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Coming Soon To The Freedom Collection: Updates From Egypt With Namees Arnous

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Learn more about Chris Walsh.
Chris Walsh
Director, Global Policy
George W. Bush Institute

With International Women’s Day tomorrow, I want to recognize my Bush Institute colleagues at the Women’s Initiative.  The...

With International Women’s Day tomorrow, I want to recognize my Bush Institute colleagues at the Women’s Initiative.  The Women’s Initiative is a fantastic, multifaceted program working to empower women worldwide.  One component is the Women's Initiative Fellowship.  This effort, which currently focuses on the Middle East, empowers women to become effective leaders by building their global networks and providing educational opportunities that develop leadership skills.  The Freedom Collection owes a debt to this program as it brings amazing activists to Dallas who have shared their stories with us.  Last year, we were honored to interview Egyptian activists Namees Arnous and Samar El Hussieny.  

Namees is back in Dallas this week and I had the privilege of speaking with her about events in Egypt since the election of President Mohammed Morsi.  We covered topics ranging from the state of democracy in Egypt, challenges facing women in her society, whether or not President Morsi’s Islamist government has passed the “human rights test”, and Namees’ response to criticism that democracy and freedom will never take root in the Arab world.  She’s only further convinced me that it will.  Stay tuned to the Freedom Collection for new clips from our updated interview with Namees.

This post was written by Christopher Walsh, Program Coordinator for the Freedom Collection at The George W. Bush Institute.