São Paulo – The role of Arab and Brazilian women as leaders in the development of their societies was addressed in an online talk on Tuesday (8) night in an live stream on Instagram with Monica Rodrigues, one of the founders of the group Women Inside Trade (WIT), and Alessandra Frisso, chairwoman at the WAHI – Woman who Inspire, the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC)’s women’s committee.
Frisso said that the Arab countries have very young, connected populations, in touch with the whole world, that speak English and have many women in leadership roles, which allows them to help other women and work on the development of their societies. “I believe that Arab women and youth will be major driving forces in the future,” Frisso said during the live stream.
Frisso, who’s also director at H2R Pesquisas Avançadas, an ABCC member, pointed out that in a so challenging year as 2020, where the world has faced COVID-19, women have gad an important role in fighting the pandemic. She mentioned examples of actions in Brazil and Egypt where the women’s force was ahead of relevant initiatives for their communities. “All women’s fight is the same,” she said.
Mentioning studies by Palestinian scholar Edward Said, Rodrigues pointed out the stereotypes the West has about the Arab world, such as the subjugation of women. Frisso talked about how Brazilian women doing business with the Arabs had these preconceived ideas demystified. “We noticed that women that braved into the Arab market made it by leaving their prejudices behind, betting on the new, the unknown,” the H2R director said.
WIT and WAHI work in cooperation and partnership. The first was created in 2017 to bring together women in foreign trade and international relations, while the latter was founded earlier this year aiming at bringing together Arab and Brazilian women, particularly in business. Frisso talked about the start of the WAHI’s formation, which came about from an idea of the ABCC board. She also talked about how the entity encourages the women’s participation, having a team composed mostly by women.
Watch part of the live (it was cut due to connection issues).
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
