The second biennial Arab Women's Summit was held in Amman, Jordan on November 3-4, 2002. Over 1500 women, and some men, gathered in Jordan's Palace of Culture to attend the Summit that was hosted by Jordan's Queen Rania. Arab first ladies from eighteen of the twenty-two Arab countries, including the first ladies of Egypt, Lebanon, and Morocco, attended the Summit.

Speakers at the Arab Women's Summit stressed the need for women to take an active role in improving the lives of women and children in the region. The Arab Human Development Report for 2002 found that while percentages differ from one country to another, overall Arab women continue to be marginalized in social, economic, and leadership activities. One half of Arab women are illiterate, maternal mortality rates remain high, and only 4% of Arab women have access to the Internet. Despite these findings Queen Rania was reassured by the Summit, calling the participants: "a source of inspiration for other women...capable of restructuring the future through strong leadership in social and economic action...the ones who will participate in playing a basic role in restructuring the image the rest of the world has of us."

Arab women leaders focused on women's political participation as a means of transforming their society to end gender inequity and discrimination. The Arab region has the lowest rate of women's participation in the work force and government bodies. Some Summit attendees called for a quota system to guarantee women's participation in Parliament. Princess Lalla Meryem of Morocco spoke of her country's quota system newly instituted under her husband, which guarantees women 10 percent of Morocco's 325 parliamentary seats. The Summit's final declaration on this matter stated: "Governments must enable women to represent their needs and facilitate the entry of women to public life." Attendees seemed to agree, however, that the prevailing culture of Arab states may harm women's chances of political participation more than the actual laws.

In other conference highlights, Queen Rania of Jordan announced the establishment of the first Arabic language version of a study on women and war. The Arabic version of the study, launched on November 25, was developed by the International Committee of the Red Cross to define women's needs and to assess how they are met under law. The establishment of an Arab Women's Organization as part of the Arab League was also announced.

For more information on the The Arab Human Development Report for 2002, United National Development Program www.undp.org/rbas/ahdr