3 - Arab women in the workforce

Summary

Integration of women in the development process is now considered an essential first step toward their liberation … Yet the process of development itself has been little discussed or explained.

Rose Ghurayyib, Lebanese editor

The Arab debate on women has focussed on the same issues for nearly a century. This is partly because of the complex nature of the issues at hand, as has been shown earlier, but also because there has not been a strong enough need for change to force the pace. Western nations might still be arguing about equal rights had the integration of women in the modern work sector not been speeded up by industrialisation and two world wars.

The Arab world has not been through a similar process, although it is, in theory, seeking to industrialise in order to modernise, and although there are plans to integrate women in development. Had the need for women in the modern sector been overwhelming, then much of the Arab discussion about roles and identity would have been shelved. In actual fact, the modern Arab sector can hardly provide enough opportunities for men, let alone for women. What are the dilemmas of development in the Arab world? And what are the prospects of overcoming the obstacles that exist?