Category: Opinion

According to gender statistics, Arab women are amongst the most disadvantaged socially, politically, and economically. Arab states continue to have one of the lowest rates of women’s political representation at 17.4% (IPU 2017), which indicates that Arab women are under-represented in governance and decision-making positions. The issue of women’s rights in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is largely unrecognised due to social norms and persistent patriarchal patterns that are difficult to modify. The most important contribution that women can make to these male-dominated societies is being mothers and…

I believe when women come together, magic happens. I was first inspired by Oprah Winfrey. She has shown me what a powerful woman is. She has shown young girls and women that they are unstoppable and capable of whatever they set their minds to. She believes in educating girls and providing the right tools for them to conquer the world. In the process of preparing this article, I was searching on social media and asking friends to provide names of women who have achieved in our society. I was blown…

Disclaimer: May contain offensive language. I’m not sure why it always takes senseless tragedies for people’s true colours to come out, but here we are, and here I am, writing again. May had been eye-opening to say the least. On the back of two horrendous terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists in my country, I have to say I’ve been absolutely floored by the vast extent of myopic statuses and comments I’ve seen on Facebook and Twitter. The Facebook unfriend button has been a really good friend to me this week….

Recent news Last month, Saudi Arabia severed ties with Qatar over its role in ‘supporting terrorism’ throughout the region. Tensions had risen following an incident where the Qatari state-run news agency published a story which falsely attributed comments which expressed support for Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. The Qatari government categorically denied the story and the Foreign Minister blamed hacking whilst disregarding the comments as ‘fake news’. Yet the Saudi Arabian and Emirati based broadcasters ran the story regardless. The…

For those who were against Gaddafi, the euphoric feeling that came with his fall will last many years, despite the ensuing difficulties of general lawlessness and the failure of governance which resulted from a lack of a working constitution. These factors and many more have demoralised the majority of Libyans, giving rise to many doubts, and leaving Libyans to rely on simple faith, especially in the first days of the “new order”. The absence of a proper system of governance and rule of law remains a problem, as well as the widespread…