Dr. Bochra Kanghani, member of the AWO Executive Council and Syria's delegate, said that the achievements carried out so far in matters of promoting Arab women's conditions remain beyond expectations as long as Arab women are not actively participating in the process of sustainable development. The cultural dimension and the problems of education systems, she added, represent major handicaps for Arab women's creative capacities and participation in the process of development in Arab societies. Dr. Amine Zaoui of Algeria stressed that there can be no sustainable development without coherent and well defined education, cultural and teaching programmes. Any process of development that excludes women, he said, is doomed to failure. He highlighted the role of women in the sectors of education and sustainable development, and called for modernising the education system to enable young girls to become a creative force in the job and production market. In his address, Dr. Mohsen Essalmi of Oman said that the access to education has become within the reach of both girls and boys in most Arab countries, which means there is no gender disparity in this field. Dr. Essalmi stressed the need for Arab states to work out well defined strategies of development in order to further promote women's conditions and enable them to contribute to sustainable development, saying that it is necessary to establish a new religious speech based on enlightened thought likely to contribute to fight against the illiteracy of girls and women. Dr. Ali Hawat of Libya said in his intervention that it is necessary to get rid of discrimination between men and women and favour a climate of freedom and justice. He added that Arab women had managed since the last two decades of last century, according to several regional and international authorities, to record gains and success notably in matters of education and culture.At the end of this first session, participants hailed the opening address of Tunisia's First Lady, Mrs. Leila Ben Ali, AWO's Chairwoman, saying it represents a road map for the promotion of women's conditions and participation in public life and development.
