P R O G R A M
I S I S C E N T E R F O R WOME N A N D D E V E L O P ME N T
International Forum: Mediterranean Womens’s Rights in the
Aftermath of the ‘Arab Uprisings’
Date : June 21-23, 2013
Venue : Palais des Congrès, Fez, Morocco
Conference languages: Arabic, French, English (simultaneous translation provided)
Women’s rights in the south of the Mediterranean have been on the rise with ups and downs. There seems to be a backlash on these rights after the Arab uprisings. In reflecting on women’s rights two years after the uprisings, many paradoxes come to mind. On the one hand, we have witnessed a spectacular presence of women of all ages, ideologies, ethnicities and social statuses during the political mobilization of the uprisings (as has been well documented by the media). Yet, on the other hand, and here is the first paradox, in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, and Kuwait, the newly elected governments have a very weak, if not at zero, representation of women. Furthermore, the political Islamization of the MENA region is a fact (with the adjectives “moderate” and “salafist” added according to the Islamic dose involved). However, and here is the second paradox, what most advocates of women’s rights (scholars and activists) had scored through decades were also “Islamic” gains. Women’s rights advocates in the region fought to improve, not replace, Sharia laws and they have targeted patriarchy, not Islam. These two paradoxes call for serious debate and action. The goal of the forum is to discuss the new challenges facing academics, activists and politicians.
ISIS Center for Women and Development
Friday, June 21
9: 00 h Opening and Welcome
10: 00 h Keynote Speech
Revolutions, Democratic Transitions, and Women’s Rights: The Arab
Spring in Comparative Perspective
Valentine MOGHADAM, Director, Program of International Affairs,
Northeastern University, Boston, USA
10: 00h Reception
Panel I: Equality of Sexes in the New Constitutions
Chair: Moha ENNAJI, Author and Researcher, President, international Institute for
Languages and Cultures (INLAC), Fez
11: 00 h The New Egyptian Constitution After the Revolution: Gender Equality and
Non-Discrimination (in Arabic)
Moushira KHATTAB, former Egyptian Ambassador to South Africa,
former Minister for Family and Population, Egypt
11: 20 h Gender Equality in the Tunisian Constitution (in French)
Lilia LABIDI, former Minister for Women’s Affairs, Tunisia
11:40 The “Arab Spring”: Between Reality and Imagination (in Arabic)
Ramziyah ELARYANI, Secretary General, Arab Union of Women,
President, Yemeni Women Union
12: 00 h Discussion
12: 30 h Lunch break
Panel II: Women’s Rights after the Arab Revolutions
Chair: Mino VIANELLO, Professor Emeritus of Economic Sociology, University of
Rome / Columbia University “Seminars”, New York, USA
15: 00 h Women’s Rights after the Arab Revolutions (in Arabic)
Islah JAD, University of Birzeit, Palestine
15: 20 h What About Maghrebian Women’s Rights after the “Arab Spring”?
Moha ENNAJI, Author and Researcher, President, International Institute
for Languages and Cultures (INLAC), Fez
15: 40 h Revolutionary Narratives: Nawal El Saadawi and Samar Yazbek
miriam cooke, Duke University, North Carolina, USA
16: 00 h Discussion
16: 30 h Coffee break
Panel III: Women’s Rights and Islam
Chair: Ellen MCLARNEY, Duke University, USA
16: 45 h Women in Limbo: on Liminal Citizenship and the Quest for Equality
Soumia BOUTKHIL, Director, Master Program “Gender, Society, &
Human Development”, Mohamed I University, Oujda, Morocco
17: 05 h The Moral Permissibility of Unveiling
Soroush DABBAGH, University of Toronto, Canada
17: 25 h Women’s Rights, Islam, and the Stakes of Moroccan Secularity
Jonathan WYRTZEN, Al-Akhawayne University, Ifrane / Yale University,
USA
17: 45 h Discussion
18: 15 h Presentation of the anthology “Des Femmes Ecrivent L’Afrique.
