Finishing
Strong
Arab Women End 2015 on a Positive Note
At the end of a difficult year, the women of the region give 2015 a proper sendoff scoring wins from the Maghreb to the Arab Peninsula. The region is undeniably approaching a crossroads with political transitions, armed conflicts, poverty and an alarming rise of violent extremism. Defying the chaos, however, Arab women are still tirelessly fighting for their rights.
Nobel Peace Prize
Wided Bouchmaoui, a Tunisian business woman, led the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handcrafts as one of four organizations represented in the now iconic “Tunisian Quartet”. The Quartet was instrumental in leading the national dialogue in Tunisia and steering the country away from open
conflict. In October, the role of the Quartet and the value of women’s contribution to the political
process received significant international recognition when the Tunisian Quartet was awarded 2015’s Nobel Peace Prize. Ms. Boucmaoui was one of the four representatives who collected the prize.
Tunisia witnessed another victory for women in October when the parliament passed a law that allowed mothers to apply for passports for, and travel with their minor children. Before the change, even when mothers had custody, fathers were the sole legal guardians in matters of travel and their consent was required for issuing passports and approve travels for minors.
First Madam Speaker of Parliament
In November, Amal Al Qubaisi, an Emirati politician and academic, made history when she was elected the first ever Arab woman speaker of a parliamentary body when her peers chose her to chair the Federal National Council.
We are half the nation, half the power, one half of life,.. Excluding women from participating in all three powers of the state is a waste of half of its productive human resources," Dorreya Shafiq in a women's rights rally in the 1950s- Egypt.
Wided Bouchmaoui accepting 2015's Nobel Peace Prize. Photo: The Associated Press.
Amal Al Qubaisi, first Arab woman speaker of parliament. Photo: Federal National Council.
Libyan peace activists at the Palais des Nations. Photo: UNSMIL