FROM LEFT: Sultan Barakat, Founding Director of the Centre for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies; Ewa Polano, Ambassador of Sweden; Rossana Cecilia Surballe, Ambassador of Argentina; H E Lulwah Rashid Al Khater, the official spokesperson for the Foreign M
DOHA: H E Lulwah Rashid Al Khater, the official spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, expressed her happiness on the courage of Qatari women to stand by their country during the siege imposed on Qatar.
“When it comes to women’s rights and promotions, it is a matter of pride and encouragement both in Qatar and in other countries,” she said while speaking during a panel discussion organised by Centre For Conflict and Humanitarian Studies in collaboration with Unesco celebrating International Women’s Day 2018 at Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.
The panel discussion was attended by Ivonne A-Baki, Ambassador of Ecuador to Qatar and Unesco Goodwill Ambassador; Ewa Polano, Ambassador of Sweden to Qatar; Fatma Mohammed Rajab, Ambassador of Tanzania to Qatar; Rossana Cecilia Surballe, Ambassador of Argentina to Qatar; and Bahia Tahzib-Lie, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Qatar.
Replying to a question about the challenges faced by Qatari women in diplomatic field, she said, “My experience in diplomatic field is still new, but I think challenges are in every field, not only diplomatic field. The only thing that we need is to have just issue to defend on it.”
She also noted that, “Qatar through Qatar Development Bank has financed a lot of projects and provides loans to women in Somalia, Gaza and in Tunisia.”
For her part, Ewa Polano, Ambassador of Sweden to Qatar highlighted the presence of political and diplomatic forces supporting women’s role in the foreign and internal affairs of her country.
The Ambassador of the United Republic of Tanzania to Qatar said that the women during wars are exposed to harassment and displacement and will all these they are taking care of their children.
Response to a question on the role of women in local peace initiatives, she said that there are success stories that did not come out of the blue, but from the initiatives and endeavours of the African Union and the United Nations to involve women in decision-making.
