RIYADH — The 39th session of the Arab Women's Committee, which will begin here on Feb. 9, will declare Riyadh as the Capital of Arab Women 2020. Several ministers and senior officials representing the Arab countries as well as Arab and international organizations and women's bodies will participate in the two-day event. Saudi Arabia will chair the committee, which is an affiliate of the Arab League, for one year. The first day of the session is dedicated to the regional preparatory meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women 64 (CSW), which will review the 25-year long activities and performance of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Beijing +25 Regional Review Meeting. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 1995 was the most ambitious road map for the empowerment of women and girls everywhere. The second day will witness the 39th session of the Arab Women's Committee to discuss a number of topics on the agenda. This session will start with a discussion of the General Secretariat's activity report between the previous session and the current session. The session will review the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Empowerment of Women in the Arab Region, in addition to following up the recommendations of the Ministerial Conference on "Strengthening the role of women in Arab societies: Lessons learned from around the world" through enhancing cooperation with relevant international organizations, and to review the topics submitted by member states. Secretary General of the Family Affairs Council Dr. Hala Al-Tuwaijri stated in a statement that the Kingdom's hosting of the 39th session of the Arab Women Committee under the slogan of "Empowering Women ... Development of Society" comes within the framework of the Kingdom's efforts to serve Arab issues and support the development march in all Arab societies. "Saudi Arabia's hosting of the meeting comes at a time when the Kingdom is witnessing many reforms related to empowering women in accordance with the ambitious Vision 2 030 that had a direct impact on supporting and empowering Saudi women at various levels through a host of decisions and legislations that support her career and enhance her position," the statement added. Dr. Hala pointed out that this meeting will witness the launch of Riyadh as the capital of Arab women for the year 2020 under the slogan of "Women is a nation and ambition" in addition to the Kingdom's presidency of G20, and the subsequent meetings that confirm the international role played by the Kingdom at all levels. This role also constitutes a regional dimension in which the Kingdom shares the international community with the most important issues that affect the participation of Arab women in development and contributes to disseminating their voices.
