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n MIDDLE EAST n MIDDLE EAST n MIDDLE EAST n MIDDLE EAST n MIDDLE EAST n MIDDLE Arab Women Urged to Break Silence

speaker at a women’s conference by Arab Woman Today Ministry (AWT) encouraged participants silence regarding violence against women.

to break the AWT is a Christian ministry based in Jordan reaching Arabic

speaking women throughout the 22 Arab countries. Its leader is Ruba Abassi, a Jordanian Baptist. Lubna Idawany, a lawyer and human rights consultant, told participants at the conference that, as women, they have God- given human rights.

She took note of the gender gaps in employment between men and women in the Arab world, pointing out that 20 percent of all public sector jobs and only 17 percent of private sector jobs are held by women. The lawyer explained that this gap could be attributed, among other things, to a gap that exists between text-book knowledge that is taught or learned in universities and the skillsets that are needed in the marketplace. This gap between

Above: Lubna Idawany, a lawyer and human rights consultant, leads a workshop for Arab Christian women in Jordan

the education women receive and the needs of the marketplace combine with a shame-based culture that “explains the existence of high unemployment rates among women and widespread inequality in pay between men and women in our society.” Women are also limited in property ownership in the Arab world. “Only eight percent of women own property due to inequitable, Islamic inheritance laws,” she said. Idawany encouraged women to break the silence in regards to violence through both peaceful means and the use of professional organizations; raise awareness and begin training their children to be aware of sexual boundaries; share stories so women may learn from each other; and to provide assistance and help to other women in need. AWT plans several social-emotional aid workshops for Syrian women refugees in Jordan who have been displaced by the civil war in their country. Topics dealt with included “Conflicts within the family.”

UKRAINE I n UKRAINE n UKRAINE n UKRAINE n UKRAINE n UKRAINE n UKRAINE n UKRAINE n UKRAI Christians Pray for Freedom and Peace in Ukraine

gor Bandura, vice president of the All-Ukrainian Union of Associations of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, declared that the people of Ukraine are willing to pay the price for freedom. Speaking during the Baptist World Alliance Annual Gathering

in Izmir, Turkey, in July, Bandura acknowledged “that freedom has a price,” but claimed that “our people are willing to pay that price.”

Bandura was referring to the ongoing conflict inside the

Eastern European country. Ukraine has experienced widespread violent protests since November 2013 after former President Viktor Yanukovych pulled out of signing a free trade deal with the European Union in favor of closer economic ties with Russia, a move that led to violent uprisings against the government. Yanukovych was replaced in February 2014 by Oleksandr

Turchynov, a Baptist elder in Kiev, Ukraine’s capital, as interim president. Turchynov previously served as deputy prime minister of Ukraine from 2007-2010 and was earlier elected speaker of parliament before being appointed interim president. New elections were held in May and the country is now led by President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. Turchynov is speaker and chair of the parliament. The Crimean Peninsula seceded from Ukraine and is now part

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of Russia while other parts of the country, especially the east, continue experience

to increasing

levels of instability and violent conflicts. There is fear the country is close to civil war amid concerns of invasion by Russian forces. It is believed that Russia is supporting the rebel uprising in the country.

Bandura told the Baptist gathering that Ukraine “lived in

peace for 21 years” until the troubles began in 2013. Ukraine was once a republic of the Soviet Union but regained its independence in 1991.“Problems came from a side that we never expected,” he said. As such, “we were not prepared for this. Our army was not prepared for this. We did not have borders. But the war came to Ukraine. We all understand the possible consequences of this conflict.” There is fear, Bandura said, that the conflict could become global. “Many people are talking about the possibility of the next worldwide war. Our people suffer from this.”