About WMF - The Women and Memory Forum

The Women and Memory Forum (WMF) was founded in 1995 by a group of women academics, researchers and activists concerned about the negative representations and perceptions of Arab women in the cultural sphere. Dominant cultural views and images of Arab women constitute a major stumbling block in the course of women’s development and the attainment of their rights.

We believe that one of the main obstacles facing Arab women now is the scarcity of alternative cultural information and knowledge about the role of women in history and in contemporary society. The group attained formal status in order to advocate and promote the integration of gender as a category of analysis in the study and interpretation of Arab history and the social sciences in general. The long-term objective of WMF’s specialized research is to produce and make available alternative cultural information about Arab women that can be used to empower women and to raise awareness about gender issues.

The forum is governed by the Board of Trustees which sets the Forum’s policies, plans its activities, and monitors the implementation of these activities. The Board of Trustees is supported by executive staff who carry out the Board’s decisions and oversee daily administrative tasks.

Vision

The WMF looks forward to a society in which justice and equal opportunities for men and women prevail. WMF envisions such a society as one capable of producing alternative knowledge continuously so as to reshape power relations within social structures for the sake of supporting and maintaining human dignity in the face of all forms of discrimination.

Mission

In order to accomplish its vision, the WMF adopts a gender-based cultural mission. Through this mission WMF aims to contribute effectively to the production and dissemination of alternative knowledge about women in the Arab region. It also aims to reread Arab tradition and cultural history in order to create a new cultural and social awareness that is supportive of women’s social and intellectual roles in the face of dominant negative stereotypes.

Goals

The WMF seeks to achieve a main goal, which is to support and empower women through the production and dissemination of knowledge.

Interests

Historiography & Archives

Excavating women’s roles and contributions in cultural and intellectual history.
Restoring women’s lives and history in collective memory.

Academic Studies & Research

Adopting and generating gender-sensitive research methods.
Supporting a gender approach to historical and cultural studies on the Arab World.
Providing researchers with access to specialized historical knowledge.

Networking

Building local, regional, and transnational networks to exchange knowledge and expertise.
Supporting intercultural communication, activities, and research in the field of gender studies, with focus on Global South networks.
Engaging in translations with the aim of opening spaces for crosscultural dialogues.

Awareness Raising & Capacity Building

Supporting gender mainstreaming in the Arab World.
Contribute to advocacy for women empowerment and protection of women’s rights by making the needed information and resources accessible for campaigning purposes.
Supporting the training of women’s organizations and movements.
Integrating gender knowledge and theories in Higher Education and developmental projects.
Raising awareness on gender equality and women’s rights through feminist storytelling, popular folktales, as well as pedagogical, teaching, and training material for children and adults.

Disseminating the academic knowledge on cultural history in the Arab World in the form of simplified cultural productions for public audience consumption.

Research and studies

البحث في أدوار النساء في التاريخ الثقافي والفكرى وتوثيق مساهماتهن.
دعم مناهج التحليل التاريخي والثقافي عن العالم العربي، والتي تتبنى منظور النوع.
إتاحة معرفة ثقافية وتاريخية متخصصة للباحثات والباحثين.
تكوين شبكات لتبادل المعلومات والخبرات، محليا، وإقليما، ودوليا، من أجل دعم الأبحاث والأنشطة، والإسهام فى التواصل مع الثقافات الأخرى، وخاصة ثقافات الجنوب، فى مجال دراسات النوع، من خلال الحوار والترجمة.

بناء القدرات

دمج المعرفة النظرية الخاصة بالنوع والمنظور الثقافي في مجالات التعليم العالي.
دعم أنشطة التدريب وبناء قدرات المنظمات النسائية والحركات النسوية.
دمج المنظور الثقافي في مشروعات التنمية.

أنشطة توعوية

تحويل الأبحاث المتخصصة حول التاريخ الثقافي للعالم العربي إلى مادة ثقافية مبسطة تتميز بالرواج والانتشار.
نشر الوعى بالمساواة فى النوع وحقوق النساء، وخاصة بين التربويين والمعلمين، من خلال نشر مواد ثقافية تربوية، وقصص نسوية، وروايات شعبية، ومواد تدريبية.
المساهمة فى الدعوة لتمكين النساء وحماية حقوقهن، من خلال توفير الإمكانيات والمعلومات اللازمة لأغراض الحملات والأنشطة.