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15th DGAP New Faces Conference Transitions in Egypt and Tunisia through the Prism of Gender Equality 25 February 2012, Cairo
In cooperation with
German Council on Foreign Relations EU Middle East Forum (EUMEF) Berlin 2012
Table of Contents
German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) ................................................3 EU-Middle East Forum (EUMEF) ..........................................................................4
Dina Fakoussa-Behrens (GERMANY/EGYPT)...............................................................................6 Christian Achrainer (GERMANY) .......................................................................................................6 Anja Runge (GERMANY).....................................................................................................................7
Discussants / Facilitators.................................................................................... 18
Riham Bahi (EGYPT)...........................................................................................................................18 Hoda Salah (EGYPT/GERMANY) ..................................................................................................18
Hafsa Oubou (MOROCCO) ...............................................................................................................24 Stephanie Siklossy (UK)........................................................................................................................25 Nilden Vardar (GERMANY) ..............................................................................................................25 Ben Wagner (GERMANY/UK).........................................................................................................26 Deborah Wright (UK)...........................................................................................................................26 Dalia Ziada (EGYPT) ...........................................................................................................................27 Sally Zohney (EGYPT).........................................................................................................................27
The German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) is Germanys network for foreign policy. As an independent, non-partisan, and nonprofit membership organization, think tank, and publisher the DGAP has been promoting public debate on foreign policy in Germany for over 50 years. More than 2 000 members among them renowned representatives from politics, business, academia, and the media as well as more than 70 companies and foundations support the work of the DGAP. DGAPs goals are to promote and contribute to foreign policy debates in Germany, to advise decision makers from politics, business, and civil society, and to inform the public on foreign policy questions and issues. DGAP comprises the think tank, the journal IP, the library and documentation center, the platform Young DGAP, and the web portal www.aussenpolitik.net. DGAPs think tank works at the junction between politics, the economy, and academia. Its work is interdisciplinary, policy-oriented and covers all areas of German foreign policy, which is dynamic due to a globalized and rapidly changing world. The work encompasses research and publications, highprofile conferences and meetings as well as programs for the advancement of Young Professionals. The journal Internationale Politik (IP) appears in German as a bimonthly print magazine and in English as an online magazine for German and European foreign policy. IP Journal offers German perspectives on important foreign affairs issues as well as in-depth analyses on central questions of German and European foreign policy by renowned authors and experts in and outside of Germany. The DGAP Library and Documentation Center (BiDok) is one of the oldest and most significant specialized libraries in Germany that is open to the public. It holds substantial collections on German foreign and security policy. The Young DGAP is a new initiative for members of the DGAP under the age of 40. The Young DGAP aims at encouraging more young people to take an active interest in foreign and security policy through innovative events such as controversial debates and discussions with renowned decision-makers. The web page www.aussenpolitik.net is DGAPs thematic web-portal. It provides well-grounded background information and analyses about the research institutes current work. It thereby contributes to the professional and public debates about international politics.
equality, the second one will be on socio-economic reforms and the third one will deal with the issue of political Islam and pluralism. The NFC provides a forum to discuss these issues with like-minded peers and senior experts. At the same time the conference enables participants to expand their network and to initiate joint projects. Alumni Conference Biennially EUMEF invites all former ISS and NFC participants to reconvene in Berlin for three days. The Alumni Conference allows for a strengthening of the network and an exchange among the alumni. Subjects addressed are derived from up-to-date security challenges and topics of the former conferences and summer schools. Participants also get the chance to present initiatives and projects and to explore cooperation channels with other alumni. The next Alumni Conference is planned for December 2012. 4. Objectives
