Cairo, September 20, 2021, SPA -- Dr. Mastoura Al-Shammari, Chairperson of the Permanent Committee for Social, Educational, Cultural Affairs, Women and Youths of the Arab Parliament, said that the approval of the Arab Parliament’s office to establish the Arab Women Parliamentarians Forum represents one of the tools and mechanisms to achieve gender equality and empower Arab women. In a statement issued today, Al-Shammari said that the forum is an opportunity to emulate the Forum of Women Parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and enhance joint means of cooperation, as it seeks to achieve several goals, including institutionalizing communication mechanism among women parliamentarians at the national councils and Arab parliaments' levels, which will contribute to building a network for Arab women parliamentarians, as well as being an institutional tool for coordination among Arab women parliamentarians and activating their role in promoting joint Arab work. She added that the forum will give a real impetus to empower Arab women parliamentarians with tools to implement national commitments in international conventions on women, asserting that it will be an opportunity to create the first Arab interactive map for women as parliamentarians. --SPA 17:04 LOCAL TIME 14:04 GMT 0018 www.spa.gov.sa/w1622492