Women have a vital role in environmental management and development, this presentation present the efforts that has done to empower women in Arab region

1. Women Empowerment
in
Arab World
By
Prof. Ghada Amer
Vice President
VArab Science and Technology Foundation
Vice Dear for R&D
Faculty of Engineering – Benha University

2. Having extensive geographic area and a
population of 420 million, the Arab world cannot
be viewed as a single monolithic community in
term of endowment or human development.
 It consists of 22 Arab countries, 32% of the
population are youth between the ages of 15 and
29 years old (represent over 100 million of the
current population).
Please Note:

3. Please Note:
At certain points one or more countries are
selected as representatives or used as examples.
Some names/projects maybe mentioned for
demonstration, this does not imply that others,
which maybe even more important, do not exist.
 Unless specified, the term “science” is generally
used to express all scientifically and technically
based disciplines.

5. Faces of Arab Women
• Women currently make up 49.7% of around 420
million people in the Arab region.
• Despite the many advances made in terms of
closing the gender gap in health, political
representation, and labour force participation,
many other barriers remain.

6. Arab Woman Empowerment in
the Past
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7. The first woman named in the history of
science was Merit Ptah (2700 Bc.) in
Egypt's Valley of the Kings.
Arab Woman Empowerment in the
Past
She held the title "chief
physician," making her
the first known female
physician and the first
woman named in the
history of science.

8. The First Girls School and the First
University In Egypt and Arab Worlds
the new Egypt the first governmental girl’s school
started in Cairo in 1873
Before 1873 rich girls used to have private teaching at
home, or to go to Missionary girls Schools or to be sent
to have their education in France or England.
The first University in Egypt Started in 1908. (only
7 girls) attended the University at that time , mainly
studying the humanitarian subjects.

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Current Status of Women
Empowerment in Arab Region

10. Gender Discrimination
 In many Arabic countries, gender-based
discrimination, coupled with social and cultural
barriers, limits access and participation of
women in higher education.
 Some people attribute these barriers to the
teachings of Islam, but this is false as we saw
yesterday.

11. Cultural Disparities
Arabic countries vary greatly
in their culture, traditions,
and social systems, and there
is a wide range of attitudes
toward educating women at
the university level.
Although women in many
Arabic countries have the right
to a university education,
those in more traditional rural
areas often do not have this
chance, whether for social,
economic, or family reasons.

12. Gender inequality in Internet usage is a
significant contributor to the development
of the social divide, according to the
World Bank.
4. Many Arab countries now realize that
broadband Internet is crucial to
reducing poverty and creating jobs,
especially for women and youth.
Arab Women and Technology
1. 48% of women in the Arab world do not own a
mobile phone: That’s 84 million Women unconnected.
2. The gender gap in Internet usage across the region
is 34%.
3. 2 in 3 Internet users in the MENA region are men.

13. 3. Obesity is epidemic among women in the region
(and also, for men).
4. Maternal mortality rates in the Arab world have
gone down by 60% on average over the last 2
decades. Today, mothers are almost 3 times more
likely to survive childbirth, compared to 20 years ago;
and their babies are more likely to survive the first five
years of their lives.
Arab Women and Health

14. 5. Political empowerment has improved in the region,
more than doubling the rate in 2006, according to the
WEF Gender Gap Report, but it is still very low. The
average percentage of women in parliament is 25%, in
some the Arab countries.
6. Women’s participation in the workforce is low, at
25%. The global average for women in the labour force is
about 50%, and more women are better educated than
before.
7. 17% of women work in the non-agricultural sector.
8. Education for women is up! Almost all young girls
attend school, and more women than men are enrolled in
university.
Arab Women and Politics

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In Arab Countries, career opportunities for female science
graduates are considerably more limited than those for men.
Egyptian and Saudi women constitute:
• 40% of the faculty in Pharmacy and Dentistry
• 25% of the faculty in Natural science
• less than 10% in engineering & technology
Patterns are like those seen in some U.S. universities, where
women constitute:
• 50% of health sciences faculty
• 23.8% of biological sciences faculty
• 6.1% of engineering faculty
Professional opportunities