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Reflection and analysis of security challenges and the sensitization for effective solutions and policies on a national and EU level Exchange of know-how and experiences Promotion of an intercultural dialogue to increase understanding and trust between young potential policy makers from Arab countries, the EU, and Turkey Promotion of a pluralistic, tolerant, and respectful debating environment Establishing a network of high calibre future actors from North Africa, the EU, and Turkey
5. Team Head of Program: Dina Fakoussa-Behrens fakoussa@dgap.org Program Officer: Christian Achrainer achrainer@dgap.org Program Assistant: Anja Runge runge@dgap.org
II. Thematic Blocs The conference encompasses the following thematic clusters: 1. Looking Back At the beginning, a clear picture should materialize as to gender equality related changes since toppling the two heads of state, and based on this demonstration, necessary action should be identified. This will be achieved by addressing questions such as follows. Which are important developments, whether positive or negative, in regards to gender equality in Egypt and Tunisia since toppling presidents Mubarak and Ben Ali? How did women perform in elections and what are the reasons for this performance? What role do women and gender equality issues play in newly established political parties? Did new organizations emerge out of the loose social movement that constituted the backbone of the two revolutions? What is their agenda? Are new alliances being forged between established women organizations and these newcomers? Is there a common understanding and agreement on the definition of concepts such as democracy, human and women rights? Is the scene split or unified in how to approach gender equality in the current phase? 2. New Strategies equals Old Strategies? Here, a response to facts and developments highlighted in the previous bloc should be thoroughly analyzed and discussed. What should women activists do in order to effectively resolve deficiencies highlighted in the previous cluster and counterweigh destructive phenomena? How can women activists increase their influence and elevate gender equality to a cross-cutting theme in all work related to the political transition? If prioritizing fields of action under these exceptional circumstances is required, which areas should top the list? Is it strategically advisable to engage more forcefully with livelihood issues and popular concerns about for example unemployment, lack of social security schemes, the need for greater solidarity, and the issue of insecurity rather than following a separate agenda? What kind of new alliances might be helpful? Can transnational networks have an influence on local political scenes and patriarchal gender orders? Is the media performing to the advantage or disadvantage of the cause? Which measures and tools could be helpful in combating non-political factors such as harmful social norms and practices often based on controversial religious sources? 3. Islamic Feminism One uncontested truth when dealing with gender equality cannot weigh heavier: societies in both Egypt and Tunisia are composed of a large number of conservative members, and a widespread return to religion has taken place over the past two decades, with severe repercussions for gender equality due to harmful and counterproductive attitudes, beliefs, and traditions. It is a reality activists working on gender equality confront and hence it is paramount to scrutinize all means available that might positively alter this phenomenon in the interest of gender equality. Here Islamic Feminism comes into play. Can this discourse be complementary to the framework of international standards on human and women's rights and supportive in the advancement of gender equality? Can it for example win followers among conservative citizens who are deeply attached to religion and culture as an integral part of their identity? Can it weaken conventional religious powers claiming ownership of the Islam from which they extract their discriminatory position, or create an avenue to religious establishments that might boost the cause? Can Islamic Feminism lead to broader solidarities among women whether from secular or religious feminist camps? Or does it rather weaken the cause and undermine and inhibit an agenda of comprehensive reform that requires a departure from religious sources? What are the major points of critique of Islamic feminism?
4. Gender Equality in other Muslim Majority Countries Here, relevant experiences of other Muslim majority countries such as Morocco and Turkey should be analyzed, and mechanisms and strategies devised to improve the record of gender equality in these respective countries should be presented. 5. External Actors Ever since the uprisings erupted, Western powers have been struggling with an adequate reaction, often plagued with disorientation. Nevertheless, powers such as the EU and the German government have a genuine interest in successful transitions to democratic societies in Northern Africa. Hence the questions that should be posed are: How can the EU, Germany, or other external actors react to support gender equality in the current political and transformation processes in Egypt and Tunisia, and are they reacting meaningfully and effectively respectively? In what sense is there a need for a policy adaptation in light of the new realities? Should there be a shift of focus and an alteration of programs? How could this shift look like?
