The Arab human development report 2005
Subtitle: towards the rise of women in the Arab world
By: UNDP, Regional Bureau for Arab States.
Contributors: United Nations Development Programme. Regional Bureau for Arab States.; Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development.
Publisher: United Nations Development Programme, Regional Bureau for Arab States
Published: 2006
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 313
ISBN-13: 9789211261745
Subjects: Women -- Arab countries -- Social conditions.; Women's rights -- Arab countries.; Arab countries -- Intellectual life.
Other titles: Towards the rise of women in the Arab world.
Description: The rise of women in Arab countries goes beyond redressing historical injustices against them and ensuring their equitable treatment - notwithstanding that both are due obligations for Arab societies. Indeed, the advancement of women is a pre-requisite for a comprehensive Arab renaissance. Arab countries have undoubtedly attained significant achievements in the advancement of women, but the ultimate objectives of this endeavour, as conceptualised in the Arab Human Development Reports, require further effort. Much more remains to be accomplished by way of enabling the equitable acquisition and utilisation of human capabilities and the exercise of human rights, before women's advancement can be complete. Since the status of women in the Arab world is a culmination of the complex - and often problematic - interaction of cultural, social, economic and political factors, there are many impediments to this process in the region. Nevertheless, Arab women have managed to attain outstanding achievements in diverse fields of human activity.  Societal reform aimed at enabling the rise of women, in line with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), is envisioned as one of the two wings of the bird symbolising the rise of women in the Arab world. A bird, however, needs two wings to fly. The other wing would be a wide-ranging and effective movement in Arab civil society that engages both women and their male supporters in steadily extending and consolidating targeted societal reform initiatives on the one hand, and on the other, empowering women - and the society at large - to benefit from them. In particular, the report calls for the adoption of time-bound affirmative action, tailored to the specificities of each Arab society, in order to expand the participation of women in all fields of human activity. This is considered imperative to dismantle the structures of centuries of discrimination.
Notes: At head of title:United Nations Development Programme, Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organizations.

Originally published in Arabic.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 233-247).
Table of contents: title: Changes in human development in the Arab countries since the launch of AHDR 2004; title: Towards the rise of women in the Arab world frame of reference; title: Concepts and problematic issues; title: The state of women in the Arab world; title: The acquisition of human capabilities; title: The use of human capabilities; title: Levels of human well-being; title: The Arab women's movement: struggles and experiences; title: The societal context of the state of women; title: Culture; title: Social structures; title: Legal structures; title: Political economy; title: Towards the rise of women in the Arab world; title: A strategic vision: two wings for the rise of women.