 measures and actions.

This is the highest level of action taken in the Middle East and West Asia since the beginning of the crisis, according to the report issued by the UNDP and the UN Women and the Empowerment of Women on the measures taken by the countries of the world to support women during the pandemic.

The Arab Republic of Egypt is ranked seventh and first in the Arab world and Africa in medical research for the COVID-19, in the “COVID-19 Research Index”, with 108 studies and research so far.

Finally, The National Council for Women will continue tracking & monitoring all issued policies & programs that mainstream & respond to the needs of women during this crisis.

NCW commits to a strong coordination with all concerned ministries and bodies to support the implementation of those policies as well as suggesting new polices in favor of Egyptian women.

https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/96839/NCW-issues-2nd-edition-of-Egypt-s-full-women-policy

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Small Scale Women Farmers Association of Nigeria Seek Security From Federal Government

26 January 2021

Small Scale Women Farmers Association of Nigeria, (SWOFON) has asked the Federal Government to provide security to its members, who are unable to return to their farms as a result of increasing insecurity.

National President of the association, Mary Ishaya, made this known at the review of the national agriculture budget organised by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), yesterday, in Abuja.

According to her, it will be impossible for Nigeria to attain food security, if it does not protect farmers who are being kidnapped, raped and killed in their farms by bandits, criminal herders or terrorists.

“The challenge of insecurity does not affect our women farmers alone, but all farmers. Around October and November last year, we saw how some of our rice farmers were massacred in their farms when they went to harvest their rice. Because of that, a lot of people abandoned their farms.

“We are talking to government on the need to tag food security with security because without security, we cannot produce. The cost of food is high because most of the farms were not cultivated or harvested or were destroyed or eaten up by cows,” she stated.

Calling for increase in the national budget for agriculture, Ishaya added: “We are here to also see the analysis of the federal budget as it affects small holder farmers and to know whether any allocation or legislation is available for women farmers.”

Lead Director of CSJ, Eze Onyekpere, noted that the organisation’s work with women farmers was prompted by the fact that majority of farmers in Nigeria were women.

According to him, the national gender policy in agriculture states that women do between 70 and 80 per cent of the farming and so the expectation is that the budget should take cognisance of those female farmers, especially the small scale, and target them specifically.

Onyekpere warned that if the women farmers were not given preference over the political farmers, “we would have a situation where political farmers will be taking up the money that should go to the real farmers, knowing well that political farmers don’t have farms and therefore can’t produce.”

https://guardian.ng/news/women-farmers-seek-security-from-fg/

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Islam, Women and Feminism ( 26 Jan 2021, NewAgeIslam.Com)

Hillary And Chelsea Clinton To Produce Series On Kurdish Female Fighters

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