Arab Feminist Civil Society Perspective regarding States’ Policies on Economic Justice and Rights
- Day 4: Dec 17 (UTC+8) 1:30 pm-2:30 pm
Arab States Feminist CSOs Network
Speakers:
Fatema Khafagy
Zeina Abdel Khalik
Samia Fessi (Kadiraat Organisation)
Fatima Outaleb (Board of Directors of UAF Morocco)
Islah Jad (Beirzeit University)
In this session, two policy papers were presented by the Arab Feminist CSOs Network on the elimination of gender-based violence and economic justice and rights. The papers were developed within the process of preparing for Beijing +25, the Generation Equality Forum 2021 to amplify the voice of civil society and feminist organisations and push forward the gender equality agenda.
The session first addressed shortcomings of government policies in securing economic justice and rights of Arab women, focusing on the informal sector, unpaid care work, women and entrepreneurship, and women in the technology sector. The session then addressed the groups of women who face multiple forms of discrimination such as rural women, refugee women and migrant domestic workers, and considered different challenges faced by women impeding them from being economically active and from securing decent work, including:
- macro-economic obstacles and limited access to resources
- discriminatory laws and insufficient legal protection
- adverse social norms and sexual harassment in the workplace
The presentation then discussed what needs to be achieved by Arab governments in the coming five years to achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women, including young women and persons with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups with equal pay for work of equal value. The session also presented the different forms of violence that Arab women suffer from and how these discourage women from being economically active. It addressed the failure of legal frameworks and the dearth of services available for survivors/victims of violence in the majority of Arab countries that result in women enduring different forms of violence.
Arabic interpretation is available.