
Boost women’s rights for an Arab world of possibilities
Laila Baker
The Arab world is brimming with talent, and a future of limitless possibilities is ours if we step up and empower women and girls to realize their rights and potential.
Realizing sexual and reproductive health and rights is the foundation for gender equality, dignity and opportunity. Nevertheless, over 40 percent of women worldwide cannot exercise their right to make decisions as fundamental as whether or not to have children.
.To tackle big issues we face – from conflict to climate change and demographic challenges – we must unlock the energy and ingenuity of half of our people by ensuring their sexual and reproductive health and rights and nurturing their desires for their lives, families and careers.
But there’s a long way to go.
In the worst-affected areas, nearly two-thirds of Arab in their lifetimes. Conflicts compound the problem, with women and girls hit the hardest while their stories are often locked away, overlooked and buried beneath the headlines.
Reports of horrific sexual violence against women and girls in Sudan and elsewhere are abhorrent violations of international law, human rights, and basic human decency. In Sudan, conflict brings new dangers as protection services break down and vital medicines run low.
The dismal, dangerous and degrading practice of female genital mutilation is still high in the region. In Somalia, nearly 99 percent of girls between 5- and 11-years report being cut. In Sudan – where the rates are rising – nearly three-quarters of girls are affected.
Forcing girls into marriage robs them of their childhoods and futures, yet despite progress, more than 20 percent of girls in the Arab region are married before age 18.
The Arab region has the world’s lowest rate of women’s economic participation, at just 26 percent, while the global average is well over half. According to the World Bank, closing gender gaps in employment could raise GDP per capita by an average of 20 percent.
Gender inequality is at the root of all this. Pervasive injustice keeps women and girls out of schools, the workforce and leadership roles. It limits their agency and ability to make decisions, and it heightens their vulnerability to violence, forced marriage and other harmful practices.
But there is hope, with many bright spots in the region.
Tunisia has halved violence against women and girls in the last ten years and has the region’s lowest rate of early marriage at just 2 percent. The United Arab Emirates is one of just six countries where half of all national Parliamentarians are women. Most Arab countries have ensured that nine-in-ten births are attended by health professionals, saving countless lives.
Advancing gender equality through sexual and reproductive health and rights, improved education, appropriate labor policies, and equitable norms in the workplace and home will result in healthier families, stronger economies, and resilient societies.
Governments must work with women and girls on laws, policies and programs that protect human rights, dignity and equality. They must close legal loopholes around violence against women and strengthen services for survivors.
All Arab states must put in place laws that put the minimum age of marriage at 18. They must improve data around gender equality, including violence against women and girls, and we must work with communities to chip away at the norms and barriers that hold women and girls back.
Thirty years ago, at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, the world united behind a shared vision of the future, recognizing women’s and girls’ rights as central to global development.
That message of gender equality is as powerful today as it was then, and on World Population Day – and every day – our resolve must be as well. We must redouble our efforts to build a world where everyone – all 8 billion of us – enjoys a future bursting with promise and potential.
