Rola Dashti
Encyclopedia
Rola Dashti is a Kuwait
i activist advocating democratic reform, gender equality and increased roles for women
in public life. Dashti lobbied for the May 2005 decree permitting Kuwaiti women
to vote and run for parliamentary elections for the first time. She was the first woman to file her papers at the election department, when the registration opened, and she herself was a candidate in the 2006 parliamentary election.
In the 2009 parliamentary elections
, she and three other women won seats to become the first women to enter the Kuwaiti parliament
.
. She has lectured, conducted and managed research in development and applied economics particularly in regard to the country's recent quest for modernizing its economic, financial, and social processes.
(Manager, Economics Department), worked as Senior Economist at the National Bank of Kuwait
and provided consultancy to the World Bank
. She also managed all the contracts signed on behalf of the government of Kuwait for the Emergency and Reconstruction Program during the invasion-to-post liberation period (1990/1991).
Dashti, presently the elected Chairperson of Kuwait Economic Society (first woman to chair the society since its establishment in 1970), is also a member of the executive committee of Young Arab Leaders (Kuwait Chapter), and member of Al-Fatat Club. She has been involved in several volunteering activities since her undergraduate years, where she worked with the International Red Cross in Lebanon to assist refugee families from the south in 1982. She was involved in various activities for the economic empowerment of women in the Republic of Yemen. Dashti is an activist advocating for gender equity in the State of Kuwait, particularly the women's suffrage right. She lobbied for the May 2005 decree allowing Kuwaiti women to vote and run for parliamentary elections for the first time.
In 2005, Rola Dashti was the winner of The King Hussein Humanitarian Award and has been involved in several volunteering activities since her undergraduate years, where she worked with the International Red Cross in Lebanon to assist refugee families from the south in 1982. She has also been involved in various activities for the economic empowerment of women in the Republic of Yemen. Dashti is an activist in the MENA region advocating democratic reform, fighting for gender equity and increasing the role of women in public life.
Dashti has contributed to the efforts to energize civil society institutions to turn them into a major driving force behind economic, social and political reform. Developing work in these institutions also became one of her main focuses since her election as chairman of Kuwait Economic Society.
Rola Dashti was listed among the world's 100 most influential Arabs for 2007 and 2008. She was the first woman elected to chair the Kuwaiti Economic Society, which was founded in 1970. In addition to serving in this position, Dashti heads an international consultancy firm in Kuwait focusing on privatization and activation of SMEs, she is a member of the executive committee of Young Arab Leaders and is the founder of the Women Participation Organization.
In 2009 she won the parliamentary election, ranking the seventh place in her political district. In the Parliament she currently chairs the social affairs, labor, and health committee.
In October 2011 she was also appointed to the budget committee and the "responding to the Amir's speech" committee.
In 2010 she received the Council of Europe's North–South Prize together with Mr Mikhail Gorbachev
. The prize was presented by Portuguese President Aníbal Cavaco Silva
at a ceremony in the Portuguese Senate Room at the National Parliament.
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
i activist advocating democratic reform, gender equality and increased roles for women
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
in public life. Dashti lobbied for the May 2005 decree permitting Kuwaiti women
Women in Arab societies
Women in the Arab world, as in other areas of the world, have throughout history experienced discrimination and have been subject to restrictions of their freedoms and rights. Some of these practices are based on religious beliefs, but many of the limitations are cultural and emanate from tradition...
to vote and run for parliamentary elections for the first time. She was the first woman to file her papers at the election department, when the registration opened, and she herself was a candidate in the 2006 parliamentary election.
In the 2009 parliamentary elections
Kuwaiti parliamentary election, 2009
An early parliamentary election was held in Kuwait on 16 May 2009, the country's third in a three-year period. Kuwait had voted on six occasions between 1991 and 2009...
, she and three other women won seats to become the first women to enter the Kuwaiti parliament
National Assembly of Kuwait
The National Assembly of Kuwait, known as the Majlis Al-Umma , is the legislature of Kuwait. The current speaker of the Assembly is Jassem Al-Kharafi. The Emir unconstitutionally dissolved the National Assembly in 1986 and restored it after the Gulf War in 1992...
.
Education
Rola Dashti holds a PhD in Population Economics from Johns Hopkins UniversityJohns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
. She has lectured, conducted and managed research in development and applied economics particularly in regard to the country's recent quest for modernizing its economic, financial, and social processes.
Career
She has held positions in the R&D institution Kuwait Institute for Scientific ResearchKuwait Institute for Scientific Research
Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research is an organization in Kuwait which engages in scientific and applied research for several purposes including preserving the environment, serving the economy, advising the government of scientific issues, and others.-History:KISR was established in 1967 by...
(Manager, Economics Department), worked as Senior Economist at the National Bank of Kuwait
National Bank of Kuwait
-The National Bank of Kuwait:The National Bank of Kuwait was incorporated in 1952 as the first local bank and the first shareholding company in Kuwait and the Gulf region. Over the years, NBK has maintained its position as the leading bank in Kuwait and built a well-established banking franchise...
and provided consultancy to the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
. She also managed all the contracts signed on behalf of the government of Kuwait for the Emergency and Reconstruction Program during the invasion-to-post liberation period (1990/1991).
Dashti, presently the elected Chairperson of Kuwait Economic Society (first woman to chair the society since its establishment in 1970), is also a member of the executive committee of Young Arab Leaders (Kuwait Chapter), and member of Al-Fatat Club. She has been involved in several volunteering activities since her undergraduate years, where she worked with the International Red Cross in Lebanon to assist refugee families from the south in 1982. She was involved in various activities for the economic empowerment of women in the Republic of Yemen. Dashti is an activist advocating for gender equity in the State of Kuwait, particularly the women's suffrage right. She lobbied for the May 2005 decree allowing Kuwaiti women to vote and run for parliamentary elections for the first time.
In 2005, Rola Dashti was the winner of The King Hussein Humanitarian Award and has been involved in several volunteering activities since her undergraduate years, where she worked with the International Red Cross in Lebanon to assist refugee families from the south in 1982. She has also been involved in various activities for the economic empowerment of women in the Republic of Yemen. Dashti is an activist in the MENA region advocating democratic reform, fighting for gender equity and increasing the role of women in public life.
Dashti has contributed to the efforts to energize civil society institutions to turn them into a major driving force behind economic, social and political reform. Developing work in these institutions also became one of her main focuses since her election as chairman of Kuwait Economic Society.
Rola Dashti was listed among the world's 100 most influential Arabs for 2007 and 2008. She was the first woman elected to chair the Kuwaiti Economic Society, which was founded in 1970. In addition to serving in this position, Dashti heads an international consultancy firm in Kuwait focusing on privatization and activation of SMEs, she is a member of the executive committee of Young Arab Leaders and is the founder of the Women Participation Organization.
In 2009 she won the parliamentary election, ranking the seventh place in her political district. In the Parliament she currently chairs the social affairs, labor, and health committee.
In October 2011 she was also appointed to the budget committee and the "responding to the Amir's speech" committee.
In 2010 she received the Council of Europe's North–South Prize together with Mr Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
. The prize was presented by Portuguese President Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Aníbal António Cavaco Silva, GCC , is the President of Portugal. He won the Portuguese presidential election on 22 January 2006 and was re-elected on 23 January 2011, for a second five-year term. Cavaco Silva was sworn in on 9 March 2006....
at a ceremony in the Portuguese Senate Room at the National Parliament.