MENA Women News Brief May 24-June 7, 2017 Egypt May 24: Empowering Egyptian women by turning homes into factories “Talaat’s initiative, called el-Masryeen Awla (Egyptians First), started in 2006 in public parks where he taught women — with or without disabilities — to earn a living through handicrafts. Since 2014, the project has continued in training centers in Cairo and in Giza, which have 200 trainers and 400 trainees.” (Al Monitor) May 26: Who's fed up with sex assaults on Egyptian women? These guys “Munir Tawab admits he added to Egypt’s reputation for catcalling and groping women on the street. But a new movement led by one man to combat sexual harassment — considered the norm in this country — has changed Tawab's actions.” (USA Today) June 1: SBWC receives Egyptian women entrepreneurs “The Sharjah Business Women Council received graduates from ‘Ana Raeda,’ an initiative by Egypt’s Ministry of Trade and Industry’s Small and Medium Enterprise Development. The meeting is in line with the Council’s targets to break barriers and open up communication with entities relevant to empowering women professionally and economically, and aims to strengthen joint cooperation.” (Gulf News) June 1: Editors from Egypt, Kenya receive Women in News Award “Two women from Egypt and Kenya have been awarded the first WAN-IFRA Women in News Editorial Leadership Award in MENA and North Africa, organizers announced Wednesday, May 31. The Women in News Editorial Leadership Award is part of WAN-IFRA’s Gender and Media Freedom Strategy.” (The Daily Star) Iran May 24: Why women—and some men—in Iran are wearing white headscarves on Wednesdays “Masih Alinejad, the woman behind the My Stealthy Freedom phenomenon, has launched a new campaign in her quest to reverse Iran’s compulsory hijab law. Using the hashtag #WhiteWednesdays on social media, women and men are posting videos of themselves wearing or carrying white headscarves, or some other white symbol, and sharing messages of empowerment in a show of solidarity with the theme of ‘without compulsion.’” (New York Times) May 25: Iran: Women Face Bias in the Workplace “Laws and policies that discriminate against women interfere with Iranian women’s right to work, Human Rights Watch said in a report ‘“It’s a Men’s Club”: Discrimination Against Women in Iran’s Job Market,’ released Thursday, May 25. Women confront an array of restrictions, such as on their ability to travel, prohibitions on entering certain jobs, and an absence of basic legal protections.” (Human Rights Watch) May 30: Rouhani May Appoint Three Female Ministers in New Cabinet “Iran’s vice-president for women and family affairs, Shahindokht Molaverdi, maintains that now more than ever, the ground is prepared for the presence of women ministers in the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s new cabinet, which is supposed be formed by mid-August. ‘We predict that President 1 Rouhani would propose two to three woman ministers to the Parliament for his cabinet. We will do our best to this end.’” (Iran Front Page) June 6: Iranian women in combat training “Iranian women perform as they train Far East Fighting Arts to be able to defend themselves, at the Jughin castle which is located 40 km's far from Tehran.” (Middle East Monitor) Iraq May 25: I ran an illegal beauty salon: The secret lives of women under Islamic State “When IS arrived in Mosul, Anwar refused to stop hairdressing, despite it being strictly prohibited. Instead, she rebelled in her own quiet way, running a secret beauty salon at home for the women in the neighbourhood, buying cosmetics – which were also banned – on the black market.” (Middle East Eye) May 29: After losing many of its men, ISIS uses women to protect its last holdouts in Mosul “After losing many of its men in the fight for Mosul, the Islamic State (ISIS) extremist group started to use women to defend its last holdouts in Iraq’s second largest city, military sources reported on Sunday, May 28. (ARA News) May 31: Zaha Hadid: The only woman who won the Royal Gold Medal “Iraqi-born British architect Zaha Hadid, was the first female winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize on May 31, 2004. She also received the UK's most prestigious architectural award, the Stirling Prize, and she became the first woman to be awarded the 2016 Royal Gold Medal in architecture by the Royal Institute of British Architects.” (Al Jazeera) June 1: Iraqi army imposes Ramadan ‘burqa ban’ in Mosul fearing Isis will use it for attacks “Women have been told they are not allowed to wear traditional Islamic clothing such as the burka and niqab in newly liberated areas of Mosul as part of new security measures imposed for the month of Ramadan, Iraqi police have said. A statement from Nineveh police said that face coverings would temporarily be banned so Isis suicide bombers could not disguise themselves as women in public places.” (Independent) Israel/Palestinian Territories May 29: United Nations pulls support for Palestinian women's centre named after terrorist “The U.N. says it has stopped supporting a Palestinian community centre in the West Bank that was named for a woman who participated in a deadly 1978 attack in Israel. