Fes - The ninth edition of Young Arab Women Leaders conference (AIWF) is taking place in the Morocco city of Fez on 18 April in continued partnership with PwCFollowing on from the success of the Young Arab Women Leaders: The Voice of the Future conferences in Amman, Beirut and Dubai in 2012, Palestine in 2013, London in 2011 and 2014, Doha in 2015, and Kuwait in 2016, the AIWF first ever event in Morocco, aims to recognise and celebrate the contribution of Moroccan business women whilst inspiring the next generation of young Moroccan women leaders to contribute to the development of the national economy and to MENA long-term economic growth.
The objective of the Young Arab Women Leaders programme is to support and nurture young women entrepreneurs, community leaders and change agents in the Arab world, and enhance opportunities for young women in leadership roles, on corporate boards, in social enterprise and tech innovation, and in the energy, finance, law and STEM sectors. The programme brings high caliber speakers from government, business and civil society organisations together with talented, driven young women who aspire to community, business and political leadership.
The conference in Fes will be be chaired by Rania Rizk, Acting Chairman of AIWF and Senior Vice President & General Counsel, PepsiCo AMEA, UAE. Rania Rizk was appointed Acting Chairman of AIWF in January 2017 when it was announced that Haifa Fahoum Al Kaylani, Founder Chairman of AIWF, would become a Fellow of Harvard University’s Advanced Leadership Initiative for 2017.
Rania Rizk, said: “The Young Arab Women Leaders initiative is yet another a milestone in AIWF’s mission to promote education, leadership training, capacity building, self-development and mentorship for Arab women and youth in all sectors of business and professional life. We believe that empowering and supporting young women, the next generation of Arab women business leaders and job creators, to employ, develop and inspire other young people, is key to building a viable and gainfully employed Arab youth population, that contributes to the economic development of the region.” Ms. Rizk continued: “AIWF is especially proud to be hosting our first conference in Morocco as part of the Young Arab Women Leaders series, and proud to lead this unique initiative for the MENA region with PWC and with the support of our many prominent partners.
Through this initiative, AIWF and PwC are jointly committed to equipping young women leaders with the skills to start, grow and lead successful and sustainable businesses, increasing access to technical and professional education, broadening their leadership, financial and interpersonal skills, cultivating a diverse and inclusive world view among the next generation of women leaders, promoting cross-border collaboration and learning, and strengthening business links between women in the MENA region.
The first panel of the 9th Young Arab Women Leaders conference programme, Exploring innovative models for education, skills development and leadership training, will address opportunities for collaboration between the Moroccan, MENA and international business and academic communities. In the second session, on social enterprise, tech innovation and entrepreneurship, speakers and delegates will exchange perspectives on how Moroccan, Arab and international women entrepreneurs can leverage technology, social media and the app economy to create exciting new business models and ventures that are in some cases tailor made for the Arab world and in other cases, ‘global born’.
The third panel discussion, Empowering young Arab women leaders will highlight growing recognition in the international legal, banking, energy and STEM sectors that more must be done to encourage young female graduates to enter into these traditionally male dominated professions, and will explore the barriers to professional entry for women whilst identifying key initiatives and opportunities to support and encourage more young Arab women to enter into energy, finance, law and STEM.
The following session, on Diversity in business leadership: Empowering women executives in Morocco, the MENA and internationally, will highlight the business case for increased female representation on corporate boards, international best practices and practical strategies for levelling out gender representation at executive level in Morocco and the wider MENA region.
