OSI Forum: All Sides of the Story—Voices of Women Activists from the Middle East and North Africa

Location: OSI-New York
Event Date(s): March 1, 2007
Multimedia:   AUDIO

The Open Society Institute’s Network Women’s Program, Middle East & North Africa Initiative, and V-Day Karama hosted an informal reception and panel discussion featuring women activists from the Middle East and North Africa attending the 51st Session of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women.

With prevailing stereotypical images of women from the Middle East and North Africa propagated in the Western media, many have a monolithic perception of an oppressed, passive (or invisible), and voiceless woman, denied basic rights. This event featured four women’s rights activists from Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia, who shared their perspectives on critical women’s/human rights issues. They discussed current cultural and political challenges and opportunities in their societies and the region as a whole.

Panelists

• Azza Kamel, Egypt: Founder and Director of Appropriate Communication Techniques in Cairo; gender trainer for UN agencies, foundations, NGOs
• Fethia Saidi, Tunisia: Sociologist/Assistant Professor at Tunisian University, Executive Member of the Arab Association of Sociology, producer of a national social television show, and member of Tunisian Women for Research and Development
• Saadia Wadah, Morocco: Head of the Moroccan Women’s Association to Combat Violence, Member of the Arab Women’s Court
• Amal Mahmoud Fayed, Egypt: Secretary General, Women Development Forum Coordinator, CEDAW NGO Coalition, Regional Advisor, V-Day Karama, former Chair of Arab Organization for Human Rights

Moderated by Marla Swanson, Senior Program Officer of the Open Society Institute Women's Program.

Remarks by Anthony Richter, Associate Director of the Open Society Institute and Director of the Central Eurasia Project and Middle East/North Africa Initiatives, and Hibaaq Osman, Chair, V-Day Karama.