A momentous event, the Arab Women Organisation's (AWO) 3rd Congress will be officially opened today by Tunisia's First Lady and the Chairwoman of the Congress. Since she undertook AWO's presidency, Mrs. Leila Ben Ali has announced a host of practical measures for the empowerment of Arab women. These measures testify to a coherent and integrated approach to promote Arab women's rights in line with a rational, civilizational vision which has already helped Arab women achieve great strides. AWO's third Congress agenda is also revealing of the project of modernity which it will strive to fulfill, keeping in mind that modernity far from being a mere concept is also anchored in each country's reality but also in the movement of history. In our interconnected world, it would be wrong to believe that any country or community of countries can pursue its own development path in isolation from the rest of the world. In this sense, the recommendations put forth by President Ben Ali during the 2004 Arab Summit towards greater Arab openness to science and technology, but also in fighting against ignorance and retrograde ideas by promoting the educational curricula and the condition of Arab women, have led to a greater and better awareness of these issues. The theme of AWO's 3rd Congress, “Arab Women: An Essential Partner in Sustainable Development”, is quite telling of the new spirit that leads Arab reform, one that takes into account the environmental dimension of sustainable development, a major concern nowadays, not only in the Arab region, but almost everywhere else. Both the number and quality of the plenary sessions also show the high cognitive level the Congress has set, under the impulse of its Chairwoman, Mrs. Leila Ben Ali. The Arab First Ladies, and the experts in Arab women's issues will no doubt find in Tunisia a propitious ground to set up a joint Arab vision of sustainable development, towards further progress and modernity.
