The conference dealt with women's experiences in times of transition and the recent situation of women in Egypt. The speakers were mainly from South America and Egypt. Around hundred people gathered at 9 o'clock in the conference room, predominantly NGO workers and activists. The general atmosphere was relaxed and the presentations, speeches and discussions were inspiring. There wasn't a big pro or contra debate, everybody seemed to agree on the importance of women participating in the transitional period and after.
The first speaker was Faysa Abu el Naga. She pointed out, that she is the only woman in the parliament in Egypt at the time and that it is crucial to bring women into the next parliament, which will be elected in September 2011.
Michelle Bachelet, former president of Chile and recent general director of UN WOMEN, addressed in her speech the importance of women's participation in building a democracy. Law is only one side of equality. A very crucial point is also the symbolic representation, e.g. before she was elected as president, she was minister of defense. Within this position she was shown with soldiers, tanks and jets and the people started thinking:”Ok, when a woman can deal with that, she can also be president.” For Bachelet quotas are an important tool to reach equality in political representation. She emphasized as well the importance of Networking and Cooperation between women's groups of different political background. They need to find a minimum consent upon the implementation of equal citizenship. Equality should be based in the constitution and already existing structures should be used to build upon.
Finally she quoted Martin Luther King: “It's always the right time to do what's right.”
After a long interesting day the resulting recommendations were:
- implementation and enforcement of laws
- solidarity amongst women
- criminalize sexist and discriminatory behavior
- EDUCATION as the base of a democratic state (the Egyptian education system suffered from dogmas which were tought over the last decades → there is a need for teachers trainings, reorganization of contents, improving the ability of critical thinking)
- social welfare
- critical roles for women
- engage and motivate young people to participate in parties, councils, political groups
- evaluations and critical research and writing
So, let's go to work :-)
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