As the founder and summit president, Irene Natividad stated that, “She hoped to break some of the stereotypes of Arab women as veiled, silent and passive…. By presenting examples of women who have broken through, as well as efforts by those from the lower and middle ranks to get more involved in business”.
In keeping with the TIAW tag line “Connecting to make all the difference in the world” and our
Mission , “the Economic Empowerment and Advancement of Women”, support and participation of an event such as this is important to TIAW. I was honored to represent TIAW and be a speaker on the panel “Financing That Works: Innovative Strategies” as part of the Microenterprise Track. Also on the panel were Global Summit Award Winner Artemis Toumazi, Founder and President, Women’s Cooperative Bank of , Hanaa el Hillaly, General Manager, International Cooperation, Social Fund for Development (), and Hoda Sarofim Sawiris, Sawiris Foundation () who moderated the panel. It was a great opportunity to learn what others are doing in the region, profile TIAW and our Microenterprise Program, as well as let others know why we believe so strongly in Microenterprise and the incredible impact it has on women globally.
While I was impressed with the conference in general that had many interesting speakers on topics that ranged from the “Economic Profile of Women in the Arab Region” to “Reports from the Ministers on Entrepreneurial, Microenterprise, Leadership Development, and Technology: Engine for Wealth Creation, I was greatly impressed by H.E. Suzanne Mubarak, First Lady of Egypt and Chair of the National Council of Women, when in one of her speeches she spoke about her “International Women for Peace” Initiative and her plea to us all to work towards lasting world peace. Little did I know at the time how profound her plea would be to all of us! |
