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Al-Ahram Weekly 16 - 22 March 2000 Issue No. 473 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 16 - 22 March 2000 Issue No. 473
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Special Focus Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Bringing back the other half
By Dahlia Hammouda
International Women's Day on 8 March is an occasion marked by women's groups around the world. It is a time when women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their common cause and honour its pioneers. This date has been seen worldwide as a time for asserting women's political and social rights and for reviewing the progress that women have made.
Egypt certainly has good cause to celebrate this year. On 12 March, the country celebrated its own national Women's Day, with a conference that saw the official launching of a new National Women's Council (NWC), set up only a few weeks ago. The council, established by presidential decree, is entrusted with drawing up a national plan for the advancement of women. Mrs Suzanne Mubarak was named council head and Mervat Tallawi, former minister of social affairs, its secretary-general. Thirty public figures, women's rights activists and social work experts were named council members.
The NWC grew out of the reasoning that, in a fast-changing world, countries wanting to move ahead can no longer afford to marginalise women. The primacy of the role of women and the importance of their empowerment in the attainment of development goals have been recognised at last.
The council was set up to replace the National Women's Commission, established in 1993 by a prime ministerial decree and presided over by Mrs Mubarak. The commission was part of the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood. Due to a new awareness on the part of the country's leadership of the need to reinforce the national organisation charged with the crucial role of women's advancement, the NWC was placed at the highest political level of government to fulfil that goal.
The responsibilities assigned to the new council are far-reaching. It will suggest policy for society and its institutions in the field of promoting women's causes, empowering women and integrating their efforts in comprehensive development programmes. The NWC will introduce and follow up on public policy reforms related to women's issues, besides advising the relevant authorities in this regard. The council will also express opinions on laws and decrees pertaining to women before they are presented for ratification, and will recommend draft laws viewed as necessary for the improvement of women's conditions.
In addition to voicing opinions on all international agreements related to women, the NWC will represent women at international conferences and organisations dealing with women's issues. Some of the council's other functions include setting up a research and information centre, holding conferences, debates and seminars and organising awareness-raising training sessions on women's rights, duties and role in society. The secretary-general will be in charge of running the affairs of the council, which will have 12 permanent committees, each specialised in a particular field, with one of the council members as head. Funding will come from government budget allocations and private donations the council decides to accept.
With such an ambitious agenda, are there issues the NWC is likely to give priority to initially? Tallawi told Al-Ahram Weekly that the council has not yet met to discuss substantive matters. She said the 12 March meeting that President Hosni Mubarak attended was a procedural one. "The council will meet after the Eid vacation to discuss substantive issues. At present, we are very busy preparing for the upcoming women's conference," she said.
According to Tallawi, once the council gets down to the business of drawing up a preliminary agenda, it is likely to give priority to issues related to the advancement of low-income and illiterate women. "We need to mobilise women so they can really contribute to our development goals," she said. "Women can play vital roles in promoting environmental concerns, awareness of citizenship, feelings of belonging... They can pass this on to the next generation."
It is also very likely that issues of women's training and access to credit will figure high on the council's agenda, Tallawi said. "Women need to acquire the skills by which they can earn their own living. They also need to be given access to the necessary finances to start their own projects or small business," she said.
