Shaikha Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa hailed a new era for Arab women while speaking at the second conference of the Arab Women's Organisation, in the UAE capital.

She made an impassioned plea for women to take centre stage in modern development.
'They must live in dignity, without fear and enjoy full rights as human beings, she said.

Using Bahrain's 'Vision 2030' as a model example, Shaikha Sabeeka vowed that such progress would go hand-in-hand with security.

She urged the organisation to launch a dialogue with the World Commission on Humanitarian Security to highlight challenges faced by Arab women.

This will help the organisation benefit from the commission's plans and programmes in addressing issues affecting the Arab world, she said.

Shaikha Sabeeka also stressed the need to highlight the impact of the global economic crisis on Arab citizens, in addition to the nature of the measures and precautions that need to be taken to protect them from the market turmoil and its effects on security of people, particularly women.

'The only option is to focus on long-term forceful planning that places human needs at the core of all action and ensure that they are well protected and properly empowered,' she said.

Shaikha Sabeeka urged the need to ensure freedom from want and freedom from fear, the protection of freedoms and the empowerment of individuals and societies into effective partnership in reconstruction and development.

She hailed the launch of the Arab Women's Media Strategy and the Arab Migrant Women's Network in line with the 'Manama recommendations' to help elevate the status of women.

Present were Takabur bint Ahmed of Mauritania, Amina Abbas of Palestine, Sudan's Wedad Babakr, Tunisia's Laila bin Ali, Queen Rania of Jordan, Suzanne Mubarak of Egypt, Syria's Asma Al Assad, Lalla Salma of Morocco and Lebanon's Wafaa Suleiman.-TradeArabia News Service