Women’s conference discusses violence and security challenges
KUWAIT: The regional conference, “The Arab woman, peace, and security: challenges facing women in the Arab region... halting the war on Gaza now, not tomorrow,” proceeded in Kuwait for the second day in a row on Friday. Dr. Haila Al-Mukaimi, a political sciences professor at Kuwait University, said during the session that the Kuwait Union of Women’s Associations called for promoting United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, which essentially renounces violence against women.
The UNSC needs to be activated further to enable the Arab woman to be a peacemaker, Dr. Al-Mukaimi said. The resolution, adopted on October 31, 2000, reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peacebuilding, peacekeeping, humanitarian response, and post-conflict reconstruction and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security.
Maha Ali, secretary general of the Jordanian national committee for women affairs, indicated that the UNSG resolution needs to be literally heeded, citing hardships suffered by Palestinian women, in particular due to complacency, in this respect. Jordan has worked out a national plan to ensure women’s participation in the security, military, and non-conventional sectors, she said. The number of Jordanian women occupying jobs, particularly in general security and peacekeeping missions, has increased, she added.
Dr. Yosra Mohsen, the director general of the circuit for empowering Iraqi women, spoke about her government’s measures to boost women’s participation at various levels. Iraq has sought to bolster the role of civil society through an executive plan focusing on protecting women, she said, alluding, as a tangible result, to the mounting participation of female citizens in elections. Wafaa Al-Daiqa, a member of the executive council of the Arab Women Organization, called in her speech for a cease-fire in Gaza and protecting the Palestinian people from the genocides carried out by the Zionist occupation.
Al-Daiqa indicated that the UNSG resolution could not be literally heeded in Lebanon due to recurrent events and jitters. Dr. Chefika Abdeh, the head of the Yemeni women’s committee, echoed an identical picture due to the internal violence. Leila Jeddin, a female justice from Mauritania, acknowledged in her statement that the number of female leaders has remained small in her country.
Her peer, Fatma Al-Muaqqet, the head of the Palestinian Fund, said that a number of laws for improving women’s status had been drawn up in Palestine and argued that the UNSG resolution has proven ineffective in the shadow of aggression in Palestine. Kuwait Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah inaugurated the conference on behalf of Foreign Minister Abdullah Al-Yahya. The two-day event is organized by the Kuwaiti Union for Women’s Associations in coordination with the Arab League Affiliated Organization of the Arab Woman. — KUNA