Kerala Tops List Of Women Haj Pilgrims Sans Male Companion
16 April 2023
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Mastercard To Help Create 1 Million Jobs For Arab Women
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Kerala Tops List Of Women Haj Pilgrims Sans Male Companion
•
Afghanistan, Iran, West and Women: Dynamics Of Power Shifts
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Harvard Graduate Praises Role Of Arab Women In Debate
•
Promoting Anti-Hijab Movement Now A Crime In Iran
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/kerala-women-haj-pilgrims-male/d/129574
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Mastercard
To Help Create 1 Million Jobs For Arab Women
ARAB
NEWS
April
16, 2023
Amnah
Ajmal, executive vice president, market development, EEMEA for Mastercard, and
Nezha Alaoui, founder and CEO of Women Choice, sign the partnership agreement.
------------
Mastercard
and Women Choice, an international organization dedicated to advancing women’s
personal and professional development, have partnered to launch a program,
“Social Innovation Incubator for Women’s Employment,” which will help create 1
million jobs for women across the Middle East and North Africa, supporting
economic growth and development in the region.
The
announcement was made live from Capital Club in Dubai International Financial
Centre, a key business hub and leading place of innovative initiatives.
SII
was established by Women Choice to provide comprehensive support for women
entrepreneurs and create employment opportunities in their chosen field over
the next five years. SII will also provide mentorship and training on topics
such as business planning, capacity building, human resources and recruitment
expertise.
“We
are excited to launch this program and to have the support of a global
organization like Mastercard, which is genuinely committed to bringing change
and improving the situation of women in the workplace. The success of ‘SII For
Women’s Employment’ will be also linked to a series of strong partnerships with
practical plans in place,” said NezhaAlaoui, founder and CEO of Women Choice.
Mastercard
has been at the forefront of providing women with access to digital tools and
training to help them start and grow their businesses, creating mentorship and
networking opportunities for women entrepreneurs, and working with employers to
create more job opportunities for women. The collaboration with Women Choice is
aligned with Mastercard’s inclusive growth agenda.
“At
Mastercard, we are committed to creating a more inclusive and equitable world,
where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. Our partnership with Women Choice
will not only have a significant impact on women across the region, but also
provide them with the skills, resources and tools they need to succeed and
drive economic growth in the region,” said Amnah Ajmal, executive vice
president, market development, EEMEA for Mastercard.
As
part of its inclusivity efforts, Mastercard recently unveiled a coffee-table
book, “Lasting Legacy — Honoring 25 Visionaries to Celebrate 25 Years of
Priceless” during Women’s Month, in which Alaoui was featured alongside 24
other inspirational women leaders.
Additionally,
Mastercard recently announced the second edition of its Women SME Leaders
Awards to recognize and celebrate the achievements of women-owned and led
businesses across Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. Alaoui will be part
of the jury to review and select the winners who will be announced on May 2.
Through
its collaboration with Mastercard, the Women Choice initiative will not only
provide 1 million employment opportunities for women but also empower female
social entrepreneurs across the Arab world with the proper training and
resources to place at least 1,000 women in their respective enterprises.
The
first chapters are being launched in the UAE and Morocco with the entire MENA
region to follow as the goal is to empower women to take initiatives and grow
social businesses both at a local and regional level.
The
partnership is aligned with Mastercard’s global commitment to connect 25
million women entrepreneurs to the digital economy by 2025, as part of its goal
to build a more sustainable and inclusive world.
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2287536/corporate-news
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Kerala
tops list of women Haj pilgrims sans male companion
Apr
16, 2023
NEW
DELHI: The largest contingent so far of over 4,000 women is preparing to travel
for Haj without mehram (male companion) with the first flight expected to leave
on May 21. Over 2,800 of these women are from Kerala, reports Ambika Pandit.
The
women in the state have taken the lead each year since 2018 when policy changes
for the first time enabled Muslim women above 45 years of age to travel in
groups of four or more without mehram for Haj. Building on the earlier policy
(2018-22), the Haj policy 2023 also created the option for single women in same
age group to also apply as individuals.
Of
the 1.4 lakh pilgrims who will be travelling through the Haj committee of India
quota, overall there are over 65,600 women pilgrims. Of the total number of
women there are 15,753 women between 60 to 80 years, followed by 222 between 81
to 90 years and there are as many as seven women between 91 to 100. As per data
accessed by TOI, there are two women who are above 100 and undetaking the
pilgrimage. There are 4,313 women, the largest contingent so far who will be
undertaking Haj in the 'without mehram' category. They hail from across 25
states and UTs. Kerala (2,807) tops the list followed by UP (222), Tamil Nadu
(195), Maharashtra (162), Karnataka (140), J&K (132), MP (128), West Bengal
(82), Telangana (76) and Gujarat (70).