16. Statistical

17. Gender Inequality and the
Empowerment of Women in the
6 Countries
75
70 67
76 76
71
78
24
15 16
30 27 25
48
Egypt Iraq Jordan Libya Morocco Tunisa MI Average
% Men and Women in the Labour Force
Men Women

18. 26.1 28.1 27.2
32.6
22.9 21.5
16.7 18.7 16.5
29.4
15.5 16.9
EGYPT IRAQ JORDAN LIBYA MOROCCO TUNISIA
Agree A University Education is More Important for a
Boy than a Girl, % by Gender
Men Women
Attitudes to Women’s
Education

19. 55.6
77.5 70.9 76.6 69.6 79.7
60.1
89.6 92.3 83.8 84.7 88.6
Married Women Can Work
Outside the Home, % by
Gender
Men Women
87.8 83.5 78.5 73.6 83.383.6 77.7
60.5
44.1
58.9
Jobs Scarce Men should
have Priority, % by
Gender
Men
Attitudes to Women’s
Employment

20. • Only 14.7% of married women living in owner
occupied marital home were joint owners in the AT
2014 survey,
45.8 44.3
39.7
35.1
42.9
59.1 60.7
66.6
59.1
64.2
EGYPT JORDAN LIBYA MOROCCO TUNISIA
Agree Job Best Way for a Women to be Independent
Men Women
Attitudes to Women: Economic
Empowerment

21. 87
78.9
83.5
76.3
44.3
65.3
81.4
64
82.6
69.6
25.8
43.1
EGYPT IRAQ JORDAN LIBYA MOROCCO TUNISIA
On the Whole Men Make Better Political Leaders than
Women, % by Gender
Men women
Attitudes to Women: Political
Leadership

23. • According to British
Dictionary
• give (someone) the authority or
power to do something:
• members are empowered to audit
the accounts of limited companies
• make (someone) stronger and
more confident, especially in
controlling their life and claiming
their rights.
• According to World Bank
• “Empowerment is the
process of increasing the
capacity of individuals or
groups to make choices
and to transform those
choices into desired
actions and outcomes.”
What is Empowerment

25. Women's empowerment has five components:
o Sense of self-worth
o Right to have and to determine choices
o Right to have access to opportunities and resources
o Right to have the power to control their own lives, both
within and outside the home
o Ability to influence the direction of social change to
create a more just social and economic order,
nationally and internationally
What is Women Empowerment?

26. Holistic approach to
Empowerment
Health
& Nut.
Education
Water
Skills
Technology
Credit
Political
Participation
Marketing
Asset base

27. The Way Forward

28. Factors Influencing Women
Empowerment
Women
Empowerment
Strength
Economically
independent
women
Industry
Wisdom
Women
literacy
Women
participation in
election
Proportion of women
in parliament, local
bodies
Empathy
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28

29. A triangle that can Move
the Mountain….
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Universal
primary
education
Emphasis on
girl child
Economic
equality

30. • Women availing services of public utilities like road
transport, power, water and sanitation,
telecommunication etc.
• Training of women as highly skilled workers- top
end skills
• Research/Technology for women
• Women in the work force
• Asset ownership by women
• Women as Entrepreneurs
Action Areas

31.  Supporting women in STEM is an essential aspect
of helping countries grow and innovate.
 These glass-ceiling-shattering female leaders prove
that training in seriously hard sciences leads to
serious innovation and success.
 Here’s why having a strong background in STEM
is important for developing and shaping female
leaders in today’s landscape
Action Areas

32. • Careers in STEM offer women many opportunities to
engage in some of the most exciting and important
regions of technological and scientific innovation.
• Women with a STEM background will own a great
ways for problem solving and leadership.
• Being an engineer involves a huge amount of
collaboration and teamwork to come up with creative
and strategic solutions to problems.
• It’s all about the discovery process. Even if you don’t
know all of the answers to a problem, STEM helps
you understand how to ask the right questions.

