Founds the Arab Feminist Union, the first region‑wide feminist organization linking women’s groups across the Arab world.
Also in 1944, building on the momentum of the Cairo congress, Huda Sha’arawi founded the Arab Feminist Union (also called the Arab Women’s Federation), becoming its leading figure.[12][16] This transnational organization united women’s groups from Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Palestine under a common structure.
The Arab Feminist Union was the first region‑wide feminist organization in the Arab world.[12] Its aims included coordinating campaigns for women’s education, legal reform, and political rights, as well as supporting national liberation movements against colonial rule. The union sought to speak to Arab governments and international bodies in the name of Arab women collectively.
Under Sha’arawi’s guidance, the union issued statements on issues such as the status of Palestine, social legislation, and women’s participation in public life.[3][16] It provided an institutional framework for ongoing exchange: activists shared strategies, publications, and training, and supported one another’s local struggles.
The founding of the Arab Feminist Union represented the culmination of Sha’arawi’s efforts to connect Egyptian feminism to a broader Arab and global movement. It anticipated later regional women’s organizations and helped ensure that Arab women had a voice in early United Nations discussions on human rights and social development. Even after Sha’arawi’s death, the union’s existence helped sustain a transnational feminist consciousness across the Middle East.