Dubai: Arab version of “Davos” discussed women empowerment
Geneva Council for Rights and Liberties calls to the Global Women’s Forum Dubai participants to ensure effective impact on advancing women’s rights in MENA region
Geneva, 19February 2020
This week, the most rich and powerful of the world attended “Davos” like forum held in Dubai. The second edition of the Global Women’s Forum Dubai (GWFD) was organised by the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and hosted by Dubai Women Establishment on 16-17 February. The Forum was attended by more than 3,000 delegates from 87 countries representing global leaders, experts, academics, entrepreneurs, including Ivanka Trump, adviser to the US President, former UK prime minister Theresa May, David Malpass, president of the World Bank Group and Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the IMF. In addition, the first We-Fi Mena Regional Summit co-organised by the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) and Dubai Women Establishment is the side event with the participation of 250 government representatives, business leaders and women entrepreneurs from the region.
This global platform convened with the main theme as “The power of influence” with discussions to inspire dialogues on the role of women across four main areas: four main areas: government, economy, society, and future. Geneva Council for Rights and Liberties welcomes this initiative to empower women in the Middle East and North Africa region. We hope that outcomes of these discussions will have effective impact on advancing women’s rights protection and call to the GFWD participants to ensure effective impact on advancing women’s rights in MENA region. We would like to remind that the situation of women’s human rights is alarming in this region despite few positive developments at a legislative and institutional level. In particular, discrimination in law and practice against women in the area of marriage and divorce, inheritance and child custody, inadequate action against sexual and other gender-based violence, nationality, “honour” crimes, freedom of movement, polygamy and child marriage. The domestic violence, including sexual violence and marital rape are not criminalised in most of the MENA countries. So-called “honour” crimes carried out by a husband against his wife who had committed adultery, the mitigating circumstances and exculpatory often extended to other male members of her family but not to women. We are also concerned about the repression of women’s rights defenders in some countries.