34. Ongoing Efforts to Empower
Women in Egypt
Egypt’s government has recently taken
concrete strategic steps to Empower
women such as:
Celebrating the First ever year (2017) of
women in Egypt.

35. Ongoing Efforts to Empower
Women in Egypt
activating the Economic empowerment
pillar in the National Women strategy
2030,The National council for Women signed
a Memorandum of understanding with the
Central bank of Egypt (CBE); which places
Egypt as the first Country to have its CBE
sign an agreement with a National Women
machinery worldwide.”

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Ongoing Efforts to
Empower Women in
Egypt
National Council of Women (NCW) Initiative such as
the “Taa Marboota” campaign which has reached
roughly 60 million Egyptians and aims to raise
awareness about the importance of women’s
participation in all spheres of life.
the preparation of Egypt’s National Women’s
Strategy 2030 to be in sync with Egypt’s National
Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS) 2030.

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Ongoing Efforts to
Empower Women in
Egypt
The majority of the targets for 2030 are legitimate,
and Many of the goals are too optimistic. For
example:
 the percentage of female illiteracy among Egyptian
women aged 20 to 29 in 2014 was 12 %, and the
target of the NCW plan is zero percent in 2030.
 The percentage of employed women below the
poverty line in 2015 was 36.3 %, and the target for
2030 is 9 %.
 the percentage of women parliamentarians in 2016

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Egyptian Women in Government
 There has been great progress for women in the upper
echelons of state power. In 2013 there were 3 government
ministers. Now, in 2018, there are 6 women leading the
Ministries of:
1. Social Solidarity,
2. Tourism,
3. Culture,
4. Investment & International Cooperation,
5. Migration and Egyptian Expatriates, and
6. Planning, Monitoring and Administrative
Reform.

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Egyptian Women in Government
President El-Sisi in February 2017 appointed for
the first time a woman governor, Nadia Abdo
for the governorate of Beheira. She is only one
woman in a pool of 27 governors,

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 Historically, women have not had strong representation
in the Egyptian parliament. Over the years, quotas to
encourage their participation have been instituted,
abolished, and reinstated.
 After the 2011 uprising, the quota was nullified for the 2012
parliament and women’s representation was confined
to 2%.
 In the 2015 parliament, a quota was once again
reinstated, and in parliamentary elections, women
reached their historical high in terms of numerical
representation, accounting for 14.9% of the total
available seats.
 Reflecting the quota requirements, 75 women were
elected out of 568 members. 40 more women were
appointed by virtue of a presidential decree, thus
Egyptian Women in
Parliamentarians

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Ongoing Efforts to
Empower Women in
UAE
According to the World Economic Forum 2016 Global
Gender Gap Report, the UAE is ranked as a leading
country when it comes to gender equality in the
region.
 In 2015, the UAE established the Gender Balance
Council- a federal entity that enhances and increases
women’s role in leadership positions.
Other organizations such as Dubai Women
Establishment (DWE) are actively promoting gender
equality not only in the UAE, but within the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Among their
many initiatives is the UAE Women Leadership Program,
which provides leadership training programs for Emirati
women.

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Ongoing Efforts to
Empower Women in Saudi
Arabia
Recently, the Kingdom lifted a ban on women
driving, which will help boost women’s financial
power and allow them to play a bigger role in
economic and social diversification in line with Vision
2030.
Increasing Saudi women’s participation in the
labour market will help in achieving one of the most
important goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, which
is to increase Saudi women’s participation in the
market to 30%, up from 22% in 2016.