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Agenda
Thursday, 2 February 19.00 19.30 Meeting in the Hotel Lobby Welcome Dinner at Sequoia Restaurant
Friday, 3 February 09.00 10.00 Opening of the Conference Dina Fakoussa, Head of EUMEF, DGAP Christian Hnel, Deputy Head of Department, International Relations Western Europe, America, Turkey, Japan, India, Robert Bosch Stiftung Ann M. Lesch, Associate Provost for International Programs, American University in Cairo 10.00 10.30 Plenary Session: Gender Equality and the Political Process in Egypt Hania Sholkami, Associate Research Professor, Social Research Center, American University in Cairo 10.30 11.30 11.30 12.00 12.00 12.30 Discussion Coffee Break Plenary Session: Introduction to the Conference and Working Groups Dina Fakoussa, Head of EUMEF, DGAP 12.30 14.00 1st Working Group Session - Egypt Group I - Facilitator: Riham Bahi, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University & Visiting Assistant Professor, American University in Cairo, Egypt Input Presentations: Elhossien Elsaghier Mahmoud: Participation and Political Awareness of Women outside Cairo Sally Zohney: A new Wave of Young Female Role Models in post-25 January Egypt and its Socio-Political Implications
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Friday, 3 February (continued) Group II - Facilitator: Hoda Salah, Post-doctoral Researcher and Lecturer at the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies, Freie Universitt Berlin, Germany Input Presentations: Salma Nagy: The Muted Gender Agenda of Post-Revolution Egypt Mohamed Kamal: Girls Empowerment from Theory to Reality A Case Study from Rural Egypt 14.00 15.00 15.00 16.30 Lunch Plenary Session: Running for the Egyptian Parliament Experiences of two Female Candidates Dalia Ziada, Candidate for the Al-Adl Party (Justice Party) Magy Mahrous, Independent Candidate (external guest) 16.30 17.00 17.00 17.30 Coffee Break Plenary Session: Tunisias Experience with the Political Opening Basma Soudani Belhadj, Founder and Chairperson of the League of Tunisian Women Voters 17.30 18.30 19.00 Discussion Dinner
Saturday, 4 February 09.30 11.00 2nd Working Group Session - Tunisia Group I - Input Presentations: Cyrine Ayadi: The Role of Women in the Tunisian Post-Revolutionary Political Sphere Challenges Ahead Gabriella Borovsky: A Revolution for Women - Pre- and Post-Revolution Women Institutions in Tunisia and Egypt Group II - Input Presentations: Najla Abbes: A Critical Assessment of the Elections in Tunisia Ben Wagner: Reconstructing Gender? The Battle to define Permissible Gender Roles after the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia 11.00 11.30
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Coffee Break
15th New Faces Conference 2-5 February 2012 Cairo / Egypt
Saturday, 4 February (continued) 11.30 13.00 Plenary Session: Input Presentations Drthe Engelcke: The Case of Family Law Reform in Post-Revolutionary Egypt - Could a Reform of the Coptic Personal Status Law help to decrease Sectarian and Inter-Community Tensions? Discussant - Riham Bahi Presentation - Hoda Salah 13.00 14.00 14.00 15.30 Lunch 3rd Working Group Session: Experiences from other Countries Group I - Input Presentations: Hafsa Oubou: The Role of Media and Law to Empower Gender Equality in Morocco Murat Demirel: Gender Equality in Turkey Group II - Input Presentations: Houda Chaloun: Will the Arab Spring influence Moroccan Women Participation in Politics and Decision Making? Nerea Craviotto Ortega: Revisiting the Past, learning for the Future - Gender Equality and Womens Rights in Poland 15.30 16.00 16.00 18.00 Coffee Break Plenary Session: Input Presentations Maya Ksouri: The Advantages and Limits of Islamic Feminism The Case of Tunisia Discussant - Hoda Salah Nilden Vardar: Conflicting Identities of Muslim Women in Europe - Muslim Women between Traditional Islamic and Western Feminist Forces Discussant and Presentation - Riham Bahi: Islamic and Secular Feminisms- Contested Hegemonies in the Muslim Public Sphere 18.30 Dinner
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Sunday, 5 February 09.30 10.30 Plenary Session: Input Presentations Deborah Wright: Re-defining Boundaries - Women's Groups as Non-State Actors and their Impact on Civil Society in Egypt and Tunisia Discussant - Riham Bahi Stephanie Siklossy: Women in Security A NATO Perspective Discussant - Hoda Salah 10.30 11.00 Plenary Session: Changing Strategies to Support Gender Equality in Egypt and Tunisia - Regional Cooperation Hanan Abdel Rahman-Rabbani, Senior Program Officer, Womens Rights and Gender Development, Open Society Foundations Arab Regional Office, Amman, Jordan 11.00 11.30 11.30 12.30 12.30 13.30 13.30 14.30 14.30 16.00 16.00 17.00 Coffee Break Discussion 4th Working Group Session: Summing Up Lunch Plenary Session: Results of Working Groups and Discussion Final Wrap up and Evaluation
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Conference Venue
Golden Tulip Flamenco Hotel Cairo 2 El Gezira El Wosta Street 11211 Cairo - Zamalek Tel. 00202 27350815 www.goldentulipflamenco.com
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Herausgeber: Forschungsinstitut der Deutschen Gesellschaft fr Auswrtige Politik e. V., Berlin | Rauchstrae 17/18 | 10787 Berlin Tel.: +49 (0)30 25 42 31-0 | Fax: +49 (0)30 25 42 31-16 | info@dgap.org | www.dgap.org und www.aussenpolitik.net | 2012 DGAP