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DGAP EU Middle East Forum (EUMEF)

Transitions in Egypt and Tunisia through the Prism of Gender Equality


15th New Faces Conference 25 February 2012, Cairo

Conference Brochure
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

The 15th New Faces Conference ..........................................................................8


Concept Note...........................................................................................................................................8 Agenda.....................................................................................................................................................11

Speakers (in order of appearance in the agenda).......................................... 15


Christian Hnel (GERMANY)............................................................................................................15 Ann Lesch (EGYPT/USA)..................................................................................................................15 Hania Sholkamy (EGYPT)...................................................................................................................16 Magy Mahrous (EGYPT) .....................................................................................................................16 Basma Soudani Belhadj (TUNISIA) ...................................................................................................17 Hanan Abdel Rahman-Rabbani (JORDAN) .....................................................................................17

Discussants / Facilitators.................................................................................... 18
Riham Bahi (EGYPT)...........................................................................................................................18 Hoda Salah (EGYPT/GERMANY) ..................................................................................................18

Participants (in alphabetical order)................................................................... 19


Najla Abbes (TUNISIA).......................................................................................................................19 Syrine Ayadi (TUNISIA) ......................................................................................................................19 Gabriella Borovsky (TUNISIA/USA)................................................................................................20 Houda Chaloun (MOROCCO) ...........................................................................................................20 Nerea Craviotto Ortega (SPAIN)........................................................................................................21 Murat Demirel (TURKEY)..................................................................................................................21 Drthe Engelcke (GERMANY/UK).................................................................................................22 Mohamed Kamal (EGYPT).................................................................................................................22 Maya Ksouri (TUNISIA)......................................................................................................................23 Elhossien Elsaghier Mahmoud (EGYPT) .........................................................................................23 Salma Nagy (EGYPT)...........................................................................................................................24
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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

Conference Venue ................................................................................................28

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German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)

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.

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EU-Middle East Forum (EUMEF)


The EU Middle East Forum (EUMEF) is one of the core programs for the advancement of young academics and professionals at DGAP. The forum conceptualizes and organizes dialogue and learning conferences, providing a platform for young experts from European and Middle Eastern states to exchange ideas, to debate, to jointly develop solutions to security and developmental challenges, to promote a better understanding and trust between different participants, and to build up a network of high caliber future actors and decision makers. The underlying idea is that security and developmental challenges cannot be tackled by single nation states, but require international dialogue and cooperation. 1. Topics EUMEF mainly works on soft security issues such as democratization, human rights, climate change, and migration. In 2011 and 2012, EUMEF focuses on chances and challenges associated with the current transformation processes in Egypt and Tunisia, and EU and German politics towards these developments. 2. Participants During the pilot years 2011 and 2012, participants of EUMEFs different conference formats come from the North-African countries Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco, from Turkey, and from Germany, France, Italy, Greece, Spain, and the United Kingdom. EUMEF targets students and young professionals from academia, politics, civil society, media and the corporate sector who are between 22 and 32 years of age. Participants are recommended by a network of experts available to the forum. 3. Conference Formats EUMEF organizes three consecutive but different conference formats. The three-pronged approach enables EUMEF to bring together future leaders at different stages of their career and to realize a sustainable network. International Summer School (ISS) For two weeks in summer in Berlin, the ISS gathers 30 highly qualified students at the end of their studies or recent graduates (with 12 years of work experience) between 22 and 28 years of age. The focus lies on studies related to the fields of political science, economics, law, and media and communication. Besides lectures and speeches by international renowned experts, discussions, working groups, and workshops on different aspects and angles of the transformations in Egypt and Tunisia, open inter-cultural dialogue and social activities are part of the program. New Faces Conference (NFC) The NFC brings together 20 young experts between 27 and 32 years of age. Participants are young professionals from academia, politics, civil society, media and the corporate sector. EUMEF organizes two to three NFCs per year, mainly in cooperation with different partner institutions in Turkey, Egypt, Morocco or Tunisia. In 2012, EUMEF is cooperating with the American University in Cairo and the Freie Universitt Berlin Cairo Office. Each NFC focuses on and deepens a specific aspect of the summer schools main subject. In 2012, one conference will tackle the issue of gender

