Latest news with #AsfariInstitute
Al Bawaba
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Bawaba
AUB Holds Panel Discussion on the Reform of Governance in Saudi Arabia
The Good Governance and Citizenship Observatory (GGCO) at the Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship at the American University of Beirut (AUB) hosted a panel discussion titled 'Hawkama and Vision 2030: The Reform of Governance in Saudi Arabia.' The event featured Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University Bernard Haykel, a leading expert on the Gulf and Middle East. The conversation explored how institutional reform and regulatory change are advancing transparency, accountability, and sustainable development as part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's broader transformation panel drew a distinguished audience, including Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Dr. Waleed Al-Bukhari; Spanish Ambassador to Lebanon Jesús Santos Aguado; Mexican Ambassador to Lebanon Francisco Romero Bock; Dr. Fadi Makki, Lebanon's minister of state for administrative reform; and former ministers. Also in attendance were Dr. Fadlo Khuri, AUB president; Dr. Zaher Dawy, AUB provost; as well as university deans, senior administrators, and faculty of the Asfari Institute Lina Abou-Habib opened the event by welcoming the attendees and highlighting the significance and timeliness of the discussion, describing it as 'within the mandate of the institute, to discuss prospects, trends, and emerging initiatives that influence governance structures in the Arab region, particularly at this incredibly important moment of transition and instability.'Dr. Simon Kachar, GGCO founding and current director, and lecturer in political science at AUB, followed with opening remarks that placed the discussion in a broader regional and institutional context. 'In an era marked by rapid transformations and evolving global dynamics, understanding the nuances of governance reform becomes paramount,' he said. 'Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 represents an ambitious and far-reaching blueprint for economic diversification and social change, and at its very core lies the fundamental pillar of governance.'Kachar noted that the GGCO was established to foster critical thinking, encourage informed dialogue, and advance knowledge on good governance and active citizenship within Arab contexts. 'We believe that genuine progress and sustainable development are linked to transparent, accountable, and inclusive governance structures,' he emphasized that the panel provided an opportunity to examine how Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 is being translated into practice and how governance reforms are reshaping institutions. 'Saudi Arabia is positioning itself as a forward-looking nation, globally integrated and domestically resilient,' he Fadlo Khuri, AUB president, then delivered his welcoming remarks, highlighting the panel's regional and global relevance. 'Questions like how Vision 2030 is shaping Saudi Arabia in the region are extremely germane to what's happening in Lebanon and the entire region,' he said. He added that understanding what is happening in Saudi Arabia is essential—not only for neighboring countries, but for the international community as a whole. 'Saudi Arabia is a global concern,' he went on to commend the event's keynote guest, Professor Haykel, for his academic depth and candid insight. 'I feel fortunate that today at AUB, we have arguably the most insightful expert—and also one of the most honest experts in the region. Not just academically qualified, but more than happy to share careful observations from a place of objectivity and great knowledge,' Khuri panel discussion was moderated by Dr. Tania Haddad, associate professor of public administration and nonprofit management at AUB and member of the GGCO Steering Committee. She opened by framing the scope of the conversation: 'Over the past decade, the kingdom has undertaken one of the most ambitious state-led transformation agendas in the region. Anchored in Vision 2030, these reforms span economic diversification, bureaucratic modernization, social liberalization, and institutional restructuring. This panel aims to critically examine the governance dimensions of these reforms, including their origins, mechanisms, and implications.'Haddad then introduced Professor Haykel as a prominent scholar of the Arabian Peninsula, whose work focuses on the politics, economics, and history of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and Yemen, and 'has critically engaged with questions of state reform, institutional change, and governance in the kingdom.'The discussion unfolded as a moderated, in-depth exchange, structured around four key themes central to understanding Saudi Arabia's governance reform trajectory. It began by examining the driving forces behind the reform agenda. Haykel traced the impetus to a growing realization among Saudi leadership—and increasingly, among the public—that the previous system of governance had become unsustainable.'The driver for reform in Saudi Arabia is a sense that exists among the leadership—but I think it's also prevalent in society—that the country, as it was functioning before the accession of King Salman in 2015… was unsustainable, and that the country needed to dramatically change,' Haykel said. He added that 'what's particularly distinctive about the kingdom, and you don't find it in other countries of the GCC, is the brutal honesty with which the leadership in the kingdom talked about this need.'The conversation then explored how reforms have reshaped the relationship between the state and its citizens, particularly through the strategic deployment of nationalism, identity, and new narratives of civic responsibility. It also addressed the institutionalization of accountability, transparency, and citizen participation, and concluded with a reflection on the broader regional implications of the Saudi reform experience. The event concluded with a question-and-answer session that invited reflections on the sustainability, implementation, and broader impact of the reforms.
