The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF) in cooperation with Mahrousa Publishing House launched the second book of its new series „Liberal Publications" with a volume on women’s rights. Titled "Women and Mirror. Vision for the Contemporary Reality for Women," the book contains articles by various writers from different parts of the world who all deal with aspects of the women’s struggle for equal rights and opportunities. Among the authors are well-known Malaysian activist Zenah Anwar who writes about women politics in an Islamic context or Daad Musa from Syria and Jamila Sayouri from Morocco who deal with legal aspects of women emancipation in their respective countries.

The book launch was held at the Sawy Cultural Center in Cairo Zamalek and attended by well over one hundred participants. The public event coincided with a regional workshop on "Women in Politics" organized by the Network of Arab Liberals (NAL) and cosponsored by FNF. Liberal women leaders from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan and Egypt attended the workshop and also the book launching.

In his opening remarks, FNF’s Regional Director Dr. Ronald Meinardus emphasized the importance of the equality of opportunities: "Liberals are always for the freedom of the individual and always against any form of discrimination."

The book was presented by Dr. Fathma Chafagi, a well-known Egyptian scholar of gender issues. She concluded that considering the circumstances in the Arab world "positive discrimination is the only option ahead for us to reach equal opportunities." Also present on the panel was Henriette Hänsch, the editor of the book, who said that the selection of articles from various parts of the world reflected the different approaches of women activism today.

You may write by e-mail to the Foundation’s Cairo office for a free copy of this book.