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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

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Dina Fakoussa-Behrens (GERMANY/EGYPT)


Dina Fakoussa has been working for seven years as Project and Program Manager in international development cooperation targeting the Arab region. She was among others Project Manager at the German NGO Media in Cooperation and Transition gGmbH in Jordan, where she conceptualized and realized publications, workshops, and online projects on politics, media, and culture in Iraq and the region. Her last position abroad was at the German Heinrich Bll Stiftung The Political Green Foundation in Lebanon, where she worked for two years as Program Manager. She was in charge of concept development and organization of international conferences and workshops on democratization, human and women rights, conflict resolution, and climate change with a focus on Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, as well as networking with local organizations, monitoring of joint projects, and drawing up analysis on political and socio-economic developments in the region. Dina is Egyptian-German. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a Minor in Economics from the American University in Cairo and her Master of Arts from the Freie Universitt Berlin. In March 2011 she took up the post as Head of the EU-Middle East Forum.

Christian Achrainer (GERMANY)


Christian Achrainer has been working as Program Officer for EUMEF since January 2011. Prior, he worked as Program Assistant and Program Officer for EUMEFs predecessor project, the International Forum on Strategic Thinking. He studied Political Science, Sociology, and Media and Communication Science at the Universities of Dsseldorf and Bremen. During his studies, Christian worked for the Politische Vierteljahresschrift (PVS), the flagship journal of German Political Science. Besides his work at DGAP, Christian is currently preparing his PhD-Thesis on German development cooperation with Egypt. His research is mainly focused on German foreign policy and development cooperation, recent developments in Egypt, military interventions, and the interplay of values, norms and interests in International Relations.

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Anja Runge (GERMANY)


Anja Runge has been working for the DGAP since 2009, first as an Intern and currently as Accounting Assistant for the Forum. In this capacity, she is responsible for administrative tasks as well as financial project monitoring including variance analysis. Prior to joining DGAP, Anja received her degree in Business Administration from Humboldt-Universitt zu Berlin. In her studies she focused on management accounting and financial reporting based on national and international standards (IAS, IFRS) as well as taxation of national and international transactions of private and incorporated companies. During her studies she worked as a Student Assistant for a non-profit organization that fosters research and development of small and medium-sized companies, where she improved her knowledge of ERP-systems and data management.

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The 15th New Faces Conference Concept Note


I. General Outline The role of women in the two countries historical shifts cannot be overstated. Women from all walks of life stood side by side with men during the uprisings, and equally shouldered actions and challenges regardless of their severity and danger, with the need to acknowledge that womens activism and participation were decisive and significant in educating about atrocities and injustices of the former regime and in mobilizing the masses to participate in the upheaval, and this is just to name a few of womens fields of action and activism prior to the uprisings. There was hope that conventional gender relations have dissolved and that the sense of solidarity and egalitarianism witnessed during the weeks of revolt would translate into a broader socio-cultural revolution regarding the status and role of women in both societies. Not surprisingly very soon this euphoria and optimism needed to make way for a sobering reality: changing the mind-set of a people and eliminating patriarchy, archaic traditions, and sexism is much more difficult to achieve than ousting the head of a state. Specific developments that occurred after toppling the two presidents led to an outcry in activists circles, fearing the sidelining of women and gender equality in general. To name a few examples, in Egypt there were cases of severe sexual harassment during International Womens Day on the hands of the public and the military, the constitutional reform panel lacked any female members, the majority of newly established political parties lack any significant female figures in leading positions, only ten women sit in the newly elected parliament and the male dominated political discourse widely views gender equality as a special interest agenda rather than a just cause for equality that is in the national interest of the two countries. Although Tunisia performed better in several ways, for example by passing a parity law for electoral lists, both Tunisia and Egypt face similar challenges and are witness to a rise of (ultra-)conservative groups that openly declare a gender equality hostile agenda as well as powerful so-called moderate Islamic political parties with a blurry position on gender equality. These developments do not bode well for gender equality in particular and the democratic process in general. Nevertheless and despite these disturbing developments, the current historic openings of both societies bear a distinct chance of advancing gender equality further and anchoring the concept in all aspects of the newly emerging societies. But due to the fact that transitions are exceptional as well as extremely challenging and fragile phases in a countrys vitae, there might be a need for rethinking and adjusting the discourse of gender equality and related activism. This conference would like to offer a platform for reflection for Young Professionals on this issue. The conference does not aim to offer a tour dhorizon of deficits in gender equality in Egypt and Tunisia in all facets of society and how to address these. It rather seeks to pinpoint challenges and necessary action particularly during the current political transition, hence the focus on the political realm and related social factors such as tradition and culture, also with the underlying assumptions that first, genuine progress on these two fronts normally translate into an amelioration of womens economic and social rights, and second, that women have been acknowledged as key constructive and necessary actors in post-conflict reconstruction and rebuilding efforts and should therefore be actively engaged in the current political transitions in Egypt and Tunisia.

