• by IPS Correspondents (amman)
• Sunday, November 13, 1994
• Inter Press Service

AMMAN, Nov 13 (IPS) - The participation of women in politics and decision-making throughout the Western Asian Region remains limited since the last women's world conference in 1985, delegates at the Arab Region Preparatory Meeting here in Amman heard this week.

"Almost one decade after the adoption of the Nairobi Forward- Looking Strategies the participation of Arab women in their parliaments and governments is still very low," said Gertrude Mongella, Secretary-General of the Fourth World Conference on Women.

"Sometimes I am even ashamed to give the figures," emphasised Mongella, whose audience at the conference session included Arab ministers. The Arab preparatory meeting is a forerunner to the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing next year.

With an eye on the Middle East peace process Mongella pointed out that women have particular skills in conflict resolution, but most of the time they are unrecognised.

"This is unfortunate because this region provides considerable evidence that women have innovative approaches to conflict resolution which can be effective both at national and international level," Mongella added.

She hoped that when peace was finally achieved in the Middle East history would not forget the role played by women.

Mongella was critical of the international media for not covering the preparatory meeting in depth as they would have noted the achievements made by Arab women.

Prior to the main preparatory meeting there had been a three- day forum of non-governmental organisation (NGO) experts who noted the need to cope with widespread illiteracy among women in the Arab region.

A draft Plan of Action for women in the Arab region was formulated by delegates which concluded with a proposal that Arab governments should be pressed into accepting 30 percent female representation at all decision-making levels.

A UNESCO world report on illiteracy revealed that 65.5 million out of 115 Arab women are illiterate.

"The same statistics show a high drop-out rate among girls at all levels of education in the Middle East," said Nabila Hamza, director of the Centre of Arab Women for Training and Research (CAWTAR).

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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