Princess Reema, Saudi Ambassador to US, Highlights Effective Role of Women in Defence Industry
New Age Islam News
Bureau
08 February 2024
·
Princess
Reema, Saudi Ambassador to US, Highlights Effective Role of Women In Defence
Industry
·
Moroccan
Designer Sara Chraibi on Being 'A Proud Arab, Muslim Woman'
·
Countries
Urged to Review Gender Apartheid Treaty in Afghanistan: Heather Barr
·
Nazi
Enemy Injures Palestinian, Three Women in Tulkarm
·
International
Organizations Sustain Calls for Women's Rights in Afghanistan
·
Kehkashan's
Hosla Handholds Abandoned and Neglected Humans
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/princess-reema-saudi-us-defence/d/131681
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Princess
Reema, Saudi Ambassador to US, Highlights Effective Role of Women In Defence
Industry
Princess
Reema, Saudi Ambassador to US
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February
07, 2024
RIYADH
— Saudi Ambassador to the United States Princess Reema bint Bandar highlighted
the effective role of women in the defence industry. Chairing the “Women in
Defense” program on the fourth day of the World Defense Show 2024 (WDS) in
Riyadh on Wednesday, the princess stressed that the program is a distinctive
step towards engaging women and developing their awareness and development in
the defense and security industry sector, in line with the Vision 2030.
“This
is through introducing their important roles, enhancing their contribution, and
achieving a positive impact in light of their presence in this industry at the
global level,” she said.
The
Women in Defense program was addressed by Chairman of the Armed Forces
Education and Training Authority Maj. Gen. Adel Al-Balawi, Vice President for
Defense Development and Partnerships at Boeing Heidi Grant, Amanda Stainer,
chief commercial officer of WDS, and a group of distinguished speakers.
They
discussed the most important challenges and reviewed the most prominent
successful models of women’s work in this field and discussed the importance of
her participation in this sector.
For
her part, Amanda Stainer said that the program aims to shape a more
comprehensive future in the defense sector, as it is a practical step towards
integrating diverse viewpoints and skills, which are necessary for the
development of this sector. “Supporting women’s participation works to create a
stronger and more resilient defense community,” she added.
In a
related context, the Future Talents Program was launched on the fourth day of
WDS, which aims to inspire emerging cadres and introduce them on how to advance
their careers in the fields of the defense and security industry, as well as
informing innovators in the technical sciences, engineering and mathematics
disciplines about the outstanding opportunities available in this area.
The
program works in accordance with the objectives of Vision 2030 to empower human
capital in the field of the defense and security industry, as it hosts more
than 8,000 students, in line with the Military Industries Human Capital (MIHC)
strategy to ensure the availability and sustainability of the required human
resources in the military industries sector.
Source:
saudigazette.com.sa
https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/640273/SAUDI-ARABIA/Princess-Reema-highlights-effective-role-of-women-in-defense-industry
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Moroccan
Designer Sara Chraibi on Being 'A Proud Arab, Muslim Woman'
Sara
Chraibi. Photo: Youssef Oubahou
------
Feb
07, 2024
Sarah
Maisey
Fresh
off the back of her sensational haute couture show in Paris, Moroccan designer
Sara Chraibi has arrived in the UAE with her eponymous label to showcase the
same spring 2024 couture collection as part of Dubai Fashion Week.
“Maison
Sara Chraibi is only haute couture at the moment,” the designer told The
National, ahead of her debut last Monday. To enhance the collection, she even
created additional looks for the occasion.
“For
Dubai we added some extra drops, especially. We try to do something particular
for Dubai.”
As a
member of the esteemed ranks of Parisian haute couture, bringing the collection
to the UAE may seem a surprising move to some. It shouldn't, according to the
designer, for whom the region holds great sway.
“You
have the glamour of Paris, of course, but in Dubai there is something special.
