Al Arabiya News is marking this year’s International Women’s Day, which falls on the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration on gender equality, with special coverage profiling the world’s leading women and their contributions to society.

The coverage is set to highlight the Middle East’s most pressing issues on the status of women in the region.

Gender-related violence, education and women in the workforce are among the topics being addressed, as well as a look back at prominent women in Arab history and profiles on leading women in the fields of politics, philanthropy, media, technology, business and architecture.

"Since this International Women Day marks the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration, we felt that resembles an ideal opportunity to look back and reflect on the challenges and achievements of women in our part of the world over the past two decades," said Faisal J. Abbas, Editor-in-Chief of Al Arabiya News (the English language digital platform of Al Arabiya News channel).

‎"Sadly, many Arab women continue to face deprivation of many of their basic rights, as well as discrimination and violence; however, this means that women who actually succeed and manage to achieve an outstanding status deserve an even bigger round of applause from all of us, given that they are making it despite all these challenges... and these are the women we hope to shed the light on as we see them as a beacon of hope for generations to come" Abbas added.

The Beijing Declaration in 1995 was a landmark document that called for the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls as a prerequisite to advancing gender equality.

Al Arabiya News’ coverage is being inaugurated today on the eve of International Women’s Day, with an exclusive opinion piece by former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and ‎a special report on gender-related violence in the Mideast, 20 years after the Beijing Declaration.

Among the profiled Arab success stories being profiled throughout the week are Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawy, Lebanese writer and activist Joumana Hadad, Egyptian minister for social solidarity Ghada Fathi Ismail Wali, CEO of Abu Dhabi’s twofour54 Noura al-Kaabi and Facebook’s UAE-based head of brand Amira Rashad.

All stories in our special section can be found here: International Women's Day

Women's Day

Last Update: Wednesday, 20 May 2020 KSA 13:55 - GMT 10:55