Salwa Baccar

Salwa Baccar

Biography

Salwa Baccar is an English teacher at the High Institute of Management at the University of Tunis. Ms. Baccar is also the Vice-Mayor of Hammamm-lif, a suburb of Tunis, where she has been serving her community for over 12 years, overseeing relations with sister cities as well as being greatly involved in family and children’s issues in her community. Ms. Baccar serves in several organizations and boards concerned with issues of family planning, abandoned children, single parent families, and handicapped people (as Vice President of the National Organization for Hearing Deficient Children). She represented Tunisia in the Leadership Development Program for Muslim Women (US, 2003), where she strongly defended the rights of Muslim women as embedded in Islam and Qur’anic texts, denounced the misinterpretation and misunderstanding of Islam, and enhanced the position of Arab and Muslim women in their struggle towards social advancement. She has participated in several international seminars such as Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) in Tunisia dealing with women’s empowerment and was awarded several certificates. Born in Tunisia to a Tunisian father and Italian mother who converted to Islam after marriage, Ms. Baccar is interested in learning about other cultures and interfaith understanding. She is the mother of two daughters (Fatima and Khadija) to whom she has transmitted her values and deep beliefs of faith, tolerance and service to others. She remains committed to serving others (community or other), fighting against injustices and inequalities, and spreading the truth of Islam, which calls for fair and respectful treatment of women and practicing faith with openness and tolerance towards others.