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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?

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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
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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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Speakers (in order of appearance in the agenda) Christian Hnel (GERMANY)


Christian Hnel is Deputy Head of Department International Relations Western Europe, America, Turkey, Japan, India at the Robert Bosch Stiftung. After working in the sales department of a media distribution company for three years, Hnel came to the Robert Bosch Stiftung in 2001. He participated in the leadership development program of the foundation, was Program Officer German-American relations, served as Personal Assistant to the Chairman of the Board of Management and worked as Visiting Program Officer at the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation in Flint, MI, USA. Outside the foundation, Hnel is member of several program jurys, such as the Indian film festival Bollywood and Beyond or the country-wide initiative Jugend denkt Zukunft/Young Ideas for the Future. Christian Hnel is alumnus of the Bucerius Summer School on Global Governance and of the program Common Purpose Leadership for the Common Good. He studied History and Economics at the Universities of Bielefeld and Mnster and at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, USA, on a DAAD-scholarship. Among his publications are: Von Europamdigkeit keine Spur: Partizipation zur Strkung der Legitimation" (2010), Giving Europe a Voice: How the European Citizens Consultations opened a direct channel between the EU and its citizens (2009), Robert Bosch und die soziale Verantwortung des Unternehmers (2008), Gefeiert, verdrngt, entsorgt: Widukind nach dem Krieg (2008).

Ann M. Lesch (EGYPT/USA)


Ann Lesch is a Professor of Political Science and the Associate Provost of International Programs at the American University in Cairo (AUC). In her research, she mainly focuses on Sudanese, Palestinian, and Egyptian politics. Lesch is a graduate of Swarthmore College (BA Honors) and Columbia University (PhD). Before joining the AUC, Ann Lesh has been a Research Associate at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, (19721974), the Associate Middle East Representative for the American Friends Service Committee (Jerusalem, 1974-1977), a Program Officer at the Ford Foundation (New York and Cairo, 1977-1984), the Middle East Associate for Universities Field Staff International (Cairo, 1984-1987), and a Professor of Political Science at Villanova University (Philadelphia, 1987-2004). In Fall 2004, she joined AUC as Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences and became Associate Provost for International Programs in Fall 2009. Besides, Lesch serves on advisory committees for Human Rights Watch (Middle East program), Middle East Report (MERIP), and the Palestinian American Research Center, which she co-founded in 1998 and directed from 2001 until 2004.

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Hania Sholkamy (EGYPT)


Hania Sholkamy is an Egyptian anthropologist with a PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences (LSE). She obtained her BA and MA from the American University in Cairo (AUC), is currently Associate Professor at the Social Research Center of the AUC and is also affiliated with the Forced Migration and Refugee Studies Program of the university. She is a member of the executive committee of the Institute for Gender and Womens Studies of AUC, and prior to her current position she has held positions with the Department of Anthropology of AUC, has been a Research Associate at the International Population Council and was the Ioma Evans Pritchard Junior Research Fellow at St. Annes College, Oxford University. Her research interests and publications are mainly in the fields of health, particularly reproductive health, gender, population and qualitative methods. She has co-edited two volumes, one titled Categories and Contexts: Anthropological and Historical Studies in Critical Demography (OUP) with S. Szreter and A. Dharmalingam and another titled Health and Identity in Egypt (AUC press) with F. Ghanam. She has been a member of various professional associations including The Reproductive Health Working Group (current), the Committee on Anthropology and Demography of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (1998-2002) and the Advisory Committee of the Middle East Awards program of the International Population Council (2002/3).

