On the occasion of the Arab Woman’s Day, First lady Wafa Suleiman notes that Arab women‘s journey is long and arduous

During the commemoration of the Arab Woman’s Day on February 1st, the Lebanese First Lady expressed her concern with the realities of Arab women especially that gender equality has yet to be realized in most Arab country at a time when women are still excluded from decision making circles.  
Suleiman noted that the journey towards women’s advancement is long and arduous and does not only concern Arab women but also involves intellectuals, political leaders, opinion leaders, academics and heads of political parties in the Arab world.  She also added that the date of February 1st is an opportunity to look back at achievements and remaining priorities, while highlighting the recent developments in Tunisia with the endorsement of gender equality in the Constitution.  However, Suleiman lamented that family laws in the Arab world are still discriminatory and we have yet to struggle for laws that protect women from family violence as well as for a needed reform of the penal code.  She also added that most Arab government have yet to ratify the international convention on trafficking in humans and is still far from institutionalizing gender equality as well as women’s political participation. Suleiman concluded that everybody should be committed to celebrate this date next year with concrete achievements whilst hoping for a better future for Arab women and communities.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Al-Diyar 3 February 2014