Ladies here are very beautiful, they wear these kind of dresses, and have
special moments in their life where these kind of dresses are perfect for the
occasion. Dubai is something special in the region.”
Knowing
the exacting demands of clients in the region, Chraibi tasked her atelier with
creating four additional looks, despite each demanding countless hours of work.
“Its
worth it,” she said. “I want my clients to see the collection for real, that’s
why I am here.”
The
beauty of such high-level clothing, the designer explained, can only truly be
appreciated up close.
“Haute
couture is about feeling the material, the detail, the work, the hand beading,
and sometimes is just about the construction of the dress. You have to see it
very close.”
For
Chraibi, creating such handmade masterpieces is the realisation of a childhood
dream.
“I
learnt sewing and embroidery from my mother when I was a child, and haute
couture – and especially the Paris podium – was something I dreamt of since I
was child.
“I
studied architecture but after that, I started doing dresses for my friends,
but always looking to Paris. I did this beautiful collection that I was very
proud of after Covid-19, and I thought at that time it was time to ask to be in
the official haute couture calendar. I presented, and suddenly it worked.”
Admission
to the tightly guarded ranks of haute couture is so notoriously difficult that
most designers can only dream of it, yet Chraibi has managed it despite having
no formal fashion training whatsoever.
“In
fashion I am self taught,” she explained. “But I know how to do the work by
hand. I know how to do embroidery, how to do patterns, plus I am an architect,
so I know how to build patterns, and it's all about that – about building,
about constructing the outfit.
“It's
not just about a beautiful dress, I mean there are a lot of beautiful dresses,
but for me what is important is to do something that is relevant, culturally
relevant, that adds something, and that will give something special to the
women who will wear it.”
“I
want to add something about the moment, about my country. I want to tell
something about my roots, and I want to show it to the world.”
The
key to using traditional handwork, she believes, is to not regard it as
something fixed in time, but as an evolving medium that can meld towards new
thinking and new ideals.
“If
we keep the tradition as it was back in the time, it will not stay alive any
more. To keep the savoir faire alive, we need to use it, to combine it, to
re-do, rethink, reconstruct it, and come up with something new.
“Obviously
women are not in the 12th century any more, and we will not live in the past,
so we have to make our thoughts contemporary. That doesn’t mean to do it
without roots – roots are very important – but we also have to project it into
the future.”
Such
a determination to honour her past, yet to allow it to embrace the future has,
she explained, been the force underpinning her work since the beginning.
“It's
part of who I am. I cannot be somebody else, I don’t want to be that kind of
designer to say I am not an Arab woman, I am not Muslim. No, I am Muslim, I am
an Arab woman. I want to show something different, a different perspective and
to show it to the world,” she said.
“Not
to keep it as something local but to show that to the world, with my own point
of view. My point of view is North African, is Moroccan, is Muslim, and I am
proud of that, because this is what makes my work unique.”
That's
also one of the reasons she agreed to come to Dubai Fashion Week.
“I
don’t want to be this kind of designer who always has to be seen through a
western lens. We need to be proud of ourselves and to be proud of who we are.
Yes, of course, I love showing in Paris, but my work is kind of a beautiful
travel between East and West. I want to keep it consistent, to nourish it,
nurture it, with oriental vibes and western vibes.”
Chraibi
is the only woman from a handful of Arab designers who can call themselves
haute couturiers. The list includes Elie Saab, Georges Hobeika, Zuhair Murad
and, most recently, Saudi brand Ashi Studio.
“Bringing
this feminine energy to haute couture, this feminine, Muslim, Arab energy is
something very unique. It’s a new perspective,” she said.
Source:
thenationalnews.com
https://www.thenationalnews.com/lifestyle/luxury/2024/02/07/sara-chraibi-dubai-fashion-week/
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Countries
Urged to Review Gender Apartheid Treaty in Afghanistan: Heather Barr
Fidel
Rahmati
February
8, 2024
Heather
Barr of Human Rights Watch urged world leaders to back a treaty on crimes
against humanity, emphasizing the need for more support for women and the
inclusion of gender apartheid in it.
