As Founder Chairman of the Arab International Women’s Forum, I am pleased to share the March 2015 issue of AIWF News, which can be viewed on the AIWF Website at www.aiwfonline.com or by clicking this link. 

This latest edition of our Newsletter highlights a new partnership initiative for AIWF with the International Bar Association, Legal Practice Division and the Arab Women’s Legal Network to host a Conference in Amman, Jordan which is aimed at empowering women commercial lawyers in the Arab region by assisting them to increase their knowledge of international commercial law.

AIWF will soon be formulating a new partnership with The Global Fund to lend support for their fight against Aids, TB and Malaria, all diseases which affect all in the Arab region.

We have provided an important update on the research programme entitled Women’s Careers in the GCC: The CEO Agenda being carried out by the Pearl Initiative, AIWF’s Institutional Partner, to analyse company best practices and encourage the progression of women into Executive and Board roles.

We are proud to bring news of AIWF Board Members, Members and Friends as they distinguish themselves further by receiving global and national recognition for their work and we are also delighted to share with you the scale of media coverage recently received by AIWF as a result of its work in empowering women in the Arab world.

2015 marks the 20^th anniversary of the UN Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which is an historic roadmap that sets the agenda for the realisation of women’s rights.  Governments and activists are meeting this month at the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at UN Headquarters in New York to review the progress of national governments in implementing the Platform for Action.  This issue of AIWF News provides an outline of the run-up to this significant CSW and the reporting process.

Events in New York are timed to coincide with International Women’s Day on 8 March;  AIWF marked the occasion this year with my Chairman’s International Women’s Day Message in which I as Chairman, on behalf of the Board, Members and Global Partners of the Arab International Women’s Forum,  pay tribute to all those women all over the world who have made an enormous contribution to advancing the debate on women’s empowerment in the economic, social and political spheres. 

Kind regards,

Haifa Al Kaylani

Chairman