Afrique du Nord” (Women Writing Africa – The Northern Region“
(published by Karthala (Paris) and directed by Fatima Sadiqi, Amira
Nouaira, Azza El Khouly, Moha Ennaji)
Christiane OWUSU-SARPONG, Associate Professor, KNUST, Kumasi,
Ghana, Ethno-linguiste, Translator, Strasbourg, France
Fatima SADIQI, Editor
Moha ENNAJI, Editor
Khadija ZIZI, Associate Editor, cover designer
Ali OUAHIDI, Associate Editor
Zakia IRAQUI-SINACEUR, Associate Editor
Fatima-Zahra ALAOUI, Journalist, Poet, Fez (Readings)
Dinner
Saturday, June 22
Panerl IV : Gender and Power / Women and Politcial Participation
Chair: Nathalie PILHES, Secretary General, Inter-Ministerial Mission, Mediterranean
Union, Paris, France
9: 00 h Women and Power in Political Life
Mino VIANELLO, Professor Emeritus of Economic Sociology, University
of Rome / Columbia University “Seminars”, New York, USA
9: 20 h All that Glitters is not Gold : Two Decades of Gender Politics in Turkey
Ayşe GÜNEŞ-AYATA, Chairperson, Centre for Black Sea and Central
Asia, Technical University (METU), Ankara, Turkey
9:40 h Women and Political Representation in the Maghrib
Rachid TLEMCANI, University og Algiers, Algeria
10: 00 h Discussion
10:30 h Coffee break
Panel V: Feminist Discourses in the Region / The Issue Of Reference
Chair: Soumia BOUTKHIL, Director, Master Program “Gender, Society, & Human
Development”, Mohamed I University, Oujda, Morocco
10: 45 h Women and Islamic Reference : A Reformist Vision (in French)
Asma LAMRABET, Biologist Doctor, Coordinator, Research group on
Muslim women and Intercultural Dialogue, Rabat, Morocco
11: 05 h What Frame(s) of Reference for Gender Equality in Countries of Muslim
Majority? The Moroccan Experience (in French)
Nouzha GUESSOUS, Professor of Medicine, Hassan II University,
Casablanca – Activist and Researcher in Human Rights and bioethics. Ex
membre of the Consultative Commission of the Moudawana Reform
11: 25 h Moroccan Feminist Discourses after the “Arab” Uprisings – The Berber (Amazigh) Dimension
Fatima SADIQI, Author and Researcher, President, ISIS Center for
Women and Development
11: 45 h Discussion
12: 15 h Lunch
ISIS Center for Women and Development
Panel VI: Women and Economic Empowerment
Chair: Souad SLAOUI, President, Center for Studies and Research on Women, Sidi
Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez
15: 00 h Women and Economic Empowerment (in Arabic)
Randa MASRI, Director, Connect Middle East, Washington D.C., USA
15: 20 h Factors Influencing Working Women, Non-Working Women, and the
Employer in Jordan (in Arabic)
Amal EL KHAROUF, Director, Division of Research and Training,
Amman, Jordan
15: 40 h For a Sustainable Economic Empowerment: The Case of the local
enterprise ANAROUZ
Manal ELATTIR (Founder & CEO, ANAROUZ) and Yamina EL KIRAT EL
ALLAM, (Mohamed V University, Rabat-Agdal, Morocco)
16: 00 h Discussion
16: 30 h Coffee break
Panel VII: Women and Cultural Empowerment
Chair: Katja Zvan Elliot, Al Aklhawayne University, Ifrane
16: 45 h Moroccan Women’s Cultural Rights: a Psychosocial Perspective
Rachida KERKECH, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Rabat, Morocco
17: 05 h Gender and Cultural Rights in Mauritania (in French)
Madina TOURÉ, University of Nouakchott, Mauritania
17: 25 h Civil Marriage in Lebanon
Myriam SFEIR, Institute of Women Studies in the Arab World, Managing
Editor, “Al-Raida” Journal, Beirut, Lebanon
17: 45 h An example from The Netherlands – The Struggle Still Exists on the Local
Level
Hester TJALMA, Director, Association for Local and Regional Councillors
of the CDA (Christian Democratic Appeal), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
18: 05 h Discussion
Sunday, June 23
Panel VIII: Women’s Rights and Public and Individual Freedoms
Chair: Touria KHANNOUS, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
09: 00 h Moroccan Women and Individual Freedoms
Abdellatif ZAKI, Agronomic and Veterinary Institute, Rabat, Morocco
09: 20 h Women After the Egyptian Revolution: Struggle, Violations and Political
Participation (in Arabic)
Yahia MUHAMMAD ZAED, Human Rights Activist, Egypt
09 : 40 h Individual Freedoms as an Entry to the Reform of Justice (in French)
Asma EL MEHDI, President, Initiatives for the Protection of Women’s
Rights-IPDF, Fez
10: 00 h Libyan Women: From Revolution to Politics (in Arabic)
Sayf-Al-Islam AL-HANGARY, activist, Libya
10 : 20 h Discussion
10: 50 h Coffee break
Panel IX: Women, Media and International Networking
Chair: Zakia IRAQUI-SINACEUR, Mohamed V Souissi University, Rabat, Morocco
11: 00 h Women and Public Service Television Contents: A Quantitative Analysis
Bouziane ZAID, Al-Akhawayne University, Ifrane, Morocco
11: 20 h Women and International Networking (in French)
Simone SUSSKIND, Free University, Brussels, Belgium
11: 40 h Mediterranean Women as Partners of Political and Social Change
Sarah FEINGOLD, University of New York, USA
12:00 h Discussion
12: 30 h Recommendations and Closing Remarks
Chair: Fatima SADIQI
Book exhibit : Librairie populaire – Fez
Le Fennec – Casablanca
Paintings exhibit: Khadija ZIZI, Professor, Institut Supérieur de l’Information et
de la Communication / Painter, Rabat
Khadija MADANI ALAOUI, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez
Women’s products exhibit: ESPOD Association, Fez
Rajae SLAOUI-HAMMOUDA, President
Contact: Prof. Dr. Fatima Sadiqi (ISIS), Academic Director sadiqi_fatima@yahoo.fr
Dr. Ellinor Zeino-Mahmalat (KAS), Logistics Director, ellinor.zeino kas.de