(Photo by Marwa Morgan )
By Simone Egarter
Women for Women and the Alliance for Arab Women have launched a series of lectures discussing women’s rights and culture.
“Everything evolves over time and so does the role of women in culture and society,” said Mohamed El Sawy, founder of the El Sawy CultureWheel, during the first event after Ramadan.
Shahira Mehrez, professor of Islamic architecture and art at the American University in Cairo (AUC), gave an introduction on the cultural role of Egyptian women from the countryside. She illustrated the dress codes and the evolution of traditional fashion amongst this group during the event.
The fashion design of rural Egypt is a good example of the cultural impact women have in a society, she said.
“Women have to be educated and highly innovative to produce these pieces of clothes,“ Mehrez said, pointing at colourful folkloristic abayas from Upper Egypt, Siwa, Sinai and Nuba. “We can see the innovation in dresses in assorting and contrasting bright colours and in even involving accessories and jewellery.”
Hoda Badran, president of the Alliance for Arab Women, stressed women’s role in politics and society.
“Women in high positions should be role models,” Badran said.
It is important for female public figures and members of parliament to act responsibly and embrace women’s rights, she said.
“The way these women dress and behave will give an example to young girls,” Badran said.
In cooperation with the Egyptian Feminist Union, Badran’s Alliance for Arab Women is fighting to achieve gender equality at the foreign ministry and secure at least 100 seats for women in parliament.
Feminist groups like the National Council for Women (NCW) are trying to reach their goal by initiating projects to empower women in society and support women in politics.
“Building the capacity of the 27 women parliamentarians so that they acquire the skills necessary to perform with enhanced legislative and oversight capacities, making their contribution visible to the public,” NCW declared in an official statement.
In Egypt, only 2% of all members of parliament are women, compared to some European countries, such as Finland, where both genders are nearly equally represented. It is a “clear sign” of discrimination and a bad situation for women in the society,” Badran said.
Expressing his wish to reform Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nabil Islam Fahmy said in a statement earlier this year: “The door is now open for women to pioneer in making Egypt’s foreign policy.”
The minister also announced his plans on increasing the number of women working at the Foreign Ministry significantly, according to the Egyptian Feminist Union.
