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MEDIA ADVISORY FOR: CONTACT: Catherine Harrington at

Fri. Sept.16 Wed. Sept. 21, 2011 Women s Learning Partnership (WLP)

301-654-2774 (o) / 781-264-5783 (m)charrington@learningpartnership.org

GLOBAL WOMEN LEADERS CONVENE TO DISCUSS

WOMEN AND DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION IN THEMIDDLE EAST

What is the impact of conservative forces in the region?

What are the chances that MENA countries go the way of the Islamic Republic of Iran?

What will the future hold for the women of the region?

*Interviews Available*

Tuesday, September 20:Private Press Lunch 12:45-2:00 PMPublic Event 9:30 AM-12:45 PM

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

One Woodrow Wilson Plaza - 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20004

WHO: Amal Abdel Hadi (Egypt), Leading Egyptian feminist and human rights activist;Founding member of the New Woman Foundation, the Task Force Against Female

Genital Mutilation, and the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights.Farida Naqash (Egypt) Prominent political and womens rights activist, writer, and

journalist; Chairperson of Forum for Women in Development (FWID), Egypt.; First

female Editor-in-Chiefof Al-Ahali newspaper in Egypt.Asma Khader (Jordan) UNHRC independent investigator for human rights

violations in Libya; Former Minister of Culture; Renowned international human rightslawyer

Raba Naciri (Morocco) Leading Moroccan womens rights activist; Foundingmember of the Association Dmocratique des Femmes du Maroc

Thoraya Obaid (Saudi Arabia) Former Under-Secretary-General of the United

Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund; Forbes Worlds

50 Most Powerful Arab Women, 2004

Yakin Ertrk(Turkey) FormerUN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against

Women; Professor of Sociology

Mahnaz Afkhami (Iran/USA) First Minister for Women's Affairs, Iran ; Founder &President, Women s Learning Partnership

WASHINGTON, D.C.: This is a time of critical opportunity for democracy throughout the MENAregion, but it is also a time of serious risk for women s rights. While women have been activeparticipants, leaders, and spokespersons in the movements for democracy and human rights that haveswept the Middle East and North Africa, they have often not been included in the negotiations that will

determine the politics of the future.

We are at an urgent moment. Difficult as it is, bringing about regime change is easier than building a

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democratic society based on tolerance and gender justice.

On September 20, 2011, leaders and activists from throughout the Middle East and North Africa,including Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, will address these challenges, andhow to achieve viable democracies, given that womens position is a barometer for the success of

democratic transition.

Womens Learning Partnership (WLP) trains and supports women primarily in Muslim-majoritycountries to become leaders and advocates for a just, peaceful world. WLP creates leadership

trainings on democratic participation that are culturally adapted, in partnership with local

organizations to help women gain the skills they need to fulfill greater leadership roles at the family,community, and national level. Over the past decade, WLP has published its training materials in 20

languages and used them to train over 15,000 women in 44 countries strengthening localorganizations to become self-sustaining and to power womens movements across the globe.

CONTACT: Catherine Harrington 301-654-2774 (o) / 781-264-5783 (m)

charrington@learningpartnership.org