Arab women's body to discuss empowerment

Abu Dhabi, Nov 9 (IANS) The second convention of the Arab Women's Organisation (AWO) is scheduled to be held in the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to discuss the role and opportunity of women in changing society and empowerment, WAM reported Sunday.

The three-day meet from Nov 11-13, will be held under the patronage of the chairperson of the Family Development Foundation Sheikh Fatima bint Mubarak under the theme 'Woman in the human security concept: Arab and international perspectives'.

The summit's preparatory committee held meetings in Cairo and Algiers which were presided over by Noura Al Suweidi, chief of the General Women's Union (GWU).

Key international player GWU has gone a long way in establishing strong ties with Arab and international organisations since joining regional and international women's organisations.

Al Suweidi affirmed Sheikh Fatima's keenness to support the AWO to enable it shoulder its responsibilities towards the welfare of Arab women and spreading awareness about women's issues in different economic, social, cultural, legal and media aspects.

The Organisation also seeks to include women in the comprehensive development plans and policies.

Sheikh Fatima also has launched an initiative to establish communication links between Arab women abroad and their counterpart in the Arab countries to exchange information and to identify problems faced by the migrant Arab women, specially the those of Palestine.

The AWO members states are UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, Tunisia, Algeria, Sudan, Syria, Oman, Palestine, Lebanon, Libya, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania and Yemen.