Magy Mahrous (EGYPT)


Magy Mahrous has been working in the area of social development for over 16 years. She worked on different education projects, mainly in Upper Egypt, for about seven years, during which she also got her first Masters degree in Management of Development Programs from the Arab Academy in Alexandria. She had already obtained a BA in Political Science from the American University in Cairo. She then received her second Masters in Alternative Development from the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, Holland and once finished, she worked for one year in Iraq managing education programs and then spent one year between Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon working with Iraqi refugees. Afterwards Mahrous moved to Dubai to work with an organization called Young Arab Leaders (YAL). From there she took off to Yemen, where she was tasked with starting up a girls education project. Her last stop was Darfur, Sudan, where she was working on improving vocational training schools in North and South Darfur. After the revolution and with the political opening, Mahrous ran for parliament as one of the very few young females. Her program was mainly focused on education, environment from a health and food security perspective, and human rights.

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Basma Soudani Belhadj (TUNISIA)


Basma Soudani Belhadj joined the Tunis Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Regional Office in August 2011 as a Program Analyst. She carries out a number of responsibilities related to the MEPI Local Grants Program and other MEPI programs in ten countries in the MENA region, including design, monitoring, and evaluation of projects, networking with civil society partners, research and analysis, and program management. She is the founder and the current chairperson of the NGO League of Tunisian Women Voters (LET) and she has been involved in many workshops and round-table discussions, broadcasted debates on women and politics and the woman as a political citizen in and outside Tunisia. After the revolution, she co-founded Third Voice, a Tunisian Civil Society Salon where she helped organize a post-revolution open forum for exchanging views on the New Tunisia. These are weekly meetings where political parties, government officials, human rights organizations, and media figures discuss their political vision with interested members of civil society. In 2003 she started working for the USG as a Language and Culture Instructor at the Arabic Field School (FSI) where after ousting Ben Ali she organized a series of round- table discussions between FSI students and Tunisian civil society activists to exchange views on human rights, education, and economic issues in postrevolution Tunisian society.

Hanan Abdel Rahman-Rabbani (JORDAN)


Hanan Abdel Rahman-Rabbani is Senior Program Officer for Womens Rights and Gender Development at the Open Society Foundation, based at the Arab regional office in Amman, Jordan. A graduate of the United World College, Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific in Victoria, Canada, she studied at Birzeit University in the West Bank, Durham University in England and earned a Master's degree in Development Studies from the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, Netherlands. Rabbani has many years of experience working with various local, regional, and international organizations on human rights, womens rights and development issues in the Middle East/North Africa region. In 1997-1999, she managed a pioneering womens rights project, entitled Palestinian Model Parliament: Women and Legislation, the first national project to deal with women and legislation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The project sparked extensive interest and controversy at the local, regional, and international levels and was awarded a French government prize as one of the best human rights projects of the year. Prior to her current post, Rabbani worked for four years as a human rights officer and head of Amman human rights office within the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq. In Palestine, among other organizations, she has worked for Al Haq, Womens Centre for Legal Aid and Counseling, Associates in Rural Development, and the Canadian International Development Agency. In Jordan, she worked as the Iraq Advisor for The Friedrich Naumann Foundations Arab Regional Office. Additional consultancy work was performed for OHCHR, Amnesty International, International Crisis Group, Sisterhood is a Global Institute, and other local and international organizations.

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Discussants/Facilitators Riham Bahi (EGYPT)


Riham Bahi is currently an Assistant Professor at Cairo University in the Faculty of Economics and Political Science and a visiting Assistant Professor at the American University in Cairo. She received her PhD in International and Public Affairs from Northeastern University in Boston. She also serves as the Dialogue Coordinator at the Center for Civilization Studies and the Dialogue of Cultures. Her particular research interests include Islamic Feminism, the global and transnational aspects of political Islam, and U.S. relations with the Muslim world.

