Sharjah: Women and girls in the Mena region still face formidable threats to their security and education, warned child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi during the Investing in the Future conference in Sharjah on Wednesday.
The 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner from India said despite efforts to empower female residents in the region, many of them continue to fall victim to abuse and neglect in various domains.
His comments came during the opening session of the two-day conference, which this year is being held under the agenda of ‘Building Resilience of Women and Girls in the Arab Region’.
“In spite of the great work you are doing, particularly in the UAE, we do have problems in the Mena region,” said Satyarthi, 62.
He added that the “bigger problems” were related to crimes against girls in Syria, and elsewhere, where, he said, thousands have been trafficked into sex slavery.
“Whose daughters are they? They are all our daughters, they are all our children. We have to start with that compassion, which is inside each one of us.”
Satyarthi, known for rescuing scores of children from slavery in India, told the audience, “this is the right place, today is the time, and you are the people” that can escalate efforts to help victims.
“We [in the Mena region] do have child domestic labour; we do have the problems of child trafficking, where two-thirds of the trafficked victims are girls,” he added.
Satyarthi pointed out that only 48 per cent of women in the region can use mobile phones, while only 34 per cent of them have access to the internet.
Speaking in a global context, Satyarthi said, “We are late in freeing our daughters and educating them and bringing justice to their lives.”
In his opening remarks, he praised the UAE for its exemplary role in championing women’s and children’s rights and safety in the region, describing its efforts as “a cold shower in the midst of the dusty heatwaves of nationalistic, religious and ethnic extremism”.
It was also announced during the conference that the UAE is now host to the first and only UN Women office in Mena. The announcement came during an address by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, executive director, UN Women.
