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.

UN Women’s new report “Women's Participation in Local Mediation: Lessons from Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen” sheds light on the diverse mediation roles women have played to resolve conflict and restore social cohesion in their communities.

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 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.

With thanks to the Government of Japan, who generously funded the regional ‘Women's Leadership, Empowerment, Access, and Protection (LEAP) project as well as the resilience monitoring efforts in 2020 and 2020, UN Women in Yemen was able to roll-out the gender-sensitive resilience capacity index in Al Hodaidah, Aden and Hadramout through its implementing partners, the Yemeni Women Union (YWU), Women Charity Association for Combating Poverty (WACP) and Youth Leadership Development Institute (YLDF).

The analysis included in this report builds upon data collected through the LEAP project and sought to provide evidence around key resilience issues.

This report presents the results of the independent evaluation of UN Women’s ‘Strengthening the Resilience of Syrian Women and Girls and Host Communities’ (“Madad”) programme and offers lessons and recommendations for future programming on gender equality and women’s empowerment. The Synthesis report includes country specific annexes for Iraq, Jordan and Turkey.

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.

This brief presents a summary of the results of the independent evaluation of UN Women’s Strengthening the Resilience of Syrian Women and Girls and Host Communities (“Madad”) programme and offers lessons and recommendations for future programming on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

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.

Thanks to the support of the European Union (EU), and the Government of Japan and other donors, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) implemented the ‘Strengthening the Resilience of Syrian Women and Girls and Host Communities in Iraq, Jordan and Turkey’ programme. Building on the programme implementation experience, UN Women set up a no-cost collaboration with FAO to conceptualize a gender-sensitive resilience index based on FAO’s Resilience Measurement Analysis (RIMA) Model (FAO, 2016). The analysis builds upon data collected through the Madad programme monitoring and sought to provide evidence around key resilience issues.

The brief explores the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and its gender dimensions in conflict settings with a focus on gender-based violence (GBV), women’s participation in decision-making, labour markets and livelihoods. The paper outlines gender issues and recommendations for stakeholders and national/international actors with the aim of providing effective mitigation measures and actions in response to COVID-19.

In Iraq, the UN system is committed to supporting the government to overcome these unparalleled crises, through the 2020-2024 United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) designed to support the State and Iraqi people to achieve their National Development Plan targets, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. This includes supporting a diversified economy, preceded by reforms to encourage private sector investment, to make the country more resilient to oil shocks and to boost employment in highly productive sectors.

As Iraq enters a new recovery phase in 2019, the country now faces the challenge of addressing the short- and long-term consequences of conflict and mass population displacement. Conflict-affected women, specifically, face numerous challenges in accessing employment, including limited economic opportunities, individual- and community-level barriers, legal restrictions, and exacerbated vulnerability, particularly for displaced people and female-headed households. In the Iraqi context, the nature...

Why Gender Matters in the Discussion on Returns to Syria

The two-year programme “Strengthening the Resilience of Syrian Women and Girls and Host Communities in Iraq,  Jordan  and  Turkey ” aims to strengthen the resilience of women affected by the Syria crisis. This fact sheet presents the key data and objectives of the programme in Jordan.

Factsheets of countries where UN Women is implementing EUTF Madad programme

The Madad Newsletter highlights stories of the programme beneficiaries as well as partners supporting the efforts to build resilience in Iraq, Jordan and Turkey. The newsletter includes some of the latest updates on the implementation of the programme.

Conducted by UNDP, UN Women, UNFPA, and ESCWA, this study on Gender Justice & the Law in the Arab States Region provides a comprehensive assessment of laws and policies affecting gender equality and protection against gender-based violence in Arab countries. The report is composed of 18 country profiles, each of which maps a country’s key legislative developments and gaps regarding gender justice. This introduction provides an overall summary of these country chapters followed by a...