On December 13th and 14th, 2009 the Peace Movement participated in a two day country consultation organized to finalize the Regional NGO Shadow Report on the Arab States,
Fulfillment of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPFA),ffteen years after it was adopted at the United Nations World Conference on Women in 1995.
The gathering was organized by Karama, UNIFEM Egypt and the Alliance for Arab Women who convened with NGO representatives from 22 countries across the Middle East and North Africa gathered to discuss, debate and assess the regional progress of the BPFA; the challenges and achievements, the obstacles facing the region hindering the full implementation and last but not least the role of the Civil Society and NGOs in this regard.
The discussion was enriched by the presence and intervention of Ambassador Gertrude Mongella, Secretary General of the UN’s 1995 Beijing World Conference for Women and Former President of the Pan-African Parliament who spoke of the challenges and achievements that women undertook since 1995. Several regional experts were present in the gathering including Dr. Feryal El Serafy ( Member of the Bahraini Women Alliance), Dr. Madiha El Safty ( Board Member of the Alliance of Arab Women) and Dr. Hayfaa Abu Ghazaleh ( Secretary General of the National Council for Family Affairs- Jordan).
Building on these discussions and analysis, the representatives issued recommendations in the framework of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), adopted by UN member states in 2000. As an outcome from this regional consultative meeting, women activists, experts in the fields of human rights and development from the Arab and North African countries succeeded in developing a collective regional set of priorities for the next five years. These priorities, in addition to the Beijing + 15 Regional NGO Shadow Report, are to be presented at the 54th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York, where Beijing + 15 will be a review theme.
“ The issuing of this report is of special importance, as this region has common Arabic language and culture embraced by the majority of its citizens…the report shows that generally speaking the Arab States have made progress in regards to the status of women since Beijing 1995” stated Dr. Hoda Badran, Chairperson, the Alliance of Arab Women.