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P.R. 2 Women Section. 7/3/2005
Doc: 1/3/2005
Dr.
Morad Ghaleb, President of AAPSO
Issued the
following Statement on behalf
of the Permanent Secretariat
World
Woman Day
Every year
the world observes 8 March as Women Day. Regardless of race, ethnicity
group or habits, women all over the world mark the day as a symbol of
solidarity among peoples.
On that
day we need to express our highest esteem to women for the tremendous
effort they are making amid crucial international changes. Arab women,
for example, are suffering from double discrimination, once on grounds
of gender as a result of obsolete laws and societal norms, and the other
as a result of the situation in the region involving tension and the
Arab-Israeli conflict, foreign presence in the region, and the threat to
launch pre-emptive wars on some Arab countries. As a result, the Arab
countries are opting for programs and policies in favor of expenditure
on armament more than on improving the societal institutional
infrastructure concerned with improving the status of women and the
prevailing conditions in society as a whole.
This year
the Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Organization is dedicating that day
to the Iraqi women for their heroic role in liberating their homeland
from colonialism and dictatorship in the past, and who are now valiantly
carrying out their role for the formation of a new Iraqi government with
strong institutions and with an agenda that has as first priority
demanding the withdrawal of the occupation forces from their land
within a time framework and completing the drafting of an Iraqi
constitution that insures the rights of all Iraqis without
discrimination on grounds of ethnicity or gender.
Within the
framework of the convening of the Beijing women conference during that
period, AAPSO calls on governments and governmental and non-governmental
organizations to support women in their march as a partner to community
development and to improving women's status where they are suffering
from a flagrant violation and where the violation is expected to further
increase with the deterioration of economic, political and social
conditions in the world despite all the charters and conventions which
provide for equality among humankind and insure their freedom, safety
and dignity.
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