She
emphasized the necessity of establishing a mechanism for collecting evidence of
crimes against Afghan women.
She
wrote on the organization’s website that Human Rights Watch, Amnesty
International, the International Commission of Jurists, and several other
organizations have acknowledged that the Taliban have committed sexual abuse,
gender-based violence, and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan.
The
Deputy Women’s Rights Director of Human Rights Watch stated that addressing
these crimes falls within the jurisdiction of national and international
courts, including the International Criminal Court (ICC).
She
also called for countries to support special rapporteurs and other human rights
experts in Afghanistan.
She
said that the UN special rapporteur and other human rights experts are expected
to present their reports to the UN Human Rights Council by June 2024 on actions
against “institutionalized discrimination, gender segregation, disrespect for
human dignity, and the expulsion of women and girls” by the Taliban.
Ms.
Heather Barr stated that regarding international courts, political leaders must
ensure that these courts and others have the necessary resources and
cooperation to hold Taliban leaders accountable for sexual abuse.
She
added that a case should be filed in the International Criminal Court regarding
the violation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women by the Taliban, which Afghanistan ratified
unconditionally in 2003.
Ms.Barr
noted that in over two years of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, the most serious
women’s rights crisis has emerged.
She
stated that the international community’s response to Taliban behavior has been
weak, and the negative consequences for women and girls’ rights worldwide have
not been addressed. She warned that the world’s response to the situation in
Afghanistan will have a profound impact on gender equality elsewhere.
This
human rights official added that due to the Ukraine war and new conflicts in
the Middle East, the Afghanistan crisis has largely disappeared from the
headlines.
Gender
Apartheid in Afghanistan
Heather
Barr highlighted Afghanistan’s dismal ranking in the women, peace, and security
index, with the UN special rapporteur denouncing the situation as an
“unprecedented destruction of women’s rights.”
Afghan
women, along with UN officials and various organizations, have labeled the
Taliban’s treatment of women as “gender apartheid,” emphasizing the severity of
the oppression faced.
The
Human Rights Watch official pointed out the dire consequences faced by girls
and women who speak out against abuses, including forced disappearance,
arbitrary detention, and torture, as well as widespread detention for perceived
immodesty.
Describing
responses from governments and international bodies as weak and non-feminist,
Heather Barr criticized the scattered, political, and indifferent approach,
highlighting the failure to effectively address violations of women’s rights in
Afghanistan and the potential negative impact of engagement with the Taliban.
Source:
khaama.com
https://www.khaama.com/countries-urged-to-review-gender-apartheid-treaty-in-afghanistan-heather-barr/
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Nazi
enemy injures Palestinian, three women in Tulkarm
[08/February/2024]
TULKARM
February 08. 2024 (Saba) - A Palestinian young man, 22, was injured by Zionist
enemy bullets in the abdomen and feet, and three women were injured by shrapnel
in Nour Shams camp, eastern Tulkarm.
The
Palestinian Wafa News Agency reported that enemy forces bombed Wednesday a
house in Nour Shams camp, east of Tulkarm, with shells, after an occupation
bulldozer demolished parts of it, without being able to determine the fate of
those inside it, due to the tight enemy siege.
Local
sources said that enemy forces bombed the house of the young man, Issam al-Ali,
whose family was holed up inside, and the occupation bulldozer demolished parts
of the house.
The
enemy forces re-stormed the city of Tulkarm and Nour Shams camp to the east,
after withdrawing Wednesday morning.
Wafa
Agency reported that a special force stormed the camp, then large military
reinforcements from the occupation vehicles headed to the western axis of the
city.
The
enemy forces deployed their vehicles in various neighborhoods of the camp,
specifically al-Damj, al-Maslakh, Jabal al-Nasr, al-Madares Street, and Nablus
Street, which passes from the entrance to the camp, while they fired heavy
bullets at everything that moved.
