In an initiative to celebrate women over 40 who have achieved breakthroughs in their careers and contradicted stereotypes, Women of Egypt, an advocacy movement for the empowerment of Egyptian women, has launched the ‘40 Over 40’ campaign on Facebook, which aims to shed light on 40 women over the age of 40 who overcame massive obstacles across different fields and achieved success. Showcasing these women’s stories serves as an inspiration for coming generations and encourages them to continue to fight for their rights as women.
Lamia Kamel, CEO of public relations firm CC Plus and Founder of Narrative Summit, is an avid supporter of women’s empowerment and on the role her initiative has taken she adds, “Since the very beginning, Narrative Summit has been keen on our support of the empowerment of Egyptian women and the celebration of their achievements across different industries. We always make it a priority to host distinguished Egyptian women at every event – throughout our past four editions as well as our series of digital talks this year – in order to make sure that they have a platform to share their experiences and contributions to their fields.”
Commenting on the ‘40 over 40’ campaign Kamel added, “Narrative Summit was eager to support the ‘40 Over 40’ Campaign as it is representative of the Egyptian women of an age where they are at the prime of their capabilities, with their achievements and accomplishments crystallizing into something clearer. Encouraging women, by sharing their stories on a widely popular platform such as Women of Egypt, gives them a stronger push to continue to thrive and innovate. It also gives others examples to follow and stories that can inspire them to become more persistent in achieving their goals.”
“It is undeniable that Egyptian women have struggled for their rights and that, at any workplace, they often have to make double the effort to prove to others their competency and abilities. The National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women 2030 affirmed Egypt’s commitment to implement women’s rights in line with the 2014 constitution, the international conventions that Egypt signed along with goals five and ten of the Sustainable Development Goals, pertaining to gender equality, empowering women politically, economically, and socially, and putting an end to practices that perpetuate discrimination against women or harm them, in both the public sphere and within the family. However, in reality, Egyptian women, especially in more rural areas, continue to face countless obstacles and we need to change our society’s culture towards women and work towards preventing all forms of harm against them, be it violence or discrimination,” Kamel stressed.
Alexandra Kinias, Founder of Women of Egypt, said, “It is imperative to break cultural and societal taboos that have held, for many years, women’s roles and missions to unfair standards, especially with regards to age discrimination. This is reflected in many aspects of our lives, to the extent that we are now suffering from a youth-obsessed culture. It is vital for a woman to feel comfortable and confident at all stages of her life and to believe that she has a full life ahead of her and that she can bring about change, start over, or pursue delayed dreams at any age.”
“Thousands of women are looking for second chances and new beginnings but they become hesitant because of these societal stereotypes that have become entrenched in people’s minds over decades. Through our cooperation with Narrative Summit – a known champion of women of all groups and ages – we have launched the ‘40 Over 40’ campaign with the aim of replacing outdated ideas with the notions that nothing is impossible and success has no age limit,” added Kinias.
