From Iraq to Oman, The Future is Female
The Observer, April 23 2006 By Helena Smith
Throughout the Arab world, an increasing number of women are taking onhigh-profile national roles in finance and commerce.
Champagne, chandeliers and toastmasters might seem a long way away from the world inhabited by Arab women. Indeed, the City might seem an odd sort ofplace for Arab women to converge. And, as venues go, Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London, might seem stranger still. But it was to this grandest of Georgian houses that some 300 Arab women,not least Sheikha Lubna al-Qasimi, Arabia's first female economy minister,repaired on Thursday for a 'celebration dinner'. Their mission? Not only to foster links with Britain's commercial heart but to prove that, from Morocco to Oman, women, in this field at least, are beginning to take the lead.
'If you look at the history of Islam, even the Prophet Muhammad married a businesswoman,' said al-Qasimi, 'Khadija was his boss and she recruited him to work with her,' she smiled, as the likes of Cherie Blair worked the distinctly veil-less crowd. 'The West always looks at the veil as a stigma and I think that's the number one problem,' she added, adjusting her own headscarf. 'They think that if women cover themselves, they cut themselves off from important roles, which isn't correct. In the Emirates, I can tell you, women are on rollerblades. They're moving fast in banking and business.'
Dispelling myths is what the California-trained al-Qasimi does best. Since she assumed the post in 2004, the Emirates' economy has flourished. Dubai, a gambling and tourist mecca, is dubbed the Manhattan of the Middle East.
In Saudi Arabia, where an estimated 40% of the nation's wealth is now believed to be in female hands despite the strictures on women inpublic, a woman was elected last December to head the chamber of commerce -something unthinkable 5 yrs ago.
'Arab women are so stereotyped, but if, like me, you're from Bahrain you see change everywhere, in all sectors of business,' says Elham Hassan (I'm so proud of her, she was my inspiration when I worked in the same firm as her, she is a great role model, down to earth, fierce and strong and always made me feel special to be working with her), a country senior partner at the int'l accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. 'It's happening, but it's coming to different countries at different speeds and is very linked to the pace of education.' Few regions face as many challenges as the Arab world.
In Jordan, where the number of girls in higher education has rocketed, a campaign is encouraging female entrepreneurship by micro-finance and mentoring programmes. 'There may be few women in top positions but their impact is huge,' says Sulaiman al-Hattlan, the Saudi Arabian editor-in-chief of Forbes Arabia.
They've seen there's been a lack of serious effort and no serious development in the region, which has made women more credible.' The oil sector is helping the turn-around. In the Shell building in London last Wednesday, company executives told an audience of mostly female Arab entrepreneurs that the oil giant was reinvigorating its global campaign to recruit women, with emphasis on the Middle East.
'There aren't enough people in the talent pool in the petroleum industry, so all companies are getting more aggressive and creative about finding them,' said Roxanne Decyk, director of corporate affairs at Shell. 'That partly explains why we've switched our search [for employees] to the Middle East and Asia and relaunched this campaign [for women].' On hearing the news, a group of Iraqi women in the front row - including Raja Khuzai, a former member of Iraq's interim governing council who helpeddraw up the country's constitution - whooped with delight.
Women are seen as key to the process. 'When you put women in the limelight it has a tremendous trickledown effect,' says Professor Assia Alaoui, ambassador-at-large to the King of Morocco. 'We all know that we need to reform but unless you change mindsets and society at large, you can't market reforms, you can't sell them to the people - which is why, from asymbolic point of view, women are so important.'
Al-Qasimi might be the first to agree. By the time dinner was over she was not wearing her pink headscarf. She had cheerily draped it around her shoulders as she walked past the toastmaster, under the Mansion Housechandeliers.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
Throughout the Arab world, an increasing number of women are taking onhigh-profile national roles in finance and commerce.
Champagne, chandeliers and toastmasters might seem a long way away from the world inhabited by Arab women. Indeed, the City might seem an odd sort ofplace for Arab women to converge. And, as venues go, Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London, might seem stranger still. But it was to this grandest of Georgian houses that some 300 Arab women,not least Sheikha Lubna al-Qasimi, Arabia's first female economy minister,repaired on Thursday for a 'celebration dinner'. Their mission? Not only to foster links with Britain's commercial heart but to prove that, from Morocco to Oman, women, in this field at least, are beginning to take the lead.
'If you look at the history of Islam, even the Prophet Muhammad married a businesswoman,' said al-Qasimi, 'Khadija was his boss and she recruited him to work with her,' she smiled, as the likes of Cherie Blair worked the distinctly veil-less crowd. 'The West always looks at the veil as a stigma and I think that's the number one problem,' she added, adjusting her own headscarf. 'They think that if women cover themselves, they cut themselves off from important roles, which isn't correct. In the Emirates, I can tell you, women are on rollerblades. They're moving fast in banking and business.'
Dispelling myths is what the California-trained al-Qasimi does best. Since she assumed the post in 2004, the Emirates' economy has flourished. Dubai, a gambling and tourist mecca, is dubbed the Manhattan of the Middle East.
In Saudi Arabia, where an estimated 40% of the nation's wealth is now believed to be in female hands despite the strictures on women inpublic, a woman was elected last December to head the chamber of commerce -something unthinkable 5 yrs ago.
'Arab women are so stereotyped, but if, like me, you're from Bahrain you see change everywhere, in all sectors of business,' says Elham Hassan (I'm so proud of her, she was my inspiration when I worked in the same firm as her, she is a great role model, down to earth, fierce and strong and always made me feel special to be working with her), a country senior partner at the int'l accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. 'It's happening, but it's coming to different countries at different speeds and is very linked to the pace of education.' Few regions face as many challenges as the Arab world.
In Jordan, where the number of girls in higher education has rocketed, a campaign is encouraging female entrepreneurship by micro-finance and mentoring programmes. 'There may be few women in top positions but their impact is huge,' says Sulaiman al-Hattlan, the Saudi Arabian editor-in-chief of Forbes Arabia.
They've seen there's been a lack of serious effort and no serious development in the region, which has made women more credible.' The oil sector is helping the turn-around. In the Shell building in London last Wednesday, company executives told an audience of mostly female Arab entrepreneurs that the oil giant was reinvigorating its global campaign to recruit women, with emphasis on the Middle East.
'There aren't enough people in the talent pool in the petroleum industry, so all companies are getting more aggressive and creative about finding them,' said Roxanne Decyk, director of corporate affairs at Shell. 'That partly explains why we've switched our search [for employees] to the Middle East and Asia and relaunched this campaign [for women].' On hearing the news, a group of Iraqi women in the front row - including Raja Khuzai, a former member of Iraq's interim governing council who helpeddraw up the country's constitution - whooped with delight.
Women are seen as key to the process. 'When you put women in the limelight it has a tremendous trickledown effect,' says Professor Assia Alaoui, ambassador-at-large to the King of Morocco. 'We all know that we need to reform but unless you change mindsets and society at large, you can't market reforms, you can't sell them to the people - which is why, from asymbolic point of view, women are so important.'
Al-Qasimi might be the first to agree. By the time dinner was over she was not wearing her pink headscarf. She had cheerily draped it around her shoulders as she walked past the toastmaster, under the Mansion Housechandeliers.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
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