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23 Jun 2011

ESCWA Meeting Urges Documentation of Women’s Role in Reform Movements

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Participants in ESCWA’s meeting on “Strategies and Media Campaigns to Promote the Empowerment of Women in the ESCWA Region" today called for proper documentation of women’s roles in the movements of change and promoting this image in international media. This documentation would serve as a tool to rectify stereotypes of Arab women and the image cast for them worldwide. These recommendations came at the conclusion of the meeting, which opened Tuesday at the UN House in Beirut and was attended by experts from national ministries and institutes, as well as women-related councils and committees. Participants said that Media campaigns would also be a necessity to reaffirm the empowerment of women and avoid the loss of rights previously gained. They stressed the need to set nationwide media strategies for relevant ministries and institutions, and for universities. Such documents would be based on international conventions as guiding frameworks and follow-up tools. Participants also called for integrating gender into the policies and programs of media organizations, according to specific mechanisms and schedules, with an emphasis on the active participation of women in decision-making positions in the media industry. The meeting also urged the launching of creative media campaigns based on the reality of Arab women, which should highlight their rights to full citizenship and to making unconventional initiatives. It was also agreed to incorporate promoting the cause of Palestinian and Arab women in countries under occupation and in major crises in all media strategies. They also called for the creation of a fund to support media trainings related to issues of Arab women in cooperation with ESCWA. The Commission was urged to remain a regional platform for discussions on Arab women’s issues and related topics. This way, the voice of the region would resonate in the highest international forums, participants said. On Wednesday, the meeting hosted prominent media figure May Kahhale, who spoke of challenges women face in the media. “If not for heritage and legacies, women would not get into many places. After politics, the widest field of legacy, be it that of a father or a husband, is in journalism and television.” she said. Kahhale added that “any media strategy to empower women will face many obstacles, such as the immaturity of eastern societies to accept women in politics and parties; the absence of laws that impose a female quota in political representation, since men’s satisfaction comes first; and personal laws in all religious groups that forbid women from getting decision-making positions.” Participants from member states of the UN regional commission discussed the experience of Jordan in launching media campaigns to support the rights of working women and pass a law to protect women from domestic violence. Another experience also discussed was that of Morocco, which launched a media campaign with a focus on lifting reservations over the Convention for the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Kuwait presented its experience with media campaigns to politically empower women. Deliberations in the expert meeting underlined efforts of civil society and regional organizations in launching regional media campaigns to support women’s rights. The experiences of two non-governmental organizations, Oxfam and KAFA (Enough Violence and Exploitation), were showcased
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