Almotamar Net - The participants in the conference "women's rights in the Arab conference: from words to deeds", 3-5 December,
called upon Arab governments which have not ratified the Convention of Eliminating all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to quickly approve the convention and its optional protocol.

The participants, 300 women representing governmental and non-governmental organizations in may Arab countries, called also Arab governments which have ratified the convention to lift their conservations and to be realisticin applying the convention in
practice without contradiction with the main principles.

The final statement of the conference recommended to put strategies and mechanisms that may help to implement all conventions concerning women's rights. It recommended that the Arab legislations should be reviewed to eliminate all discriminative articles to guarantee gender equality so that men and women can enjoy the same human rights.

It also recommended that political elite should guarantee the real participation of women in the decision-making positions through quota
system and republican appointment decrees in the executive and legislative authorities.

The recommendations called for making progress in field of women education through eradicating illiteracy among women and female escaping from schools as well as the application of the principle of free basic education in rural and urban areas to encourage girls enroll schools as that is considered a human principle.

The participants urged the Arab governments to consider the motherhood as a social and national job that must be respected and
protected to helpwomen play their doubling role, delivery and productivity, perfectly.

They called the governments to apply the equal wages policy between men and women and to encourage working women and providing them with
an access to information and knowledge to enable them keep up with modernity and developments around them.

The participants said the media institutions should present the real image of Arab women and the capacity women to shoulder political and
social responsibilities.

They expressed their support for the Palestinian people, urging the international community to help the Palestinian women and practice pressure on Israel to respect human rights in Palestine and quickly release women prisoners and all prisoners in Israeli prisons.

They also called for putting an end for the America occupation in Iraq and all human rights violations there, particularly those against Iraqi women.

The statement finally assured that the status of Arab women in political, economic, social and cultural areas still needs to be more
empowered. It pointed that women in the Arab world continue to suffer increasing violence and that inequality between men and women is
still found in ruraland urban areas alike.

The conference was organized by the ministry of human rights in cooperation with Netherlands, France and UK governments, UNDP and GTZ
in Sana'a