This newsletter captures the latest updates on the implementation of the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) in Lebanon. The newsletter includes the key highlights and achievements of the WPHF programme partners' towards enhancing women’s participation in the Beirut Port Explosion’s response and recovery process.

In May 2022, the UN Women Regional Office for Arab States and the Government of Finland organized a two-day workshop titled “Women Building Peace in the Arab States: Regional Synergies and Cross-Learning” to highlight women’s mediation efforts in their communities and the lessons learned from interventions under the regional WPS programme and the Syria WPS programme.

Women-owned businesses (WOBs) in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region could make significant contributions to entrepreneurial activity and countries’ economic growth, but face challenges and barriers. This report examines access to finance in the United Arab Emirates for WOBs; describes government and private measures to promote women’s entrepreneurship; looks at global best practices and makes recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders to improve women-owned businesses’ access to financing.

With thanks to the Government of Japan, who generously funded the regional LEAP and COVID-19 programmes as well as the resilience monitoring efforts, UN Women was able to roll-out the gender-sensitive resilience capacity index in 5 countries, namely Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Yemen, through 11 of its implementing partners.

The aim of the study is to understand the pathways that Syrian refugee women utilise to access justice for SGBV cases in Lebanon, both in the state legal and judicial system (formal) and within community-based mechanisms (informal).

Few Syrian refugee and Lebanese women participate in the labour force in Lebanon, often due to critical gender barriers: housework and childcare obligations. This is particularly true for low-income women, who participate in economic activities at lower rates than men and are often unable to afford home help. Inadequate or absent childcare services contribute to women’s economic inactivity and serve as barriers that limit women’s mobility.

In 2017 Lebanese parliament passed a new electoral law, in the lead up to the 2018 parliamentary elections.

This sector-specific gender analysis provides evidence on which the EU, EU Member States, and other stakeholders may base strategic priorities for action in support of gender equality over the next seven years in Lebanon, in line with the EU’s global Gender Action Plan III (GAP III) framework.

The objective of this regional assessment is to look at the implications of the macroeconomic response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Arab region. The regional mapping allows for identification of the dominant trends and policy priorities across different areas of interventions and looks at the potential implications of [largely] gender-blind macroeconomic responses and investments during the first six months of the pandemic.

This desk review summarises global and regional trends and best practices and techniques for reaching out remotely to women and girls who experience violence, including during lockdowns and to survivors of online violence.

This newsletter captures the latest updates on the implementation of the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) in Lebanon. The newsletter includes the key highlights and achievements of the WPHF programme partners' towards enhancing women’s participation in the Beirut Port Explosion’s response and recovery process.

UN Women is at the forefront of the global drive to remove gender barriers because we believe in a world of justice and human rights for everyone. Towards that end, and as the only United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality, we marshal the world’s best gender expertise and the considerable resources of the United Nations. We connect people in many realms, the national and international, the public and private, activists and officials. Together, our efforts are more than any of us could pursue alone.

In October 2019, hundreds of thousands of Lebanese people took to the streets to protest the imposition of new taxes and the worsening economic, social and political crises gripping the country.

This assessment developed by UNW, UNHCR, WFP and UNICEF demonstrate gender inequalities across the Syrian refugee population, limiting access, rights and opportunities for women and girls, particularly as related to economic participation, education, food insecurity, humanitarian assistance, legal issues, and wider protections, including sexual and gender-based violence.

UN Women and OCHA jointly examine the extent to which issues of gender equality were factored into various stages of the 2020 Flash Appeal in response to the Beirut port explosions.

Gender equality cannot be achieved in Lebanon without dismantling the kafala system and creating legal protections for domestic workers. Women make up an estimated 76 per cent of all migrant workers and 99 per cent of migrant domestic workers who come to Lebanon for employment.

Given the unique vulnerability of Syrian refugee women to GBV and specific linkages to economic vulnerability, UN Women together with UNHCR and the ILO commissioned a study to explore the (relationships between livelihoods and protection risks for Syrian refugee women, with specific aim to ensure programming is designed to mitigate risks and maximize positive outcomes.

The results detailed in this country brief overwhelming speak to increased concerns for safety, both inside and outside the home (as a result of the pandemic), increased secondary trauma, specifically, the witnessing of violence against women, and online harassment. Most respondents believed tackling gender-based violence to be a priority in the COVID-19 response and voiced a willingness to report violations.

This is the fifth issue in the Gender Alert: Lebanon COVID-19 series, and the first to focus on gender equality issues in national lockdowns in response to the pandemic. Here we document rising food insecurity concerns amongst women and marginalized groups.

This analysis of the existing NAPs-WPS of Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia and Yemen was undertaken to assess and demonstrate the direct relevance of the plans to each country’s COVID-19 response. While NAPs-WPS are relevant in every crisis, the analysis highlights particular areas of overlap with specific global responses to COVID-19, thus providing critical evidence of the value of implementing nation action plans on women, peace and security in the current crisis.