As part of our celebration of “International Women’s day” which is celebrated across the world to show the remarkable achievements pf women to the society. The main aim of this one day conference is to critically examine the current status of women in the Arab region. Clearly, women have an untapped potential as a primary mover of greater development within the region. Their role is very crucial for increased development, but challenges remain. And so, significant reforms in economic, social, and political institutions must be made to create an enabling environment for women participation and empowerment. 

Women’s welfare in the Arab region has steadily improved in the past few decades with gaps in education and health decreasing the gender disparity gap by 60%. Saudi Arabia, for example, was among those that improved its educational sub-index score by 11% points (WEF, 2016). Similarly, a report by Assad (El Swais, 2015) stated that girls in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region actually outperform boys especially in the maths and sciences. However, in spite of such progress, women in the region remain to be the most vulnerable to poverty because of unequal access to economic and other resources. In comparison, while 50% of the women in the world are actively employed or seeking jobs, only about half or 27% of women in the MENA are of the same status (World Bank, 2012 cited in OECD, 2014). Thus, it appears that investments in human development are not readily translated to better economic and political outcomes for women. Unfortunately, women’s potential and crucial role in development within the region is still impeded by these economic and social factors. Among the key constraints of women highlighted in the region for economic participation are: strong patriarchal society; strong public sector and a weak private sector; and lack of support and benefits for women in the employment sector (Assad cited in El Swais, 2015).

Women’s participation is also very important in advancing peace, unity and combating terrorism, which is a most serious threat to development within the Middle East. Since 2010, conflict and insecurity in the region has been increasing (United Nations cited in OXFAM, 2016). It has also been recognized that women have been largely excluded from the processes of conflict management and prevention and that their role is important in the achievement of lasting peace and security (UNSCR 2242) (UN, 2015). With this, there is a need to increase women’s participation in peace processes since out of 31 global peace processes from 1992 to 2011, only 4% of key stakeholder representatives were women (UN WOMEN, 2011 cited in OXFAM, 2016). Women in peacekeeping missions are also crucial given their broad set of skills that helps in improving trust in communities as a whole (OXFAM, 2016). In general, women’s participation helps in accelerating resolution and countering terrorism while ensuring that women’s rights are protected.