Forum Agenda*
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
Women and Leadership
17:00 - 19:00 Registration at Intercontinental Phoenicia Hotel, Beirut
Day One: 15 October 2009
Women and Leadership
08:00 - 09:15 Registration at Intercontinental Phoenicia Hotel, Beirut
09:30 - 10:15 Opening ceremony
- Mr. Zahi Wehbe, Poet and Presenter, Future TV- Lebanon
- Dr. Nadine Abou Zaki, NAWF Executive Chair and Al Hasnaa Editor-in-Chief- Lebanon
- Mr. Mazen Hayek, Group Director of Marketing, PR and Commercial, MBC Group- UAE
- H. E. Sima Bahous, Assistant Secretary General for Social Affairs- the League of Arab States- Egypt.
- H. E. Bahiya Al Hariri, Minister of Education and Higher Education- Lebanon
- Mrs. Mona El- Harawi, Former First Lady of Lebanon
- H.E. Mahinur Ozdemir, Member of Brussels Regional Parliament, Brussels
- Mrs. Leila Othman, Writer, Kuwait
- Dr. Suhair Al Qurashi, Dean, Dar Al-Hekma College, KSA
10:45 - 11:00 Networking Coffee Break
Panel I: Politics and Media
11:00-12:15 Part 1: Women and Politics
The changing international environment brings to the fore the host of political challenges and related economic and social issues that face the Arab world. NAWF 2009 resumes a vital discussion that started with the first forum in 2007 on the potential role that Arab women can and should play in dealing with these challenges and issues, and the obstacles that continue to limit their political leadership qualities and abilities.
This session will discuss the following issues:
- Is a quota system the best option to ensure a significant share for women in elected assemblies and ministerial posts, and is the Arab world ready for the application of this system on a wide scale?
- Advances made in the political participation of women in the Arab world.
- Social, economic and legal vehicles for promoting the political role of women and an ideal profile for a successful Arab woman politician.
- A psychoanalytical analysis of the relation of women to, and their identification with power, particularly political power and influence.
Moderator: H.E. Tamam Salam, Minister of Culture- Lebanon
Panelists:
- H.E. Louisa Hanoun, Secretary General, Workers Party- Algeria
- H.E. Maysa Rashed Ghadeer, Member of Federal National Council- UAE
- Mrs. Nathalie Pilhes, Director of Migrations, Justice and Security issues for Mediterranean Union, Responsible of Gender issues, French Republic Presidency- Mediterranean Union Mission- France
- Dr. Aman Kabbara Chaarani, President, Lebanese Women Council- Lebanon
12:15-13:30 Part 2: Women and Media
The media has become an increasingly important factor in shaping and swaying Arab public opinion over the last decade or so. The question is how can Arab women take advantage of this powerful tool to further their aims, especially in terms of expanding and strengthening their political image and role.
This session will discuss the following issues:
- What role is required of the media in building up a political image for Arab women?
- Is this image a function of how it is perceived by men, or by women themselves, and to what extent can Arab women build up their own proper political image?
- Strategies employed by women in other countries in their electoral campaigns: Do they differ from those used by men candidates and can they be applied in the Arab world?
- Is the adoption of the male campaign model the way to success?
- What prevents women leaders and politicians in the Arab world from integrating women's problems and rights in their media activities and programs?
Moderator: Prof. Pascal Monin, Professor of Information and Communication and International Relations, Lebanon
Panelists:
- H.E. Mahinur Ozdemir, Member of Brussels Regional Parliament- Brussels
- Dr. May Chidiac, Founder of MCF (May Chidiac Foundation)- Media Institute and Professor of journalism at Notre Dame University- Lebanon
- Mr. Nabil Maalouf, Managing Director- Euro RSCG Sharp Pencil- Lebanon
- Mr. Nakhle El Hage, Director of News and Current Affairs- Al Arabiya News Channel- UAE
13:30-15:00 Lunch hosted by H.E. Bahiya Al Hariri, Minister of Education and Higher Education and NAWF Honorary President
15:00-16:15
Panel II: Women and Social Entrepreneurship
Social entrepreneurship is considered an essential element in social development to the extent that it contributes to positive social change by promoting the development of policies, building awareness of corporate social responsibility and ultimately helping women find constructive solutions to the social problems that they face.
This session will discuss the following issues:
- The role of women in social entrepreneurship and how it impacts their lives.
- Social policies applied in the Arab world and their implications for women and gender equality.
- How does social responsibility relate to gender issues, and does it help achieve gender equality?
Moderator: Ms. Rania Baroud, TV Presenter, Producer and Professor- Antonine University- Lebanon
Panelists:
- Mrs. Soraya Narfeldt, Chairman, RA International FZCO- UAE
- Mrs. Lina Abou-Habib, Executive Director of Collective for Research and Training on Development- Action (CRTD-A)- Lebanon
- Mr. Ziad Al Ayoubi, Local development expert- Lebanon
16:15-16:30 Networking Coffee Break
16:30-17:45
Panel III: Women in Business
The role of Arab women in business has grown rapidly in recent years propelled by unprecedented economic growth and a climate of reform and liberalization. But as the international economic crisis takes its toll on the region in terms of shrinking business and growth prospects, has its impact been felt in terms of reduced career opportunities for women.