Hoda Salah (EGYPT/GERMANY)


Hoda Salah is a Post-doctoral Researcher within the Flow By Flow EUEgypt Bridge Building (FFEEBB) program between the Freie Universitt Berlin and Cairo University Political Science Department. Her research within this program lies on the issue of youth and related challenges in the Arab World. She is a consultant on political and cultural matters in the Arab world and until 2010, she worked as a Research Associate and Lecturer at the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Politics at the Freie Universitt Berlin. Her general focal points of research are the relationship between sexuality, religion and politics in the Arab world, gender issues, womens movements in the Middle East, Islamic Feminism, political theory, transformation processes in the Middle East, dynamics of civil society, and Islamism as a social movement.

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Participants (in alphabetical order) Najla Abbes (TUNISIA)


Najla Abbes holds a Masters degree in English Literature from The Higher Institute of Languages in Tunisia. She is currently working as an Arabic Language Instructor at the Foreign Service Institute Tunisia (FSI). She is the co-founder and executive director of the League of Tunisian Women Voters (LET), an association founded in 2011 after the Tunisian revolution of 14 January. It aims at improving womens effective participation in public affairs, especially in politics as voters and candidates. Najla acted as a national election observer in the newly held elections of the Constituent Assembly in Tunisia. She was also a Fulbright Language Teaching Assistant at Pfeiffer University, North Carolina for the years 2007-2008. Her main duties were to teach different levels of Modern Standard Arabic and conduct lectures and workshops on Tunisian identity, education, and women in Islam. Najla is Public Relation Officer in the Tunisian Fulbright Society association, an alumni association for former Tunisian Fulbrigthers.

Syrine Ayadi (TUNISIA)


Syrine Ayadi is a Tunisian lawyer. She graduated in 2003 from the University of Tunis. In 2007, she continued her post graduate studies at the same University, where she obtained a Masters degree in "Common Law. Afterwards, she was employed by two Tunis-based law firms as a legal consultant. She was also employed as legal translator at the legal department of the Tunisian Prime Ministry. Soon after, she obtained a scholarship from the University of Rome La Sapienza in Italy and was admitted to a Master program in Private European Law. During her stay in Rome, she acted as a Project Coordinator and Consultant at the International Division Project of ADR Center, a center for dispute resolution. In 2010, she returned to university to pursue her doctorate. In her dissertation research she is comparing the legal responses of Tunisian, French, and American governments to the spread of religious groups, religious freedom, and human rights and fundamental liberties. Since 14 January 2011, Syrines expertise has been solicited by several consulting firms to prepare a research report on Tunisias post-revolution civil society. Besides, Syrine works as a legal and civil society consultant in an international consulting company operating in Tunis that provides capacity building and technical assistance to Tunisian civil society.

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Gabriella Borovsky (TUNISIA/USA)


Gabriella Borovsky is a Program Manager with the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) in Tunisia. She has been living in Tunisia since February 2011. She has also lived and worked in Egypt and Morocco, where she managed programs for women candidates and young women leaders. Gabriella has organized many election observation missions including the first two post-revolution elections in Tunisia and Egypt. She has led workshops for political party and civic activists throughout North Africa and the Middle East, particularly women running for elected office. Gabriella helped develop NDI's Win with Women Global Initiative and iKNOW Politics program. In 2010, she co-authored the book Confidence, Capacity, Connections: A Young Womans Guide to Leadership. She is a founding board member of fem*ex an organization that facilitates courses on womens empowerment in Washington DC. Gabriella is a graduate of the Womens Campaign School at Yale University. She also studied Political Science at Ramapo College of New Jersey, and comparative European politics at Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic and Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland.

Houda Chaloun (MOROCCO)


Houda Chaloun was born and raised in the small city of El Jadida, situated in the center of Morocco. She studied in public schools in Morocco and got her IT engineering degree back in 2004. Since then Houda has been working as an IT Consultant and Project Manager, currently in a multinational company located in Morocco which is implementing projects in Central Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Through her work Houda is very much involved in cultural and gender diversity programs. She has been a blogger since 2004, writing blogs and stories about womens conditions in Morocco, literature and arts. She is a social media activist and a co-founder of a newly created think tank called Kalima that aims to provide alternative policies through academic research and civil society debates. Her interest in gender issues first rose at work when she became concerned with the work environment for women. Shortly afterwards, she became more aware of the impact of gender inequality on womens daily life and hence became increasingly interested and engaged in politics.

