UN Women’s Susanne Mikhail Eldhagen On The Bittersweet Progress 2022 Has Seen In The Gender Equality Sphere
UN Women Regional Director for the Arab States, and Harper’s Bazaar Arabia columnist, takes a moment to celebrate the wins for women in the Arab region in a time of global turmoil
December is traditionally a time when we all take stock, making mental notes of different dates that have flowed by, bringing with them either rays of sun or heavy clouds – tickling at times, piercing at others. Covid – as much as it still persists – seems to have become somewhat subdued, yet a man-made disaster continues to rage on in Europe. And the Arab region has not been exempted.
Yet in the midst of crises and polarisation, positivity can be found in the area of gender equality, as it gains more attention and convergence in the region. And at the same time, the GCC seems increasingly able to correlate development with women’s position in societies, families, and political and economic spheres.
In less than the span of a month, we saw COP27 in Egypt devoting no less than two full days to addressing gender inequalities, bringing together leaders from dozens of countries to tackle women’s role in fixing climate change.
That same month, the UAE, together with the League of Arab States, brought together Member States of the Arab Region in signing a regional declaration to end violence against women.
“The GCC seems increasingly able to correlate positive development with women’s position in societies, families, and political and economic spheres,”
Susanne Mikhail Eldhagen
The ink had hardly dried in Abu Dhabi when the government of Morocco called for the region’s first conference on public-private financing for gender equality. Here, the Ministry of Finance, banks and private sector agreed to finance one of the most critical accelerators for national development in Morocco – gender equality. In the area of financing for gender equality, which is usually the area most lagging behind (i.e. linking commitments to resources), Morocco has long been pioneering various innovative models.
There is no doubt that last year there was both the bitter and the sweet. But what I have taken from it is that anything is possible, and that progress can be achieved in any given area, if there is a will. We can change. And that realisation soothes part of the bitterness, and pronounces more of the sweetness as we venture into this new year.