Arab Educational Feminist Forum 

 

Arab Feminist Movements and Their Role in The Educational Movement “Equality and Equal Opportunity” that was held during the period 18- 20 December 2020.

ANHRE, as a secretariat of The Arab Campaign for Education for all-ACEA and in partnership with the Global Campaign for Education-GCE conducted the Arab Educational Feminist Forum entitled "Arab Feminist Movements and Their Role in the Educational Movement".

The Forum brought together national educational coalitions, the members' organizations of ACEA , Feminist Organizations, experts and activists in the field of education and women rights in the Arab region. The attendance and contribution of all these prominent parties and their contribution grounded on their expertise and resources was vital in the advancement towards analyzing the current context of the feminist movement and their contribution in the achievement of the education 2030 agenda and advancing the status of women and education in the Arab region.

The forum aimed at unifying the feminist movements' efforts in the Arab region to come up with a working mechanism to enhance the role of feminist movements in the educational movement and promote the position of women in education.

Several topics were discussed through specialized sessions that embraced multiple visions, focusing on the historical role of feminist movements in education and the ability of feminist movements in influencing the educational movement in the Arab world. These topics included different aspects of challenges faced in adopting the education agenda in the Arab feminist movements and international institutions, and exploration of the feminist movements and the future of education.

Due to the current circumstances, the forum paused at length on the issue of women and Covid-19 pandemic. ANHRE steered the session of 19 Dec. 2020 on the reality of women's lives, women’s education, the status of continuing education, and the role of women in shaping the features of the future of education in light of the pandemic, while providing an opportunity to present distinguished initiatives and experiences in the participation of feminist movements in education in light of the pandemic and beyond.

The forum revealed through the dialogues, discussions and the papers presented that despite what was partially achieved at different levels, there are gaps that still affect the legislators, as cultural issues sometimes, laws and regulations other times, and this keep many challenges confronting any advancement, and a clear evidence of that is, that women are still outside the realm of representation at all levels of political, educational and community leadership.