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Nerea Craviotto Ortega (SPAIN)


Nerea Craviotto was born in Lleida, Spain. She holds a degree in Sociology (2000) and a Masters degree in Development Cooperation (2005). She has long been actively involved in the womens movement, as an activist and as a professional within the NGO sector. Nerea worked several years in Brussels for the WIDE network, a European Womens Rights network that monitors and influences international economic and development policy and practice from a feminist perspective. Nerea is currently based in the occupied Palestinian territory, where she works on gender equality and womens rights issues at an operational level, for a developmental NGO called ACSUR-Las Segovias.

Murat Demirel (TURKEY)


After finishing high school, Murat Demirel studied International Relations at Dokuz Eyll University and graduated with a Masers degree. His major field of interest is security studies. Murat is working as a Research Assistant at the Middle East Technical Universitys International Relations Department, where he is currently enrolled as a Ph.D. candidate. Besides, Murat is the founder and director of several youth associations. His minor research field is gender equality in Turkey. He has expertise in datacollection about the social, political, and economic status of women in Turkey and took part in several academic activities, projects, and conferences, such as Creating Awareness for Gender Equality Nevsehir University, January 2010, where he presented a paper on The status of Turkish women in figures.

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Drthe Engelcke (GERMANY/UK)


Drthe Engelcke currently pursues her DPhil at the University of Oxford where she is also a Teaching Assistant for the undergraduate course Middle Eastern Politics since October 2011. Her dissertation analyses policymaking in authoritarian states, drawing on family law reform as a case study. During various stays in Jordan, Syria, Algeria, and Morocco for fieldwork, she conducted interviews with lawyers, judges, politicians, and womens rights activists. She previously studied Middle Eastern Studies (major) and Law (minor) in Hamburg and in Paris (in the course of an Erasmus scholarship) before obtaining a Masters degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the School of African and Oriental Studies in London (SOAS) with a dissertation on the role of the Moroccan king in the countrys family reform process. She is editor of zenith magazine in Germany since 2006 as well as a regular contributor to other publications and has written widely on political and social issues, among them working conditions of Asian construction workers in Dubai, divorce practices in Egypt, constitutional reform in Morocco, Arab businesswomen, and the fine arts in the Arab world.

Mohamed Kamal (EGYPT)


Mohamed Kamal obtained a BA from the English Department of Mansoura University in 1999. After receiving a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (2002) and a Post Graduate Diploma in Organizations and Human Resources (2004) from Ain Shams University, Cairo, as well as a Post Graduate Diploma in Children, Youth, and Development from the Institute of Social Studies in Den Hague, the Netherlands (2007), he recently graduated with a Joint Master degree in European Studies from Graz University, Austria, the Institute of Public Administration, Luxembourg, and Autonomous University of Barcelona. Since July 2000, Mohamed is working for the international NGO Plan International Egypt, first as Country Translator, then as Country Coordinator and Youth Development and Media Program Coordinator. In September 2009, he changed to his current position as Youth Development Program Advisor and is, among others, responsible for developing a program strategy for Plan Egypts youth program and building up networks and partnerships with local, national, and governmental bodies working in youth development.

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Maya Ksouri (TUNISIA)


Maya Ksouri has been a lawyer at the Tunis Bar Association since 2000 and she is currently an active member of the Tunisian Observatory of Human Rights. Moreover, she is member of the head office of the Tunisian Organization for Women in Precariousness and was subscribed as electoral controller by the Tunisian Organization for Constitutional Law (ATDC). Maya participated in several summits and meetings on assessing the political process and the role of civil society in Tunisia, and she is member of several organizations such as Junior Lawyers, Political Consciousness and atide. From 1997-2000, she worked as a university teacher on Constitutional Law. Maya earned a BA in Law, a Masters degree in Public and Financial Law and a high Masters degree in Constitutional Law from the Facult des Sciences Juridique, Politiques et Sociales, Tunis II.

