The second session of the 3rd congress of the Arab Women Organisation which was held on Thursday in Tunis, on the theme “women and the economic dimension of sustainable development” focused on means to favour the integration of Arab women into the process of sustainable development. Chairing the session, Mrs. Amira Fadhel Mohamed, Sudan's minister of education, pointed out that human development represents one of the major development challenges in the Arab region. The chief elements of the economy, she said, are capital, human resources and command of technology, and all these elements do not make any distinction between men and women, she noted. On his part, Tunisian academic and researcher Abdessatar Ati presented the working document of the session in which he pointed out that the durability of public policies depends on good governance, economic development, social justice and environmental protection. ‘‘If we analyse the reality of Arab women and sustainable development, he added, we find several flaws: deterioration of the environment in the Arab world, urban expansion, rural exodus, illiteracy, problems of access to health care, poverty and unemployment”, he said. The speaker also noted the unfair and slow progress of women in Arab states to decision-making positions and put forward a series of propositions to make women full-fledged partners of men in the development process. He also stressed the need to fight violence against women as well as the importance of doing away with the stereotyped image of women to favour equal chances for both sexes in political life as an essential democratic right for good governance. Sheikha Seif El Chamssi of the United Arab Emirates spoke for her part about the current situation of Arab women, reviewing the solutions likely to be adopted to secure sustainable development in the Arab world. She analysed the differences existing between the public and private sectors in the Arab world in matters of women's employment, highlighting the redundancies of women workers in the private sector and notably the sector of services, industry and farming. Among the solutions she advocated to increase women's role in sustainable economic development are the increase of women's skills and the improvement of their scientific and technological training. Dr. Mona Beradai of Egypt called in turn for further boosting the policies adopted in Arab states and increasing women's employment opportunities. She noted in this respect that the promotion of Arab women's condition in the different fields and especially in the economic field, is both the responsibility of the AWO and Arab civil society. Participants in this second session raised several issues relating to the position of Arab women in the process of economic development as well as the hurdles facing women in some Arab states which prevent them from standing out in the economic field. They also discussed the issue of acceptance of women's work and their access to education in certain Arab societies.
