(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
QNA
Doha, Qatar: The second session of the International Academy for Women Leaders, under the theme: "Leadership in the Digital Era", kicked off in Doha today with a high-level local, regional, and global attendance.
The event is Jointly organized by the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC), the Arab Network for National Human Rights Institutions (ANNHRIs), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs,
In her opening remarks, Chairperson of NHRC HE Maryam bint Abdullah Al Attiyah, who is also the Chairperson of ANNHRIs affirmed that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is closely intertwined with the empowerment of women and girls digitally, adding that reaching a more sustainable and equitable world requires ensuring the active engagement of women in policy-making and decision-making processes.
She highlighted that there is a clear nexus between the empowerment and leadership of women in the digital age and the implementation of the Security Council Resolution 1325 and other related resolutions, noting that the role of women in conflict prevention, peace-building, and their engagement in relief, recovery, and reconstruction efforts has become a critical and foremost issue, given the devastating wars that are engulfing the world, where women are paying a heavy price.
Her Excellency underlined those armed conflicts, in general, exacerbate the marginalization of women in all areas, emphasizing the importance of countries' unwavering commitment today to promoting women and girls' access to digital technology and enabling them to benefit from it in areas such as strengthening leadership capacities, accessing information, and creating platforms for interaction, networking, and exchanging experiences among themselves.
HE Al Attiyah highlighted that there is a need to protect women and girls from all forms of digital violence and from stereotyping and biases on digital platforms, underscoring the multiple roles played by national human rights institutions (NHRIs), particularly through their monitoring of legislation and various related measures and practices, providing their perspectives on these issues, and conducting productive dialogues among all stakeholders and official bodies on emerging human rights matters.
She underlined that as Chairperson of NHRC and ANNHRIs in the State of Qatar, she encourages NHRIs to continue their efforts in monitoring, evaluating, and providing recommendations to address gaps, in addition to greater coordination among national institutions to share relevant expertise, and best practices related to fostering women's leadership and empowering them to effectively engage in all fields.
For her part, HE Deputy Speaker of the Shura Council Dr. Hamda bint Hassan Al Sulaiti hailed the NHRC's efforts and initiative, alongside its partners, describing it as leading in organizing the session of the International Academy for Women Leaders at the international level, adding that such an initiative aims to achieve peace and development by fostering women's engagement in decision-making processes.
Dr. Hamda Al Sulaiti affirmed that there is no doubt that Qatar's selection to launch this event internationally is a testament to the world's trust in Qatar, as well as the region, and the Arab world, thereby underscoring Qatar's commitment to achieving international peace and security, while also demonstrating the country's dedication to supporting women and enhancing their role in various developmental fields.
Her Excellency emphasized the importance of women's engagement in decision-making processes to shape a better future for the world, and for the region in particular, calling for more partnerships between various institutions to launch academic initiatives and implement diverse training programs to enhance the capabilities and potential of women and girls in decision-making processes.
Additionally, Dr. Hamda Al Sulaiti noted the marginalization and discrimination that women face despite their role in any society, highlighting that women face myriad challenges that squarely undermine their ambitions and hinder their ability to contribute to development fields, in addition to the heavy burden they bear in wars, conflict zones, and disaster-stricken areas.
Her Excellency cited the wanton aggression led by the Israeli occupation army against the Gaza Strip and the other occupied Palestinian territories, which has been extended since last September to include Lebanon. She emphasized that the Israeli occupation army continues to disregard the international community and persists in perpetrating genocide, ethnic cleansing, and forced displacement against the Palestinian people, despite repeated calls from the international community to take responsibility and put an end to this barbaric war, and take all measures to hold Israel to account, as being responsible for committing these crimes.
However, Her Excellency said, the international community with its entire force still gives blind eye to the horrendous massacres committed by the occupation state, highlighting that the United Nations Office for Human Rights issued a statistic indicating that approximately 70% of the verified casualties in Gaza are women and children, with the number exceeding 30,000.
Last summer, a UN official who had visited the Gaza Strip more than 50 times stated that there is no safe place for women in Gaza and that nearly one million girls and women in the region have been displaced multiple times without knowing what awaits them or whether they will survive, Dr. Hamda Al Sulaiti pointed out.
HE Secretary-General of ANNHRIs Sultan bin Hassan Al Jamali underscored the duty of national institutions to bolster the role of women and their rights through awareness, education, training, reviewing laws and policies, and proposing amendments. This includes adopting laws and policies that promote women's rights and ensure their fair representation in political institutions, as well as monitoring and opposing hate speech and stereotypes they face.
His Excellency added that this is done through their awareness programs, which focus on promoting the culture of human rights, such as organizing awareness and educational campaigns for women and society in general on the importance of women's political participation and their political, economic, and cultural rights.
ANNHRIs strives to strengthen the capacities of member institutions in monitoring, documenting, and preparing national and international reports, seeing this as a key tool in combating and reducing violations. Additionally, it works on providing tools to promote a culture of human rights within Arab communities, fostering acceptance of others, encouraging freedom of opinion and expression, and training in democratic practices based on human rights principles and concepts.
The United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Africa Martha Pobee said the rapid technological advancements in recent years have created opportunities and challenges to foster the overall democratic processes, in addition to addressing the digital divide both within and among nations, highlighting that if this gap is not properly addressed, new technological advancements could perpetuate and amplify inequality, discrimination, misinformation, and violence against women.
Pobee noted that social media has become essential in the digital age and harnessing it for good can promote democratic values by acting as a catalyst for empowering and engaging the most vulnerable, marginalized, or excluded groups, sharing information, and ensuring freedom of expression.
Social media is being leveraged to spread hate, disinformation, and misinformation online, on an unprecedented scale and with rapid dissemination. The use of generative AI is one of the factors contributing to this trend, which could pose challenges to democratic processes by having negative effects on the conduct of peaceful, inclusive, and trustworthy elections, she underlined.
She emphasized that online threats and abuse affect women, particularly in the context of elections or politics, where such threats and abuse aim to discourage or exclude women and exacerbate existing inequalities. Therefore, it is crucial to consider gender-sensitive approaches when responding to, designing, and implementing policies related to digital technologies.
Women's engagement and leadership in maximizing the benefits of the digital age and mitigating the associated challenges is of paramount importance, she highlighted, affirming that platforms such as the International Academy for Women Leaders can share expertise and best practices, in addition to building networks, and coordinating efforts in this vital field.
For her part representative of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), Shatha Alawneh, affirmed that women in many parts of the world, including Arab countries, face daunting challenges and discrimination, especially in adapting to the digital age and thriving within it, highlighting that these challenges range from barriers to accessing digital knowledge to issues of protection in the digital space.
This is where the importance of this initiative lies, as it provides an opportunity to directly address these challenges, she added, emphasizing that it has been of great honor for GIZ to be a partner in launching the International Academy for Women Leaders since a year which gathered a pantheon of leaders from various territories across the Arab region in a framework that aims to gain skills, build networks of relationships, share knowledge and expertise that help create promising female leaders in the Arab world and shaping an advanced, future-oriented curriculum based on unique experiences, thereby helping to shape a new narrative for women's leadership on a global scale.
She pointed out that this event is a fundamental step toward increasing women's representation and influence in public life, emphasizing that she looks forward to listening and working together to upgrade sustainable strategies that amplify women's voices in the public sphere and contribute to more inclusive and resilient communities.
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