This session will discuss the following issues:
- Has the economic slowdown increased competition in the job market to the detriment of opportunities for women?
- Was the performance of Arab business women in the crisis on par with that of their male peers, and did women show that they have better business sense?
- The effect of the current economic crisis on the position of women in organizations globally and what lessons should be learnt from this by women building their careers in an increasingly globalized business environment.
- How have women in Arab family enterprises weathered the storm, and are they breaking the glass ceiling and creating new opportunities for other women?
- What are prospects for women as business leaders in the region?
Moderator: Mrs. Cyba Audi, Producer & Presenter, Al- Arabiya News Channel- UAE
Panelists:
- Dr. Leila Serhan, Country Manager, Lebanon & Other Indirect Markets, Microsoft- Lebanon
- Mrs. Amal Masri, Founder and Director General of Ougarit Co, for Marketing, Communications and Media- Palestine
- Dr. Virna Ramazzini, Associated consultant, Vallhala Associate- UAE
Day Two: 16 October 2009
Media, Sexuality, Education and Creativity
Panel IV: Sexuality and the Media
The media can be a double-edged sword, delivering useful entertainment, but also increasingly frequent and explicit sexual content. Accordingly, it may help break down the cultural taboos associated with sensitive sexual topics and bridge gaps in our sexual knowledge, but can also promote socially unacceptable and unsafe sexual ideas and behavior.
This panel will discuss the following issues:
- Why has sexual content risen dramatically in the media and can this trend be countered or controlled?
- Does the discussion of issues and problems of human sexual expression, including rape, incest, abortion, and sexually transmitted diseases on TV talk shows serve a useful purpose or is it simply sensationalist?
- Does the open discussion of such issues contribute to the abuse of women's rights or help prevent such abuse?
Moderator: Mr. Tony Khalife, Editor-in-Chief of Kamar Magazine and Presenter- New TV- Lebanon
Panelists:
- Mrs. Fawziya Salama, Journalist and TV presenter- MBC- Egypt
- Dr. Nahawand Al- Qadiri, Professor, Lebanese University- Lebanon
- Dr. Badriya El Becher, Writer- UAE
Panel V: Education and Taboos
Education and training are important vectors in social and economic development, and the promotion of men and women's roles in society. A country's educational policies are in the end the necessary vehicle for the elaboration and nurturing of the role and image of women in society.
This session will discuss the following issues:
- What are the basic constituents and technical means of educational policies and programs?
- Is there a special role to be played by women in the elaboration of educational policies and programs?
- How are women portrayed in school books generally and history books specifically?
- Problems and obstacles that impact the nature and quality of education: religion and social practices, traditions, perceived sexual roles, etc.
Moderator: Dr. Shukri Husni, General Director, School Development Consultants (SDC)- Lebanon
Panelists:
- Dr. Suhair Al Qurashi, Dean, Dar Al-Hekma College- KSA
- Dr. Layla Fayad, President, Center for Educational Research and Development (CERD)- Lebanon
- Dr. Khawla Al Kuraya, Director Department of Human Cancer Genomic Research, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, KSA
11:30 - 12:00 Networking Coffee Break
12:00-13:30
Panel VI: Women novels and Taboos
A Recent development in Arab societies has been a surge in literary works by women including novels that are unprecedented in their language, orientation and structure, as well as their boldness in exposing the private and intimate lives of women. Some critics content that sexuality that has long been one of the three main taboo subjects in Arabic literature, in addition to religion and politics, lost this status over the last decade or so as it became a more prevalent subject in Arabic writing generally and in literature in particular. More significant is those women writers have been more daring than men in broaching this subject to the extent that their writing has been accused of tending towards the erotic.
The Lebanese Actress Randa Asmar will perform readings from novels written by Arab writers as an introduction to the panel
This session will discuss the following issues:
- How can the tendency of Arab women to write novels, and bold ones at that, be explained, and to what extent was their long suffering from discrimination a contributory factor to the rise of this free and open literature?
- Can this new phenomenon in the Arab world be described as a spurt or a fad, or will these works by Arab women usher in a new age in Arab storytelling? How has this new wave contributed to contemporary Arab literature?
- Is this phenomenon a result of the fact that Arab poetry as a literary medium has not understood and expressed the experience of Arab women and what they would like to say about themselves and their society? Why have Arab women chosen the novel as the main or only medium of expression?
- What is the reaction of some women novelists towards criticism of their writing as erotic and pornographic, dissolute, or reflecting repression?
Moderator: Mr. Joseph Issaoui, Poet, TV Presenter & producer, Al- Hurra- Lebanon
Panelists:
- Mrs. Hanan Al Shaikh, Writer- London
- Mrs. Leila Othman, Writer- Kuwait
- Mrs. Samar Yazbek, Writer- Syria
- Mrs. Samar Al Mogren, Journalist and Writer, Bahrain
- Dr. Afaf El Batayna, Writer- UAE
Concluding session
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Dr. Shukri Husni, General Director, School Development Consultants (SDC), Lebanon
*This program is subject to change as seen necessary by the organizers
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