Saudi women heard, but not seen, at Jeddah Economic Forum - Khaleej Times

QUOTE. In keynote speeches at the forum’s opening on Saturday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz dwelled on the expanding economic role of women in their conservative countries, fielding questions fired from the cordoned-off female-designated area.

“The role of women is expanding... This role will come with (improved) education,” Aziz said of women in Pakistan.

The sight was a far cry from last year’s opening, when a top Saudi businesswoman delivered the keynote speech, an unprecedented event in a country where women are still banned from driving.

Lubna Al Olayan, chief executive officer of Olayan Financing, jumped on the chance to send a hard-hitting message to her ultra-conservative countrymen, urging them to change in order to progress.

The Pakistani prime minister seemed puzzled when the moderator announced that he was opening the floor to questions from women participants, as the female section of the auditorium could not be seen from the podium.

Male participants could hear questions addressed by women from behind a mirror-blind segregating the sexes. UNQUOTE