The Ambassador of Argentina, Carlos Hernandez; the Ambassador of Spain, Belén Alfaro (right); and the President of the Qatar Women’s Sport Committee, Lolwa Al Marri (centre) at the ‘The Forum 2019 - Gender Gap and Feminism’. Pic: Qassim Rahmatullah / The
Efforts taken by Qatar for women empowerment and gender equality were lauded at a forum held on Saturday.
Prominent speakers at ‘The Forum 2019: Gender Gap and Feminism’ made a special mention of the initiatives taken by Qatar Foundation (QF) and its leadership to empower women.
In celebration of Women’s month, Turkish Airlines and Future 318 (Faisal Al Suwaidi for Events) in partnership with Shangri-la Hotel Doha, held the Forum. It brought together both men and women in a discussion to get the insights and thoughts of both genders on certain issues faced by women across the world.
Belén Alfaro, the Ambassador of Spain to the State of Qatar, speaking at a panel discussion on gender gap, stressed the need for women participation in peace process and conflict resolution. “Only a very few women lead peace negotiations and act as negotiators. This should be changed. Also education is very important for women, as it will lead to empowerment,” she said.
She also appreciated the recent pledge by H E Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, Vice-Chairperson and CEO of QF, that women will make up at least half the panel speakers at all QF conferences and events, locally and internationally from 2020.
The Ambassador of Argentina to the State of Qatar, Carlos Hernandez, also appreciated the pledge by H E Sheikha Hind and said that QF has taken considerable steps to empower women. He also insisted that work place norms should be restructured to accommodate more women in every country.
Making an example Hernandez’s spouse, Noeila Paola Romero, a human rights lawyer, also participated in the Forum. “The world is a mix of men and women. It is important to involve men in the discussion about women rights and their problems.
You cannot expect men to change their behaviour and mindset if they are not involved. We cannot expect men to understand what we are talking if we talk among women. So the participation of men is important in every discussion about gender gap, feminism and empowering women,” Romero told The Peninsula.
Lolwa Al Marri, the President of Qatar Women’s Sport Committee; Rochelle Zonnerberg, an entrepreneur; Shefa Obaid, a psychologist; and Jeffrey Asselstine, Co-Founder of Nelson Park Group; also shared their thoughts and views on gender gap.
Speakers of a another session shared their opinion on different aspects of feminism at ‘The Forum 2019: Gender Gap and Feminism’.
