- The Guardian Saturday 3 August 2019
(^34) World
Together in faith Muslims from all over the world gathered to perform their prayers in perfect concentric circles
facing the Kaaba at Masjid al-Haram in Islam’s holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, yesterday before the start of the
annual Hajj pilgrimage this year on 9 August. The yearly ritual is a religious duty that must be carried out at least
once in their lifetime by all adult believers who are able to.
PHOTOGRAPH: HALIL
SAGIRKAYA/ANADOLU
Saudi women hail
‘renaissance’ as male
guardian law relaxed
Martin Chulov
Middle East correspondent
Saudi women yesterday largely
embraced new laws allowing them to
travel, divorce and apply for offi cial
documents without needing per-
mission from a male guardian, and
claimed conservative resistance to the
sweeping decrees is doomed to fail.
The measures, announced late on
Thursday , amount to a partial disman-
tling of guardianship laws that have
confi ned women in Saudi Arabia to
narrow gender roles and marginal-
ised their role in society.
The moves have been long awaited
and are a centrepiece of the kingdom’s
much-touted reform programme to
overhaul rigid laws and customs that
have made the country one of the most
oppressive in the world.
In the capital, Riyadh, women
responded enthusiastically. “It means
a lot to me and about time,” said Azzah,
who is in her mid-30s. “I have been
to hell and back each time I needed
my passport renewed, since my father
passed in 2000. The personal fi ght and
bright ... we have the spirit, the moti-
vation and the will.”
Dr Maha al- Muneef , the executive
director of the National Family Safety
Program (NFSP) and a recipient of the
2014 international women of courage
award, said: “This takes the depend-
ency on men out of women’s lives. We
feel very strong and empowered.
“It means not only that we are equal
to men from a human rights perspec-
tive but on a practical level it will help
women move, do business , attend
conferences and learn and be empow-
ered further. It will also improve the
situation of abused women dramati-
cally, because those who are aff ected
most by the guardianship law usually
suff er from domestic violence.”
Abeer Mubarak Bin Fahad, a
32-year-old master’s graduate search-
ing for a job, said the implications were
just as important for men.
“The question should be what
does it mean for Saudi guys who are
not used to this and have been raised
opposing equality,” she said. “As for
conservative elements , they can’t do
anything, they can either take it or
leave it. If not they can leave us and
move to the desert to enjoy life there,
where there are no laws and no rules
and they can do what they want.”
Wasan Hady Alenzi, a 35-year-old
hospital nurse from the conservative
town of Sak āk ā in northern Saudi Ara-
bia, was more circumspect.
“We have stronger and stricter tra-
ditions than in Riyadh, which aff ect
women more. But it’s all about who is
your guardian. As in all small towns in
Saudi, what really rules is the tradition
and tribal customs and the honour sys-
tem. Even if some of those customs are
against Islam, they will still be applied.
Now I know my daughter who is 10
years old will never go through any-
thing that I went through. For them
it’s a whole diff erent world.
“It shows us how rapidly the coun-
try is changing. In my town, people
used to name-call women working in
nursing as they are in a mixed work
environment. Men used to refuse to
marry them. We have moved forward .”
She urged caution on some of the
reforms. “I really hope they will not
encourage more mixed places and nor-
mali se that in society .”
However, Fatima al- Abdrabalnabi,
27, said the momentum of change was
forcing new realities. “ It will be like
women driving. Now no one even
talks about [ the 2017 decision to allow
women to take the wheel] and women
are driving everywhere.”
Additional reporting by Sheikha
al-Dosary and Nadia Al Faour
Malawi wins
battle against
manufacturers
to reinstate ban
on plastic bags
Charles Pensulo
Lilongwe
Malawi’s government and charities
have expressed relief after winning
a legal battle against some of the
country’s biggest manufacturers, who
had blocked a ban on plastic bags.
A ban on thin plastics was origi-
nally implemented in 2015 but then
overturned in court after a number
of plastics manufacturers who oper-
ate in the south -east African country
obtained an injunction, citing an
“infringement of business rights”.
Delivering its verdict on Thursday, a
panel of seven judges in the high court
dismissed the manufacturers’ appeal.
The decision places Malawi among
a handful of African countries – includ-
ing Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda – that
have passed plastic bans or operate
them. Companies that violate the ban
now face fi nes and the closure of their
factories.
Sangwani Mwafulirwa , a spokes-
person for the department of
environmental affairs, said the
government was relieved the verdict
had gone in its favour. “We have for
over two years been struggling to
have the case concluded. We are really
excited,” he said.
Speaking before the judgment,
the national chair of the Wildlife and
Environmental Society of Malawi, Dr
Tiwonge Mzumara-Gawa , said Malawi
needed the ban “because it’s the only
way that we can eff ectively reduce the
numbers of plastic wastes getting into
our most precious lakes”.
“The issue of micro plastics getting
into fi sh is a food security, livelihood
and health concern. The trial is key
since as much as we can recycle, do
clean-up campaigns and the like, if
it’s not illegal, we have no progress,”
said Mzumara-Gawa, whose organi-
sation was among those that fought
for the ban.
Malawi has a number of freshwater
lakes that provide food and livelihoods
for local people. But a report com-
missioned by the government, with
support from the UN Development
Programme and the Lilongwe Wild-
life Trust, warned that the country’s
largest freshwater lake, Lake Malawi,
could run out of fi sh stocks by 2050
unless the use of thin plastics was
curtailed.
The Lilongwe Wildlife Trust said
Malawi produced 75,000 tonnes of
plastic each year, of which 80% could
not be recycled.
Jonny Vaughan , the trust’s chief
executive, said : “Today’s judg ment
is a fantastic victory for everyone who
wants to see a cleaner, healthier and
prosperous Malawi. Public, political
and scientifi c opinion has long been in
consensus on the issue of thin plastics,
and I am delighted that Malawi now
joins a progressive international com-
munity standing up for their natural
heritage.”
standoff at the passport offi ce was not
pleasant. More freedoms, I’m sure, will
be coming.
“Any pushback, if they dare, from
conservatives will be beaten down.
The snowball has just started [ roll-
ing ]. Most of Saudi Arabia is young
and ready. It won’t always be smooth
sailing; when has the fi ght for equal-
ity ever been easy? But the process has
started,” she said.
“I have a feeling we are arriving at
a Saudi renaissance. The future looks
Women in
Saudi Arabia
can now travel,
divorce and
seek offi cial
documents
without
permission of
male guardians
PHOTOGRAPH: BARRY
IVERSON/ALAMY
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