The
Nazi's bullets also targeted the location of the journalists in the Aktaba
suburb, east of the city, which is the area closest to the camp, without
causing any casualties.
Source:
saba.ye
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3303002.htm
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International
Organizations Sustain Calls for Women's Rights in Afghanistan
Hadia
Ziaei
[07/February/2024]
Human
Rights Watch (HRW) in a report once again expressed concern over the imposition
of restrictions on women in Afghanistan, saying that the “Taliban have
systematically violated the rights of women and girls” in the last two and a
half years.
“In
the last two and a half years after regaining power in Afghanistan, the Taliban
have created the world’s most serious women’s rights crisis. They have
systematically violated the rights of women and girls including as they relate
to education, paid employment, freedom of speech and movement, and political
participation among many others,” the report reads.
According
to the report, “the response of the international community has been tepid and
seems to lack an appreciation of how the situation in Afghanistan has grave
implications for the rights of women and girls globally.”
“We
want everyone to understand that this is not just a problem for Afghans. What
happened on August 15, 2021, when the Taliban took over, is that the bar for
the worst situation for women in the world became much lower all of a sudden
and it continues to get worse all the time because the Taliban’s attack on
women’s rights continues to deepen,” said Heather Barr, director of the Women's
Rights Division at HRW.
In
the meantime, Australia’s Interim Mission on Afghanistan, which is operating in
Doha, also expressed its concern about the arbitrary arrest of women and girls
in Afghanistan.
“We’re
deeply concerned by reports that women and girls in Afghanistan have been
arbitrarily detained and ill-treated since early January for allegedly
violating the Taliban’s dress code for women. Afghan women’s fundamental rights
must be respected,” Australia’s Interim Mission on Afghanistan said on X.
“They
should stand with Afghan people, especially with women. Their rights [women]
should be taken into account; Whether it is from the Islamic Emirate government
or the world,” said Tafsir Seiyaposh, a women’s rights activist.
However,
the Islamic Emirate rejected the claims of their violations of women's rights
in the country, saying that women's rights are ensured in accordance with
Sharia law.
"The
rights granted by Islam and Sharia and accepted by Afghan society are secured.
We are working to address value issues in some areas, like Afghan customs, and
this can be resolved when the institutions are in harmony with Afghanistan,”
said Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman of the Islamic Emirate.
Earlier,
the Acting Minister of Virtue and Vice had called the violation of women's
rights and their arrest because of “bad hijab” propaganda.
Source:
tolonews.com
https://tolonews.com/index.php/afghanistan-187320
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Kehkashan's
Hosla handholds abandoned and neglected humans
February
8, 2024
Sumana
Mukherjee
The
8-year-old Navya (a fictitious name) from Jaipur, Rajasthan, was happy to come
to Delhi where her father told her she would be admitted to a special school.
She was born without sight. While walking on the roads in Delhi, her father
made her sit at a place on a walkway and asked her to wait for him.
The
father never returned.
Navya’s
mother had passed away when she was a toddler. Her stepmother did not show
affection towards her and was against her joining a special school in Delhi.
Her
father brought her anyway and completed all the paperwork for her admission to
a residential school for visually impaired children. The school asked him to
bring Navya after a week for regular classes.
This
heart-wrenching story is narrated by Kehkashan Tyagi, founder, and chairperson
of Hosla Charitable Trust - a non-government organization based in Delhi, that
looks after the needs of special children and other deprived and helpless
humans.
A
lady who was passing through the sidewalk found Navya crying. After knowing
about Navya’s school admission, the woman took Navya to the place. It was in
the school that Kehkashan Tyagi met Navya during a programme.
Speaking
about her work, Tyagi proudly introduces Navya as a case study; the
once-abandoned girl is today a central government employee.
