What we do

All human development and human rights issues have gender dimensions. UN Women focuses on priority areas that are fundamental to women’s equality, and that can unlock progress across the board.

Leadership and political participation
Goal 1: To increase women’s leadership and participation On the Regional Level: A Regional Female Members of Parliament Network “ Arab Female Parliamentarian Network for Equality” was launched in 2014 and operationalized in 2015. This network is considered a pioneering initiative, as it targets enhancing gender equality across the different thematic areas of concern. The network includes representation from the 22 countries in the Arab region. In 2015, the network will...
Civil Society
A key strength of UN Women is its close working relationship with civil society. Indeed, at the global level the concerted advocacy of civil society organizations (CSOs) was critical towards the establishment of UN Women in 2011 as the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. Since that date, UN Women’s partnership with civil society has been increasingly strategic and innovative, and aimed at facilitating feminist solidarity and movement-building.
Ending Violence against Women and Girls
Violence against women and girls is a grave violation of human rights. Its impact ranges from immediate to long-term multiple physical, sexual and mental consequences for women and girls, including death.
Peace, security and humanitarian action
Women and men, girls and boys, are affected differently by conflict because of their gendered roles and the gendered distribution of resources and opportunities that determine how they can avoid harm and participate whether as combatants or peace builders. Historically, the impact of conflict on women and girls has been invisible to policy-makers, and little effort has been made to ensure their voices shape conflict-resolution let alone long-term peacebuilding efforts. UN Security Council...
Women’s Economic Empowerment
Economic Empowerment of Syrian Women in Host Communities Regional Project The regional project aims at supporting the economic empowerment of Syrian women refugees through enhancing their economic resilience and self-reliance to enable them support their families. UN Women aims to work at multiple levels to respond to the specific needs of the Syrian Women inside Syria and in neighboring countries through provision of livelihood support, building on their own initiatives and skills as well...
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is a global action plan to end poverty , protect the planet , and ensure prosperity for all people . It is based on a multi- partnership . The Sustainable Development Goals are integrated and indivisible, grounded in the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental. By unanimous adoption of General Assembly resolution 70/1, all countries committed to implement Agenda...
Governance and national planning
Many women in the Arab region suffer from a limited access to basic national resources. Gender-Responsive Budgeting is a transformative approach that aims to strengthen the effectiveness of public policy related to financial resources allocation. The approach starts by gender analysis to determine and reduce the gaps between men and women in access to human rights. Thus, the national resources will be reallocated, without being increased, in order to redirect funds to priority actions aiming at...
Youth and Innovation
HerStory Volunteers: Photo: UN Women/ Emad Karim The world today is home to the largest generation of young people in history, 1.8 billion. Close to 90 per cent of them live in developing countries, where they constitute a large proportion of the population. Young people in the Middle East and North Africa region represent a major part of the society: about 30% of the population is under 15 years old, and youth between 15 to 24 made up to 70 million in 2015 . Across the region, women...
UN system coordination
When different parts of the multilateral system act together, they can deliver greater results—and maximize the use of scarce resources. Within the UN system, UN Women is mandated to lead, promote and coordinate efforts to advance the full realization of women’s rights and opportunities.
Intergovernmental support
In intergovernmental forums at the United Nations, Member States come together to debate and seek agreement on global gender equality norms and standards.
Evaluation in the Arab States Region
No one left behind: Why gender responsive evaluation matters for the SDGs. The 2030 Agenda calls for a follow-up and review mechanism which monitors and evaluates progress for all and is based on processes that integrate gender equality and human rights, focusing on those left furthest behind. Gender-responsive evaluation (GRE) is one key tool to assess progress on delivering on the Sustainable Development Agenda and generate knowledge on what works. UN Women in the Arab States region...
Coordination
UN Women Regional Office of Arab States (ROAS) coordination efforts support system, inter-agency, and country level collaboration to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. These efforts aim to facilitate integration and “working together” to strengthen gender mainstreaming and accountability regarding implementation of commitments. ROAS does this by working through regional coordination mechanisms and UN Development Group teams of regional directors. Supporting...
Programme implementation
UN Women implements programmes (and their component projects) at country, multi-country, and regional levels through implementing partners, which include government entities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), UN agencies, non-UN intergovernmental organizations, and UN Women (direct implementation). UN Women issues calls for proposals and calls for expressions of interest to identify and select, through a competitive process, suitable implementing partners.