Middle Eastern Young Women demand reshaping of the YWCA

They're called Dina, Hoda, Basma or Nagham. They're bright, articulate, inspiring, and most of all, are determined to keep the YWCAs in their region alive and thriving. "You are the present and the future of this movement," declared Ms Reem Najjar, World Board Member and President of the YWCA of Jordan, just before the Young Women's Leadership Dialogue of the Middle East RTI officially started.

The day started off with an intergenerational introduction moderated by the YWCA of Egypt where all participants gathered in plenary to get to know each other. Young and Youngish (a YWCA member is never old), newcomers and old-timers shared bits of their lives before separating into two groups. The young women were left to reflect on the agenda that had been prepared for their day, while the remaining of the participants went to visit one of the YWCA of Egypt's project in Cairo, El Obour, vocational cooking training.

The Young Women's Leadership dialogue (YWLD) was officially opened by Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, World YWCA General Secretary, inspiring speech to the participants, in which she encouraged them to be bold and daring in tackling challenging issues.

Throughout the day, the Middle Eastern young women shared their views and experiences on sexual and reproductive health and rights, HIV and AIDS and violence against women and on how these issues affected them personally. “If you speak about violence against women in Palestine, some people will laugh at you, stating that the abuse is against the whole people, not specifically women, or will try and excuse the abuser's behaviour by the political and social stress he's under. It's very difficult to raise awareness about women's rights in such a context,” said Ms Arda Aghazarian, World YWCA Board Member and member of the YWCA of Palestine. "In all matters of violence against women, whatever form it might take, the woman often takes the blame on herself, and thinks it's her fault and that she deserved the abuse " states Ms Madeleine Safadi, a volunteer at the YWCA of Jordan.

The issue of Sexual and reproductive health and rights were relatively new for the participants to discuss and the YWLD provided a safe space for them to do so confidently. The participants benefited as well from a presentation made by Ms Maya Gokul, global programme coordinator at SUPPORT, who emphasised the need for young women to learn about their bodies. The last part of the day was devoted to an in-depth reflection on the role and place of young women within the YWCA movement. The delegates discussed the global economical situation affecting their associations, thus preventing these latter to be able to offer attractive staff positions for young women who are just starting off their careers. Reshaping the YWCA so as to give significant responsibilities and decision making power to young women, how to attract and retain young women, were also topics on their agenda, and ideas flew high across the room, trying to find the exact wording for the outcomes document that is to be presented at the official opening ceremony today.

The final consensus was reached towards the very end of the session, and the three main requests coming from the delegates read as follows:

We, the young women of the Middle East, recommend that the YWCA movement shifts its culture so as:

• To ensure that young women are represented both at the decision making and the implementing levels within their associations
• To attract young women by creating an enabling and welcoming environment for them to grow in
• To trust and use the young women’s skills within the core programs of the organization

Participants are eager to discuss further these ideas during the intergenerational dialogue to take place later in the week. Let us wish them every bit of luck in their initiative to assert themselves as capable and confident YWCA women!

Links:
The YWCA of Egypt welcomes the Middle Eastern RTI Participants 
Middle Eastern young women ready to advance women’s human rights
Middle Eastern Women Creating Safe and Secure Communities