Elhossien Elsaghier Mahmoud (EGYPT)


Elhossien Elsaghier Mahmoud is a Political Science graduate. He is owner and admin of a web site for political awareness www.elsyasi.com as well as its facebook page www.facebook.com/elsyasia. The website aims to raise awareness about human rights issues, civil society, and human development and organizes training campaigns on these issues. Since January 2011 Elhossien works as a Trainer in the fields of political and human rights awareness with an NGO called Hayaty. He is organizer and the main trainer of the campaign "Responsible Egyptian citizen". Up to now, seven workshops have taken place in the framework of the project. Moreover, in October 2011 Elhossien established an NGO for youth development called Masr bokra with 18 Egyptian youth activists. The NGO mainly works on economic empowerment.

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Salma Nagy (EGYPT)


Salma Nagy graduated from the American University in Cairo with a BA in Business Administration and Political Science in 2003. She earned her Master of Science degree in Information Systems from the London School of Economics (LSE) in 2004 focusing her dissertation on privacy rights and biometric identification technology. Salma is member of the Freedom Egypt Party and its political papers committee. She joined Shell Egypt in the Oil & Gas sector in 2005 as a business analyst, took on the role of exploration economist in 2006, and since 2010 is the Levant economist as part of the commercial team covering regional opportunities. In parallel to her professional career, she earned another graduate diploma in Middle East Studies from the American University in Cairo in 2011. Furthermore, she is member of the Egyptian Pugwash Society since 2006 and member of the group Enlightened Egypt. Salma occasionally blogs about post revolution Egyptian public affairs on her personal blog Tahrir Revisited.

Hafsa Oubou (MOROCCO)


Hafsa Oubou obtained a BA degree in English Linguistics and Literature from Ibn Zohr University in Agadir and an MA degree in Communication Studies from Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakech. After graduation, Hafsa worked as a journalist for two years. She wrote political news stories in English for an international magazine (Newstime Africa) and wrote social articles and conducted interviews with women both in Arabic and English for the local press (Al Inbiaat & Agadir Time). Next to her journalistic work, Hafsa is also an academic and works at Ibn Zohr University (Agadir) as an Adjunct Professor. She is teaching two main classes: Introduction to Media Studies and Cultural Diversity. Currently Hafsa is a Project Coordinator for the NGO Dar Si Hmad, which implements several development projects in the fields of water, culture, and education to empower youth and women in rural areas in Southern Morocco. Hafsa is interested in gender equality, especially in the domains of media and law. Hafsa blogs at http://hafsaoubou.blogspot.com.

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Stephanie Siklossy (UK)


Stephanie Siklossy studied Arabic and Social Anthropology at Edinburgh University from 1999 to 2003, and completed a Master of Science in Violence, Conflict, and Development at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London in 2005. She worked for four years for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as a Protection Delegate, Protection Coordinator and Head of Office in Israel/Palestinian Territories, Tunisia, Algeria, and Sri Lanka. Since January 2010, she has been working at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), first within the Public Diplomacy Division, then in the Political Affairs Division as a Political Officer in the Mediterranean Dialogue and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative Countries Section. In this function, she is responsible for NATOs political dialogue and practical cooperation with Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, and Qatar. Her main interests are Middle Eastern and North African politics, conflict and security matters, and International Law. In addition, she has a special interest in human rights and women rights issues, having focused on such issues in the course of her work in prisons (including with female detainees) and in conflict zones with the ICRC, as well as during an internship with Amnesty International.

