The Arab League praised on Monday the achievements made by Arab women at all political, economic, social, and environmental levels and their great role in working to achieve sustainable development and building community peace. The remarks came in a speech by the League’s Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the Social Affairs Affaires, Ambassador Haifa Abu Ghazaleh at the opening of the 41st session of the Arab Women’s Committee (via a digital platform). Abu-Ghazaleh noted that the agenda of this session includes several topics, issues and new initiatives presented by the League’s General Secretariat in coordination with member states in order to advance and protect the conditions of women in the Arab region. The Ambassador underlined the importance of advancing the status of women in the Arab region, “especially in light of developments at the international level on the issues of climate change and the extended effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.” She also noted that the agenda is full of topics that “shape the priorities of the Arab region, including the flexible handling of women in the Arab region in light of climate changes and responding to disasters.” Abu-Ghazaleh indicated that the Arab League adopted a joint regional initiative with the United Nations Women’s Authority on empowering women’s participation in green and blue economies to develop the work of the Khadija Network for Economic Empowerment of Women in the Arab Region. She also referred to the preparation of the first regional review of the document (Cairo Declaration for Women: The Development Agenda for Women in the Arab Region 2030) after five years to keep pace with developments on the international agenda, including the topic of “Women and the Environment”, in light of the implementation of a decision of the Arab Summit in this regard. Abu-Ghazaleh reviewed the efforts of the Arab League to implement the recommendations of the 40th session of the Arab Women’s Committee in coordination with member states and cooperation with the concerned authorities. Abu-Ghazaleh expressed her hope that the recommendations would be adopted by consensus of all member states, as part of supporting the General Secretariat’s action plan next year to support women’s empowerment in the Arab region. — KUNA