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s office says the U.N. withdrew its support after learning the centre was named for Dalal Mughrabi.” (Toronto Sun) May 31: A Fish Out of Water: Gaza's First Fisherwoman “Palestinian teenager Madeleine Kolab takes over her father's fishing business when he's injured in an Israeli attack. As the eldest of three children and with no other source of income, Madeleine felt obliged to become the sole family breadwinner after her father was badly injured in the gunboat attack - a challenge she now takes great pride in.” (Al Jazeera) June 5: In Gaza, Marriage Comes with a Host of Dangers for Women “For women in Gaza, dire economic conditions combined with a dearth of legal protections can cause many marriage-related problems. Among them are early marriages, wedding-related debt and domestic abuse.” (News Deeply) 2 Jordan May 27: Exporters association holds workshop on women exporters “The Jordan Exporters Association on Saturday, May 27 held a workshop on the opportunities and challenges facing women in small-and medium-sized enterprises who seek to export companies’ products, with the support of USAID and the Centre for International Private Enterprise. The workshop focused on economic challenges facing exports in light of regional instability, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.” (The Jordan Times) May 27: Empowering families and communities in Jordan “The Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) and Al Marji’ Publications have recently signed a cooperation agreement, focusing on women’s legal empowerment. ‘We believe that it is possible to further achieve a vision of renaissance in the Arab world where values of dignity, equality, solidarity and pluralism will prevail,’ said Samar Muharab ARDD Chief Executive Officer.” (The Jordan Times) May 30: Making Soap Gives Refugee Women a Fresh Start in Jordan “With the two countries in the midst of occupation and war, their soap-making tradition is near extinct. The fate of Aleppo’s soap factories is unclear, and only two factories remain in Nablus. But in Jordan, home to many Syrians and Palestinians fleeing crisis, refugee women are reclaiming the art of soap making.” (News Deeply) May 31: Debate continues as Article 308 on way to Lower House's vote “Activists and former officials have speculated that recent recommendations made by a Royal committee to annul Article 308 of the Penal Code — which allows rapists to escape punishment if they marry their victims — will pass, despite some opposition in the Lower House of Parliament.” (The Jordan Times) Kuwait June 4: 60pc of Kuwaiti Employees are Women “Despite the absence of women in top positions of most sectors, there are many female employees in the governmental institutions. According to statistics issued by the Civil Service Commission (CSC), the number of Kuwaiti employees in the public sector as of April 1 reached 252,580. They constitute 74.52 percent of the total number of employees. Among them, male Kuwaiti employees constitute 29.93 percent and female employees 44.59 percent.” (The Arab Times) Lebanon May 25: Lebanon’s female graphic designers draw battle lines “’Critical Mass: Women in Graphic Design,’ was held May 19-26 at Beirut Design Week (BDW) at KED, a refurbished factory built in the 1930s in Karantina. The exhibition also displayed the posters of three other Lebanese women graphic designers: Rana Zaher, Yasmine Darwiche and Stephy Ibrahim for Saturn In Motion.” (Al Monitor) May 31: Lebanon bans Wonder Woman film over Israeli actress “Lebanon's interior ministry has officially banned the new Wonder Woman film from cinemas because an Israeli actress, Gal Gadot plays the lead role, a ministry source and a security official said. Lebanon is officially at war with Israel and its Ministry of Economy and Trade oversees a boycott of any business transaction concerning Israel.” (Al Jazeera) 3 May 31: President’s daughter takes leadership role on women’s commission “Claudine Aoun Roukoz, the daughter of President Michel Aoun, was officially announced Tuesday, May 30, as chair of the National Commission for Lebanese Women. Roukoz’s appointment came as part of the new leadership of the NCLW General Assembly, which also saw Abir Chebaro Ibrahim and former Minister Wafaa Dikah Hamzeh appointed vice presidents.” (The Daily Star) June 6: Women’s quota on the agenda, but for later “With talk of an electoral law agreement in the making, the issue of a women’s quota is back in the limelight as several lawmakers rallied behind a demand for a set minimum for women’s representation.