The participants to the Third Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement on the advancement of Women adopted today the Doha Declaration and Programme Action that was drafted under the joint chairmanship of the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Qatar.
This will conclude three or so days of constructive debates and contributions by the many delegations present at the conference, where about 60 speakers took the floor to express their governments’ position regarding women’s condition and to back the draft document.
The Third Ministerial Meeting can be considered another major contribution by the NAM to the enhancement of the rights and conditions of living of socially vulnerable populations in general, and to women in particular. It is a clear manifestation of political will in light of the many other serious challenges that assail the signatory governments.

The Non-Aligned Movement and women

Women’s condition has always been a major concern for societies and leaders, especially in modern times. The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), a vast grouping of countries that adhere to common principles in dealing with relationships between states, has been discussing the role of women in the development of their societies for some time.

One can start with the Doha Declaration on the Family, ratified by the NAM members on November 30th 2004, which set fundamental principles regarding family interests and rights. Then came the first NAM Ministerial Meeting dedicated to women titled “Empowering women in the face of the challenges of globalization” and held in Putrajaya - Malaysia on May 9th 2005, that addressed issues such as protecting women against wars and diseases, granting them political and economic rights, giving them a better access to education and employment, enforcing laws enacted for the protection of women from domestic violence, increasing their capacity and achieving gender equality in addition to eliminating all forms of discrimination against them, adopting measures to strengthen the role of women in political life, decision-making and in the field of information technology. This first Meeting also gave birth to the NAM Institute for the Empowerment of Women (NIEW), which has since been a standard-bearer of the women’s cause.

A second dedicated Ministerial Meeting, held in Guatemala City on January 21st 2009 affirmed and commended all previous resolutions regarding the Advancement of Women, providing a valuable opportunity for progress and continuous communication on achieving all the main objectives related to the rights of women in civil society.

Moreover, women had their share in virtually all NAM meetings and conferences, demonstrating the movement’s firm commitment to women’s cause. Hence a summit of First Ladies was held in the same time as the 15th Summit of the NAM in Sharm el Sheikh - Egypt on July 11 to 16, 2009, which stressed the important role women can play to fight crises, the need to stop violence against them, the need to increase their involvement in public life and decision-making, and the importance of giving them a better access to education.

These are mere samples of the NAM commitment, and this 3rd Ministerial Meeting is yet another milestone on the long road of women’s struggle for respect and the assertion of their full rights.

The Permanent Committee For Organizing Conferences