Fifty Ladies from Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon Study Woman's Role and Activity in Her Various Associations

At the very beginning of last autumn, discussions and studies began on woman's role and her activity in her various associations, under the supervision of the "International Federation of Business and Professional Women."

These discussions and studies, which were begun in Beirut and which were made possible only by material aid from the "Ford Foundation," covered five of the Arab states — Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon — all under the direction of Miss Ruth Woodsmall, who held the post of General Secretary of the Young Women's Christian Association between 1934 and 1948, a post which allowed her extensive travel through the countries of the Middle East and the Mediterranean shores, and a close acquaintance with the role that woman has played in every corner of our Arab world.

Also contributing to the accomplishment of this work is Miss Johnson, an expert in the affairs of the Arab woman by way of her work with the Red Cross federation in 1949–1950, and with the Palestinian refugees.

It is worth mentioning that the International Federation of Business and Professional Women, which supervises these studies and researches, has many branches in twenty-two advanced countries, and that this is the first time it has turned its attention toward this part of the world.

This great international institution felt that there was a gap in its programs which could be removed only by exploring woman's position in this stretch of the earth — and from there the studies began last October.

...And the tour of Misses Woodsmall and Johnson through the five Arab capitals began; they got in touch with the active women's organizations, and appointed provisional committees, the work of each defined as one kind of study; and when these studies were complete, work was resumed here in Beirut, with the delegates of these five states invited to Lebanon to meet and to consult among themselves ...

This conference was held at the Ambassador Hotel in Bhamdoun between June 1 and 6, and was attended by some fifty Arab women delegates. The studies and papers were in English, and only those took part in them who had accompanied the study and shared in carrying it out — and they are, beyond doubt, of that chosen elite who have attained, in the fields of specialization and experience, distinguished ranks in medicine, nursing, teaching, social service, and the like.

The general president of the conference was Dr. Jamal Karam Harfush, who showed a skill in conducting the sessions and preserving order and time worthy of the finest parliamentary sessions in the world — as did all those to whom the conduct of sessions was entrusted: the head of the Iraqi delegation, Mrs. Fadil Jamali; of the Jordanian delegation, Mrs. Ibrahim Alameddine; of the Egyptian delegation, Mrs. Matilda Greiss; of the Syrian delegation, Dr. Marzaba Quwatli; and of the Lebanese delegation, Mrs. Salim Saab.

The most important papers taken up for study were as follows:

1 — Social conditions and their effect on woman, by Dr. Ber Kruhi Najarian (Lebanon)

2 — Health conditions and their effect on woman, by Dr. Lam'an Zaki (Iraq)

3 — The education of woman — by Miss Olga Wahi (Jordan)

4 — Woman in economic life, business, commerce, and industry, by Dr. Zahida Hamid Pasha (Syria)

5 — Woman in society and political life, by Mrs. Nadir Sabour (Egypt)

As for the study and report groups, all the members took part in them according to their specialization and their prior familiarity, and they were marked by awareness, precision, and order. These studies and personal contacts will be relied upon as sources to which Miss Woodsmall will turn when she sets about writing her book on woman's role and activity in the Arab East.

If this conference, held at Bhamdoun at the opening of June, proves anything, it proves the high level, maturity, and refinement that woman has reached in our world — such as qualifies her to obtain her rights in full, with no fear of her falling short!!