The
data shows in 2018, 1,171 women went for Haj without mehram. This number was 2,230
in 2019. Thereafter for two years Indian pilgrims didn't travel for Haj due to
pandemic. In 2022, 2,192 applications of women without mehram were approved for
Haj.
Source:
Times Of India
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Afghanistan,
Iran, West and Women: Dynamics Of Power Shifts
Hina
Fatima Khan
16
APR 2023
Women
cover their faces when walking down a street on August 14, 2022 in Kabul,
Afghanistan. Getty Images
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The
political crisis in Afghanistan has overrun almost all aspects of human life.
The landlocked country is marred by diminishing economic confidence and human
rights violations. By mid-2022, two-thirds of Afghan households reportedly
could not afford food and other basic non-food items, as per the latest World
Bank Report.
The
United Nations (UN) experts believe since the Taliban's takeover of the
landlocked country, Afghan women's situation has regressed to the pre-2002
period. In two decades, it seems nothing has changed for this rugged terrain.
After the US and NATO troops withdrew from Afghanistan, the formidable group
known as the Taliban took over the country and its people. Donning Pakol caps,
and brandishing foreign-made guns, they are sitting in Parliament and have been
passing core conservative laws that are badly affecting Afghan women.
The
hardliners somehow learnt to operate new firearms, military drones, and other
weapons left by the fleeing forces in August 2021. And these are being used to
openly scare the civilians in the streets, particularly Afghan women. The
situation of women in the Central Asian country is appalling to the point that
they are left to fend for themselves; physical abuse, sexual violence,
psychological drudgery, almost no medical aid, no food, no safety and zero
representation is what makes them stand out as the suffering class. They are
not even on the backseat lest we forget that these are only the available
statistics compiled by the UN rapporteurs. If we delve deeper, we will find
that for women even living is denied.
But
who will talk about Afghanistan’s MahsaAmini? Since the beginning of time,
social constructs have been heavily tilted against this gender. The world will
blatantly refute their agony, surpassing all levels of hypocrisy; when it's
about women, they are seen as a moot court entity. Women are born with an
in-built armour against the harshness of this world. Be it the women in West
Asia or Central Asia or be it the women in Europe and elsewhere, life has been
tougher for all of them but in different ways.
Iran’s
civil disobedience movement against the country's Gasht-e-Ershad (morality
police) or protests to end the Islamic regime express disregard for
male-dominated spheres. While Iranian women are standing their ground, Afghan
women, on the other hand, are lagging far behind. They are being traumatised by
Taliban hardliners and climate change-induced erratic seasons. Iran’s morality
police was established to supervise the male version of modesty, dare to show
even a few hair strands out of the hijab and you shall be detained; a few
hundred lashes could be another recourse. Even for their release, a male's
assurance is what they ask for. In Iran, the hijab became mandatory for women
in 1983. But if we look at the Sharia law, it mentions ‘modest dressing’ for
both men and women. So, the persistent harassment and torture of women in the
name of Sharia are directly opposite of what the Sharia says.
The
connivance of the clerics in Iran has always foiled reformists’ attempts to
introduce any major reforms. However, MahsaAmini’s death reignited the debate
over women’s rights in Iran and elsewhere. As far as human rights are
concerned, women are always given the last rung of the ladder, the least share
of the pie, be it women on this side or that side of the world.
Taking
a cue from the West won’t help much either. The greater share of the problem
lies in the backlash against women-led movements across the globe. One of the
longest fights, led by women, in the US for their health and constitutional
equality and economic justice is just one page in the book of inequality. In the UK, the history of women's rights goes
back to the times of Jane Austen when woman authors couldn't publish their work
in their own names. The impermanence attributed to the other gender’s plight is
what’s at stake here.
The
Afghanistan and Taliban optics do not rest only on the hardliners — they are a
people who have been through a lot when it comes to power shifts, invasions and
changes. The NATO allies and partner countries were present in Afghanistan for
20 years under a United Nations Security Council mandate. The constant foreign
presence on their soil irked the Pashtun fundamentalist group, broadly known as
the Taliban, which was formed in the early 1990s. The hardliner guerrilla
fighters resisted the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan during 1979-89 with the
clandestine backing of the CIA. The intermittent power shifts disturbed the
balance of power for the Afghans and consequently also affected world politics.
Thus, the optics in Afghanistan have always been about the externalities of
what’s wrong but the intricacies like women's rights, and civil and political
rights go unnoticed.
