Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen Spoke at Fourth Annual Irene Tinker Lecture

Gender inequalities must be understood as complex interlinked problems, says economist and philosopher Amartya Sen at the 2006 Irene Tinker Lecture.

Renowned for his ability to seamlessly combine ethics and economics, Sen drew from his life's work on gender inequality for a lively lecture and discussion of the gradual progress toward gender equality.

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Photo credit: Sylvia Johnson

2005 Irene Tinker Lecture Featured Mary Robinson

"Terrible things are happening to women and girls on our watch," says Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, who spoke at the third annual Irene Tinker Lecture Series on the need to better integrate health care in international development efforts.

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IRENE TINKER LECTURE SERIES

The Arab Future:
Values and Perspectives of Arab Adolescent Girls

Oct. 22, 2007

Arab adolescents should not be viewed through the prism of the future but in the present, says Soukeina Bouraoui, executive director of Center for Arab Women Training and Research ( CAWTAR). Across the Arab world, adolescents ages 11 to 19 number nearly 60 million, about 20 percent of the total Arab population. They are not only a channel to understand the Arab identity but an opportunity to transform societies by giving them the "space" to engage in dialogue.

Bouraoui spoke at ICRW's fifth annual Irene Tinker Lecture, held at American University . She reported on CAWTAR's recently released qualitative study on Arab adolescents that examined the viewpoints of both females and males on their realities and prospects. Many of the study participants acknowledged gender discrimination in Arab culture but thought it would be difficult to change. Other findings center around adolescents' perspectives on identity, love, family, school and work, culture and behavior, appearance, attitudes and values, public affairs, and success and happiness.

CAWTAR was founded in 1993 as a direct response to a "long-felt need in the Arab region for a specialized center to promote the participation of Arab women in the development process," according to its Web site.

Bouraoui has been executive director of CAWTAR since 1999. She has a background in both nonprofits and academia, and founded the National Research, Documentation and Information Women Center in 1991. She also taught law at the University of Tunis.

She serves on the board of directors for several organizations, including the Tunisian Association of the Criminal Law, the International Association of Economic Law and the International Comparative Environment Law Association.