Nilden Vardar (GERMANY)


Nilden Vardar studied Political Science, Islamic Studies, and Sociology at the University of Bonn. After completing her MA she has been working as a Research Associate in the research group of the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees in Nuremberg. The research she conducted in the field of migration and integration was related to questions of integration of religious minorities, including governmental approaches and policies towards this inclusion and particularly concerning the Muslim migrant population. Currently Nilden is a doctoral student at the Berlin Graduate School for Muslim Cultures and Societies by Freie Universitt Berlin. Her dissertation is focused on German Muslim converts as political actors and seeks to analyze identity patterns and self-understandings of German Muslim Citizen in the context of ethnicity, religion, and citizenship. At the same time Nilden is engaged with the Centre for Islamic Women's Research and the Empowerment of Women in Cologne, where she works on gender-related issues in the context of Islam. In this connection she also participates in a project on interreligious hermeneutics of the authentic sources and texts of Christianity and Islam and thereby explores the question of gender justice from an interreligious perspective. And Nilden is also a member of the Nationwide Action Alliance of Muslim Women in Germany (Aktionsbndnis muslimischer Frauen - AmF).

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Ben Wagner (GERMANY/UK)


Ben Wagner is a Researcher at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy and coordinates the Dynamic Coalition on Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media at the U.N. Internet Governance Forum. He is currently preparing a doctoral thesis on the Internet in Public and Foreign Policy in Europe, the U.S., and the MENA region, with a particular focus on how values including gender, sexuality and family values are transported within this context. Ben has studied Political Science and International Law at the LMU Munich, Germany (M.A.), Peace and Conflict Studies at the Universidad de Granada, Spain, and International and Development Administration at the Universiteit Leiden, the Netherlands (M.Sc.). As part of his academic work he interviewed women working in NGOs in Jordan and Tunisia to understand how their work influenced their role in society in a complex interplay of social agency, state feminism, and societal resistance. He has also conducted research on the regulation of media and communications in Tunisia, both before and after the Arab Spring. Ben has previously worked for the Copenhagen Business School, UNESCO, the Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation (HIVOS), and the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation in Amman and Tunis.

Deborah Wright (UK)


Deborah Wright is currently working as a Research Fellow for the Conflict Research Unit of the Netherlands Institute for International Relations (Clingendael), covering topics of gender and civil society. Her main research projects focus on the dimensions of gender in violence and conflict, mainstreaming gender into peace, security and state-building, and the role of non-state actors in fragile contexts, concentrating particularly on the MENA region. Previously, Deborah has worked as the Program Development Manager for ACTED (the French Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development), where she was responsible for program design and implementation including gender mainstreaming initiatives across the north of the country. Deborah has also worked in Palestine as a Program Officer for the Maan Network, focusing particularly on gender mainstreaming in media capacity development. Deborah also has experience working in the field of development cooperation in Ethiopia and Brussels. She is a Masters graduate of the College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium with an MA in International Relations and Diplomacy and she received her BA hons in European Studies and Modern Languages from the University of Manchester, UK.

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Dalia Ziada (EGYPT)


Dalia Ziada, a blogger and rights activist, is the Director of Eladl's (a newly established political partys) Woman Organization and the Regional Director of the American Islamic Congress in Cairo. Among her accomplishments at the Congress were starting the first human rights film festival in the Middle East, translating the Montgomery Story comic book into Arabic and distributing it in the MENA region, launching 5F campaign to promote religious tolerance in Egypt, launching the "AB Human Rights Campaign" for Egyptian primary school children, working on a long-term women's rights project aiming at adopting a new narrative for women in the Muslim World, and advising local, regional, and American policymakers on how to best address human rights, women rights, and freedom of expression in the Middle East. Dalia holds a BA in English Literature from Ain Shams University and an MA Degree in International Relations from Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. After finishing her BA, she joined Al-Ahram newspaper as a trainee and then as a Professional Reporter on foreign affairs. By the end of 2005, she joined the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information as a translator and researcher where she co-created a bi-lingual report on freedom to use the internet in the Middle East and North Africa region titled "Implacable Adversaries: Arab Governments and the Internet."

Sally Zohney (EGYPT)


Sally Zohney is an advocate of women rights from Cairo. She holds a Masters degree in International Relations from Saint Joseph University in Beirut, Lebanon (2008) and a BA in Political Science from the French Department at the Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences at Cairo University. Sally has been working in the field of women rights and gender equality, youth education, and development for almost five years on projects related to advocacy, campaigning, and peer-to-peer education through art in Egypt. Sally is a founding member of SAWA Egypt, an independent women rights group and Tahrir Monologues, an independent project that relives the 18 days of revolution in Egypt through story telling.

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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

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