World Economic Forum on the Middle East 2006

Participants recognized there are gaps in women's equality before the law and agreed that one of the most important ways to bridge them is through education, education, education. Awareness raising is critical, as is engaging women in the political process, but key to meaningful change is self empowerment. Overcoming powerful social and cultural norms is the only way forward.

A debate over the role of Shari'a in the oppression of women's rights ended in a consensus: the problem lies in interpretation and implementation of the law. As Suhair Al Ali, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, pointed out, "Equality is more than just laws; it is a function of cultural norms and practices." She acknowledged gaps in the laws, but urged women not to hide behind them. Instead, work on core issues, she recommended, including self empowerment, which can be achieved by letting women know their rights and empowering them economically, among other things.

Several panelists agreed with her assessment that many women are complacent, but this apathy often comes from the serious lack of role models, education and economic opportunity. Many are simply too busy struggling to make a living while raising their families. Women often work against each other because many do not believe they are entitled to rights or that women have the power to effect change. To this end, both men and women must be educated about their political rights and about democracy.

Women must believe if they are not part of the solution, they are part of the problem, according to Anissa E. Hassouna, Board Member and Treasurer, Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs (ECFA), Egypt. Women must become part of the political process at the grassroots level, where they can really make a significant difference. "As for separation of mosque and state, this taboo you cannot touch. But this will backfire. We are not going in the right direction. We need a roadmap." She called for a country monitoring mechanism for women's rights, similar to today's human rights monitoring because governments should be made accountable.

Participants urged women's groups to work with other stakeholders to ensure they can move forward. Because women and young people face the same discrimination lack of access to education and economic opportunities they should form coalitions to advocate change. "We must get out of the mindset that change can only be effected by women. Women's issues are societal issues. Such challenges must be dealt with by involving both women and men in finding answers to the questions," said Nayla Moawad, Minister of Social Affairs of Lebanon. Women's capacity for economic development must be strengthened. Progress will depend on education from an early age. "There are many ways of empowering women, including perhaps circulating books so that women and children can learn about their rights. This is critical," she added.

Panelists agreed that affirmative action is an important tool. It is working in Jordan, for example, where the government recently introduced legislation for municipal elections calling for a 20% representation of women. Most important is that laws may be constitutional, but they are not interpreted properly. For example, a woman may have the right to work but, in some countries, she must have her husband's permission. Why is this not being challenged? Another example is the interpretation of inheritance laws. The Koran stipulates that property must be divided equally between surviving spouses and children. In practice, this does not always happen. Honour killing is another case in point.

"What do women want? They want normalcy. They want education and they want the option to participate in the workforce," said Raghida Dergham, Senior Diplomatic Correspondent and Columnist, Al Hayat, USA. She challenged panelists to explain figures released in the 2005 World Economic Forum's first ever study that attempts to quantify the size of the "gender gap" in 58 countries. In the areas of economic participation, economic opportunity, political empowerment, educational attainment, and health and well being, Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt were at the very bottom of the list.

There is indeed much work to do. Al Ali concluded that it will take generations, "but we cannot have half our population silenced.

Their voices must be heard."