On
the same note, Iran too saw regime changes that affected all but women the
most. The extremists on both sides —West-backed regimes against the
Khamenei-led regime— kept propagating their beliefs while ignoring the greater
good of their own people. And today’s Iranian women’s slogan speaks about the
same, basics of all —Jin, Jiyan, Azadi— which they feel deprived of. The notoriety of the West and the extremism
of Khamenei or the Taliban will not suffice their cause. To be succinct, the
cause of women, their rights and their existence is being sandwiched between
these two. Certainly, it is no utopia for a woman to be able to make her own
choices when it comes to clothing and other such matters.
Source:
Outlook India
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Harvard
Graduate Praises Role Of Arab Women In Debate
4/15/2023
(MENAFN-
Gulf Times) Women from the Arab world have a broader and easier opportunity
than their counterparts in the West to participate in debates, a Harvard
University graduate said recently.
Delaney
Hurley, a member of the Qatar Debate Fellowship Programme, part of Qatar
Foundation (QF), and a graduate of Harvard University, is working on a
comparative study to identify practices that enhance the role of female
debaters.
Hurley,
according to an article on the QF website, emphasised that her personal
experiences proved to her that women in the West suffer a lot from male biases
in the field of debate.
Hurley
explained that, contrary to what might be imposed by the stereotype about women
in the Arab world, she saw that Arab women participated more than men in
debates, and even achieved higher rates and results.
Hurley
noted that unlike mathematics for which there is an absolute answer – right or
wrong – the winners in debate rounds are chosen by judges who decide the most
convincing participants, and as a result, women are vulnerable to prejudices
and stereotypes.“These biases affect the winner of debate rounds in ways that
may not be apparent to some,” said Hurley.
“For
example, high-pitched voices – which in the Western world are typically
associated with women – are often seen as unpleasant by judges, let alone a
woman's clothing, which may also greatly affect the opinion of the judges.
Wearing dresses, for example, would emphasise femininity and highlight
stereotypes that suggest an incompatibility between intelligence and beauty,
while wearing a suit reflects men's clothing, which may not be liked by many
members of the debate jury in the West and influence their decisions.”
“I
am fascinated by the experience of women's success and superiority in debates
in the Arab world, and for this reason, I am currently working on research on
this phenomenon through a comparative study with the United States, and I
really believe that we have a lot to learn by studying the successful model of
women in the Arab world. So, I am optimistic that my study can lay the
groundwork for identifying successful practices that US debate programmes can
implement," she noted.
According
to Hurley, at its core, debates are an empowering activity that gives
participants the skills to stand up for themselves and for the issues that
affect them the most," and if we allow women to be excluded from the
field, we allow them to be silenced, whether they know it or not."
Dr
Hayat Marafi, executive director of QatarDebate, explained that they are
continuously working to support young people and provide them with the
necessary tools to become thinkers and leaders in their communities.
“Through
the national debating team, we create opportunities to represent Qatari women
by training them. We have witnessed the successful participation of women from
all over the Arab region, especially Qatari women, in many international
competitions organised by QatarDebate, and we have built a global network of
female debaters who lead dialogue projects in their countries,” added Dr Marafi.
Source:
Menafn.Com
https://menafn.com/1106018724/Harvard-Graduate-Praises-Role-Of-Arab-Women-In-Debate
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Promoting
anti-hijab movement now a crime in Iran
FP
Staff
April
15, 2023
Tehran:
Authorities in Iran will not only punish women rejecting hijab but also people
who promote the anti-hijab stance.
The
country’s deputy attorney general announced on Saturday that people who
encourage women to go out in public without hijab will be prosecuted in
criminal courts and will have no right to appeal against any conviction.
Ali
Jamadi was quoted by Mehr News saying, “The crime of promoting unveiling will
be dealt with in the criminal court whose decisions are final and
unappealable.”
“The
punishment for the crime of promoting and encouraging others to remove the
hijab is much heavier than the crime of removing the hijab itself because it is
one of the clear examples of encouraging corruption,” he added.
Anti-hijab
protests in Iran have only intensified almost a year after the death of
22-year-old MahsaAmini, but so has the regime’s crackdown on the unrest. In a
bid to punish an increasing number of women defying the country’s mandatory
hijab rules, authorities in Iran have started installing cameras to monitor
unveiled women and subsequently penalise them.
Iran
has been rocked with anti-hijab protests since the death of 22-year-old
MahsaAmini who was arrested by the morality police for not wearing the hijab in
public. The unjust killing of Amini prompted unrest across the country, with
men and women alike, coming forward to overthrow the existing regime and reject
its laws.
Despite
a harsh crackdown on such women, many are still seen defying the mandatory
hijab rule. Videos of women getting harassed by pro-hijab advocates have
flooded social media ever since the protests began last year.
Source:
First Post
https://www.firstpost.com/world/promoting-anti-hijab-movement-now-a-crime-in-iran-12459762.html
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/kerala-women-haj-pilgrims-male/d/129574