Al Kaylani founded the Arab International Women’s Forum in London in 2001 and she felt that 2021, being the milestone 20th Anniversary of AIWF, was an appropriate time to hand over the role to a successor. AIWF was set up as a development organization with the clear aim of supporting women’s leadership and social and economic growth, in the MENA region and always within an international context. AIWF is a leader in convening stakeholders from government, business, civil society, academia and media to develop key initiatives addressing the capacity, skills and leadership of Arab women. It is a key belief of the AIWF that empowering women is crucial to the prosperity and sustainability of the MENA region.

Through Al Kayani’s leadership, the Forum has led on numerous initiatives and landmark reports and recommendations which have been widely disseminated. While this year has been a challenging year for many organizations throughout the world, despite the restrictions of COVID, AIWF has remained active through a series of substantive webinars and continued outreach with AIWF's International network of institutional, corporate and advocacy partners.

Commenting on the handover, Al Kaylani said: “I am proud to have founded the AIWF and honored to have served as Chair for close to 20 years. I am excited about the prospect of Dr Afnan’s leadership and am confident that she will be an outstanding Chair. I look forward to supporting her in taking the AIWF to its next phase of development in 2021 and beyond.”

Click here to read the full announcement on the AIWF website.