Jordan Times
Sunday, September 4, 2005
4th Arab Women Media Conference begins on Tuesday AMMAN (JT) — The 4th Arab Women Media Conference will be held in Amman Sept. 6-8 under the patronage of HRH Princess Basma.
Building on the rich experience of previous annual conferences, this year's meeting is designed to further develop networking among media women in Arab countries and abroad to come up with a media strategy for “Arab Women in Media Facing Political Change.” The conference, organised by the Arab Women Media Centre (AWMC) and Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Amman Office, will gather 42 distinguished Arab women in the media sector from Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, Sudan, Oman and the UK. In addition, 30 Jordanian women representing the press, radio, television, international magazines and satellite channels will participate in the conference, according to a statement released by the AWMC. Working papers highlighting experiences and visions from different Arab countries on Arab media, women's role in political change and reform, and the impact of political and economic changes will be presented. Participants will discuss a comparative research report on “Citizenship and Justice” conducted by Freedom House, and an overview on Women Rights in Arab Countries presented by advocate Reem Abu Hassan. Discussions, during the conference, will also focus on professional standards for women in media, and tackle the sensitive issue of how to fight corruption in Arab media institutions, the statement said. Minister of Information and Communications Technology Nadia Saeed is scheduled to discuss the impact of IT on modern media, and its challenges for media work, with contributions of media experts from the UK, Bahrain, UAE and Iraq. In addition, Senator May Abu Al Samen will head a session on new political and professional challenges and the empowerment of the Arab women in the media, which will be followed by a documentary film by Maha Awwad from Palestine. AWMC President Mahassen Al Emam will present the results of the conference and its working groups at the closing session on Thursday evening, which is open to the public. Two films — “Women Are Coming” produced by the AWMC and “A Woman from Marble” directed by Victoria Emaish — will be screened, and productions by Arab media women will be on display, the statement concluded.