New York Times
07-03-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
An Advocate for Women of the Middle East — and Herself
Growing up in Beirut, Lebanon, Lina Abou-Habib regularly faced discrimination because of her gender and witnessed inequality for women, she said. 'People think of Lebanon as a contemporary, open country, but there are many laws that discriminate against women,' she said. As an example, women who seek divorces, even if they are in abusive marriages, risk losing custody of their children. In Lebanon, family law is governed by religious courts, and often favors fathers in custody disputes. 'I've had more than one friend who is being physically abused by her husband but is too afraid to leave for fear of never seeing her children again,' Ms. Abou-Habib said. She also pointed to Lebanon's nationality law. Ms. Abou-Habib, 62, the director of the Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship at the American University of Beirut, where she also teaches, has made it her life's mission to change the 1925 law, which states that children's citizenship is based on the nationality of their father, even if their mother is Lebanese. That means if a Lebanese woman marries a man from another country, their children are not considered Lebanese citizens, and must apply for legal residency. 'They will forever be viewed as aliens in the country of their mothers,' Ms. Abou-Habib said. 'They don't have the right to attend public schools, take a government job or vote.' Ms. Abou-Habib has lived through the experience firsthand. Her husband is from a neighboring Arab country, and their Beirut-born daughter will never legally be a Lebanese citizen. The Asfari Institute researches social justice movements in the region, including in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco, and connects activists with academia to collaborate on social change. It also regularly partners with U.N. Women on research projects. For International Women's Day, the group planned to host a global conference at the university for women in the medical field, with the aim of motivating and helping young women to join the profession. The following interview with Ms. Abou-Habib was conducted by phone and has been edited and condensed. What are the biggest challenges of being a woman today in Lebanon and the Arab region? Vulnerability to violence and sexual abuse. You can be sexually harassed at work, on the streets and at home. Yet, it's accepted, and women and girls are blamed if they are harassed or even raped. The absence of being able to take any legal recourse encourages the abuse. What would you like to see change for women in the Arab region? Do you have specific goals? I want to change the way societies in Arab countries view women. I want to see laws that uphold the dignity of women, particularly when it comes to marriage, divorce and being able to decide if they want to have children or not. They should also be free to choose what they want to wear. How can these changes happen? What actions need to be taken? They can only happen if the laws change, but people's mind-sets must also change, and the school curriculum needs to change. Right now, school textbooks in many Arab countries portray women in traditional roles of being housewives and in the kitchen. If textbooks show women in professional roles, such as doctors and scientists, the perception of women will change. How has being public about your mission to reform nationality laws helped your cause? I started speaking out in 2000 about nationality laws. I organized a public demonstration in Beirut with sister feminist activists and women suffering from this injustice. We had local, regional and international media cover the demonstration. After that, the nationality law became a global issue. Future demonstrations were bigger and amplified our voices. The media interviewed us and embarrassed the politicians who upheld these laws. The media interviewed them as well and held them accountable for preventing women from having equal rights. Gender inequality is strengthened by fear, taboos and a culture that blames the victims. The only way to break this is to go public and turn a personal injustice into a cause. What policies have you helped accomplish so far to help women, and how have these policies made an impact? This work has resulted in easing policies related to providing residency permits to children of Lebanese mothers who are married to non-Lebanese men. This has been critical to ensure that children of Lebanese women can safely and legally stay in Lebanon. In 2010, we had a minister of interior and municipalities, Ziyad Baroud, who issued a directive where non-Lebanese spouses and children of Lebanese women could get nonconditional residency permits in Lebanon. After we started the campaign, many countries in the region, including Egypt, Algeria and Morocco, changed their laws in our favor.