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Ongoing Efforts to Empower
Women in Tunisia

44. 44
Ongoing Efforts to Empower Women in
Tunisia

45. 45
Regional Organizations
for Women in Science
• Arab Science and Technology Foundation (ASTF
- Sharja, U.A.E.) formed the women’s committee
in support of women members.
• Prominent women scientist representing Arab
researcher around the globe were nominated to
the ASTF board of directors
• Women comprise 8.7% of the total ASTF
scientists and technologists

46. Conclusion
 Islam promotes the importance of
education to both sexes as the Prophet
Mohamed (PBUH) ordered “Seek knowledge
from cradle to grave”
 In no region in the world do women have
equal rights to men (economical, social or
legal)
Growing number of women’s association
and organizations in the Arab world is a
positive phenomenon

47. 47
Conclusion
Women education in most Arab countries
only developed during the last 50 years, now
the number of women graduates in the
fields of Science is more or less equal to
men
Although women have the same
opportunities as men in most fields of
science and health education, yet there is a
limited job opportunities for women.
 The glass ceiling still exist for women
Globally

49. The Arab Science and Technology Foundation
ASTF was established on year 2000 by 425 scientists. It came out of a
need expressed by Arab scientists to develop practical means to
advance science and technology (S&T) in the Arab region.
ASTF is:
 An international NGO that cares for
development in the Arab region.
 Connects scientists
 It avoids repetition and competition
with others in the region.
 Works globally (with individuals or entities)
and applies its programs in the 22 Arab
countries.

50. ASTF Expanding
Virtually (Networks) & Geographically (Offices)
50
ASTF manages its progs
from (Offices):
1) Sharjah
(Grants Program)
2) Baghdad
(Scientist Rescue
Prog)
3) Cairo
(Extraction of
Innovation Prog)
4) Amman
(Inv in Tech Prog)
5) Tunis
(Tech Transfer Prog)
6) Tetwan/Fes
(EU ties program)
ASTF Specialized Networks :
Arab Biotechnology Network - UAE Renewable Energy Network –Tunis
Arab Science Journalists Association - Egypt Arab Network on Nanotechnology –
weden
RD&I Network on Electro Technology – Morocco Technopreneurs and Investors Network –
ordan
Arab Women Association for Research &Development - Egypt

51. 51

52. R&D Women
Initiative
Objectives of the Initiative
Gather information on existing individuals, efforts, and institutions
working in the field of empowering WS&T Arab Women.
Network and coordinate expertise and efforts for better of outcome.
Bring together capable teams of S&T Women to develop meaningful
projects and implement them to show Women positive impact on socio-
economic advancement in the region.
Create opportunities for better capacity building of talented young Arab
Women through Fellowship, Mentorship and interaction with distinguished
spirits.

53. AWARD Network
Arab Women Association for Research and
Development
 Create networks and strengthen
partnership of Arab women
researchers and organizations
working on development issues.
Objectives:
 Develop opportunities for Arab scientists for cross-discipline and cross-
sector networking.
 Build collaborations with professionals, leaders of organizations, and
supporters of Arab women in S &T.
 Promote education and training options in research and innovation and
provide guidance on know how and connections which enable scientist and
entrepreneurs to succeed.
 Organize short training courses and workshops in the fields of science and
development.

54. 54

55. Conference Website development

56. 1.Empowerment of S&T Women in the Arab World
2.Initiative on Empowerment of Arab Women in
S&T for the Socioeconomic Development in the
Arab World
3.Women in S&T and the Required Development
in the Arab World
4.Individual and Collective Efforts to Support S&T
Women in the Arab World
56
Conferences Scope

57. 5. Success Stories of Women in S&T: Past and
Present
6. Business Leaders and Empowerment of S&T
Women in the Arab World
7. Science, Technology and Gender in the Arab
world: Current Issues and Challenges
8. The Role of Audio-Visual Media in the
Development of S&T Women’s Role
57
Conferences Scope

58. 58
2010 is the pilot program include 5
Arab countries: Egypt, Tunisia, United
Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi
Arabia.
And this year 2011 it will be for all Arab
Region
Management the 2010 L’Oréal-
UNESCO Pan Arab Regional
Fellowships For Women in Science

59. Economic Empowerment …is it
possible?
“Its always seems impossible until its
done”
15-03-2020 59
Nelson Mandela
( Social Activist and 1st President of South Africa)

60. 60
Thank You Future
Leaders!
Prof. Ghada M. Amer
Ghada.amer@astf.net
Ghada.amer@bhit.bu.edu.eg