Kehkashan’s
Hosla (Meaning courage) stands as the pillar of support for physically
challenged and visually impaired children who are deprived of love, care, and
facilities. Kehkashan said that they have rescued many differently-abled
children who were physically abused by their family members and close
relatives.
“Such
children generally don’t open up about their plight”, she told Awaz-the Voice.
Her organisation helps them deal with their psychological trauma so that they
prepare to deal with life without it.
Kehkashan
spoke about Saanvi (a fictitious name) who turned visually impaired due to a
disease in her growing years. She was being sexually assaulted by her father.
She
grew up with horrible childhood memories but later found her soulmate while
communicating online and got married to him to live happily ever after. Her
husband is also visually impaired and works as a music teacher in a school.
Saanvi’s
life also changed thanks to the counselling and support of Hosla. The founder
said “There is a strong need to counsel the children who have gruesome
childhood memories, especially torture and excesses inflicted by the members of
their families. We need to help them to get out of the trauma which may haunt
them in the long run.”
Kehkashan
Tyagi Worked as Director of the India Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).
During this period, she came in contact with eminent cultural personalities
from India and abroad.
However,
she discovered many brilliant artists who were physically challenged and not
gladly accepted for shows. It came as a big shock to her and she decided to
create a platform for such talented but ignored artists.
Kehkashan,
who was born into a Muslim family in Delhi, said “It was my dream to extend
helping hands to those who are exceptionally talented but they neither have the
family background nor dare to attract the limelight.”
She
says, “Hosla helps differently-abled and visually impaired youth to learn
Indian as well as Western music so that they can showcase their talent to the
world.”
Hosla
was established with its first stage programme in Delhi, in 2015. The
registered office is located in North Delhi. Kehkashan never asks for any
financial support for her organization.
She
only requests those who can help, “Kindly have respect for differently abled
people and invest your valuable time not money in helping them.”
After
all specially-abled people only need our understanding to live a good life, she
says.
Hosla
teaches Indian and Western vocal music to differently-abled and visually
impaired children who belong to the lower or lower-middle-income group of
society and whose families can hardly afford to train them to shape their
future. Not only vocal music, they teach dance steps to their students
The
main focus of Hosla is to bring back the happiness that works as oxygen to such
marginalized and discriminated against people. Kehkashan believes that people
born with natural disabilities should be treated with much love and care just
and not looked at as burden.
She
says their struggle for survival makes inspirational real-life stories that
could motivate people who despite owning a perfect and healthy body fall into
depression and frustration.
Kehkashan
is also engaged with another NGO that provides support for Dementia patients.
Saviour group works for people who lose their memory. They live a miserable
life as they are also completely neglected by their families.
The
challenges for Dementia patients are quite different from those the physically
challenged people. She says dementia is spreading like an epidemic among the
elderly.
Kehkashan
believes that Dementia, being a huge risk for the future days to come must be
taken seriously, today.
Recalling
her experience with people suffering from Dementia, she says she was touched to
realize that such people, at times, don’t even remember their identity.
“They
are helpless.” She experienced cases where people throw their elderly parents
out of their houses due to their illness.
Tyagi
also sincerely supports the transgender community. She says transgender people
are always humiliated. She tries to get connected with international groups of
transgender people and helps create awareness for them
She
shared the story of a transgender lady who was thrown out of the job for no
reason. Tyagi said that transgenders are facing injustice in society and they
must keep fighting for their rights.
They
have every reason to be happy and they should always get equal rights like
other citizens in the society. Transgender people in the Western world have
been given justice and equal rights, so Indian society must be liberal enough
to honour their decisions protect their rights, and let them live with full
dignity.
People
like Kehkashan could live a joyous retired life but the fact that she chose to
stand for her extended family makes her a real hero.
Source:
awazthevoice.in
https://www.awazthevoice.in/personality-news/kehkashan-s-hosla-handholds-abandoned-and-neglected-humans-26990.html
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/princess-reema-saudi-us-defence/d/131681