Egypt's Tallawy Launches Initiative with UN to Fight Violence Against Arab Women

The United Nations and the Arab Women Organization will launch a new initiative to address protecting Arab women from all forms of violence.

The director general of the Arab Women Organization, Mervat Tallawy, signed an agreement with the United Nations body for women in Egypt representative, Mohamed Al-Nassery, at the U.N. headquarters Tuesday, according to Egypt Independent .

According to Tallawy, the memorandum entails efforts to launch a variety of joint activities between the Arab Women's Organization and the U.N. Tallawy also mentioned that the memorandum is a result of the recent rise in violence against Arab women.

This increase has coincided with the recent increase in armed conflicts in the Middle East, especially in the last several years. For this reason, Tallawy highlighted the importance of the memorandum in the inclusion of Arab women in the establishment of security and peace, specifically in Arab countries torn by conflict and war such as Syria, Yemen and Iraq.

Tallawy also added that the memorandum would depend on accurate indepth studies and statistics, the regular exchange of information, strategic analysis and assessment to help improve cooperation between the two sides.

Tallawy is a prominent Egyptian diplomat and outspoken advocate for gender equality in the Arab world and the protection of Arab women from gender-based violence. She previously held the position of undersecretary-general of the United Nations and executive secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asian (ESCWA) from 2000 to 2007.

In addition, she has held several leading positions in the United Nations' intergovernmental processes, including chairing the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and the Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

This is not the first time Tallawy has signed a memorandum of understanding with a U.N. body. In September 2014, she headed the Arab Women Organization as it signed a "landmark" memorandum of understanding with the United Nations Development Program.

The purpose of the agreement was to "intensify collaboration in support of women’s empowerment and gender equality, and to jointly support advances for women as a pillar of sustainable human development and achievement of the Post-2015 agenda across the Arab Region," according to a UNDP press release .