Sub-Regional Resource Facility for Arab States

K-Maps on Women’s Empowerment

A. Regional Resources

Machreq/Maghreb Gender Linking and Information Project
It is a forum for debate, learning and exchange on women, gender and development amongst interested groups in the Middle East and Maghreb region.

Arab Women Connect
In December 2000, UNIFEM Arab States Regional Office (ASRO) launched Arab Women Connect (AWC) website as part of the WID FI project evolution. The AWC project built an Arabic/English website containing studies, reports, and statistics on Arab women collected from WID FI and PBP II counterparts as well as from women's organizations in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Yemen, UAE, and Qatar. 

AMAN
The Arab Regional Resource Center on Violence against Women in AMMAN/JORDAN was established on October 2000, upon the detailed discussions and recommendation made by participants of the Arabic workshop for trainers on programs addressing the issue of combating violence against women and girls, organized by Sisterhood Is Global Institute-Jordan in October 1999.

Women living under Muslims Laws
Women Living Under Muslim Laws is an international solidarity network that provides information, support and a collective space for women whose lives are shaped, conditioned or governed by laws and customs said to derive from. Information is provided in English, Arabic and French

Women Gateway
http://www.womengateway.com/enwg/home

B. International Resources

CUTTING EDGE PACKS
Written and produced in collaboration with partners, Cutting Edge Packs provide accessible overviews of the latest thinking on a gender theme and summaries of the most useful resources. Each pack includes an Overview Report, a Supporting Resources Collection and a copy of Gender and Development In Brief.

Gender and ICTs
Gender and Citizenship
Gender and Armed Conflict
Gender and HIV/AIDS
Gender and Budgets
Gender and Cultural Change
Gender and Participation

UNDP Gender Beat
Quarterly review of projects and activities around the world.

ELDIS Gender Resource Guide
Eldis is a gateway to information on development issues, providing free and easy access to wide range of high quality online resources.

Women Watch
It provides information and Resources on Gender Equality and Empowerment of women throughout the United Nations system. This website is an Initiative of the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE).

Gender Equality (Canadian International Development Agency)
For more than two decades, CIDA has been committed to promoting the empowerment of women and equality between women and men. CIDA's approach has evolved over that time to reflect the lessons learned from its work with different development partners, and from the different advances and struggles to reach gender equality.

The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) Women Participation Programme
The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) is a nonprofit organization working to strengthen and expand democracy worldwide. Calling on a global network of volunteer experts, NDI provides practical assistance to civic and political leaders advancing democratic values, practices and institutions. It is committed to promoting the equitable participation of women in politics and government.

WEF- Global gender Gap
A document that attempts to assess the gender gap worldwide based on economic, educational and health factors.

Gender Indicators

C. UN Resources

UNDP Resources
UNDP-POGAR's Gender & Citizenship Initiative
POGAR Web Links - Women in Public Life
Gender Training Tools and Resources
Programmes and Methodologies
Gender Mainstreaming in UNDP
Gender Policy Note
UN-Habitat Policy Note on Gender
UNDP’s Gender Scorecard
A new management tool goes hand in hand with UNDP's Gender Balance in Management Policy 2003 - 2006, issued by the Administrator in September 2003, and is part of the Administrator's commitment to meet the UN's agreed gender targets (50/50 by 2010).

World Map of Women in Politics (2005)
A Map published by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women (UNDAW). The map is the result of a global survey conducted by the IPU that gathers data on the number of women in both the legislative and executive branches of government as of 1 January 2005. It is an update of a similar map published in 2000

Women In National parliaments (2005)
The figures reveal that there has been a 17 per cent increase in the overall number of women members of parliament over the last five years. Of the 58 countries that held elections in 2004 for the Lower Houses of Parliament, 49 show an increase in the percentage of women.The biggest change entails the doubling of the percentage of women MPs in the Arab world (from 3.5 per cent to 6.5 per cent). Although only a few countries account for much of this improvement (for example, Morocco climbed from 4 women MPs to 38; Jordan from 3 women MPs to 13, Tunisia from 21 women MPs to 43), the upward trend is likely to continue with the results of elections in Iraq and of political reforms in a number of countries. However, the performance of the Arab region is still well below the world average and will therefore continue to require particular attention.

D. Regional Institutions/ Partners

UNIFEM Arab States Regional Office

CAWTAR
The Center of Arab Women for Training and Research (CAWTAR) is an international non-governmental institution established on 7 March 1993 and located in Tunis, Tunisia. It aims to promote Arab women's participation in development by providing gender training, research, clearing house services and advisory services.

Arab Women’s Solidarity Association
The Arab Women's Solidarity Association is a progressive organization founded in Egypt in 1982 by Nawal El Saadawi. It was established by a group of 120 women who agreed that the struggle for the liberation of Arab people and freedom from economic, cultural and media domination cannot be separated from the liberation of Arab women.

Association for Middle East Women's Studies
The Association for Middle East Women's Studies is a private, non-profit, non-political, international organization of scholars and other persons interested in the study of women in the Middle East. The objectives of the Association are to advance the study of women in the Middle East. AMEWS is an affiliated organization of the Middle East Studies Association of North America, Inc. AMEWS was founded over sixteen years ago by scholars interested in promoting quality research in the field of Middle East women's studies.

Women’s Court
The Women's Court: The Permanent Arab Court to Resist Violence against Women is a symbolic popular court that aims at fighting all forms of violence practiced against women in Arab societies.
The Court was established by a group of Arab NGOs and distinguished personalities gathered in Rabat, Morocco on 30th November and 1st December 1996. The main purpose of the Court is to put an end to the intensifying and multifaceted violence against women. This need has become obviously clear by a public hearing on violence against women that was held in Beirut in June 1995, and was the first of its kind in the Arab world.
Located in the country of residence of the general coordinator, the Court's Headquarters is now in Lebanon. The membership is open to all who agree with its objectives and support the cause.

E. Regional Civil Society Organizations

Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counseling
The WCLAC is an independent Palestinian organization, aims to contribute to the establishment of a democratic Palestinian society, based on social justice and equality between women and men. To achieve this aim, the Centre has developed and is further developing, through its activities, a new Palestinian feminist discourse. It is a resource Centre for women and a leader of collective action on the governmental and non-governmental level, locally, regionally and internationally.

National Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW):

Women’s Studies Center
The Women's Studies Center is an independent, Palestinian, non-governmental organization that strives for the realization of the principle of equality between women and men. In the course of our work, we seek to mobilize the efforts of all women who believe in equality and share our commitment to the principle that women's rights are indivisible from human rights. The Center focuses on working with female students, youth, teachers, community leaders and members of the media.

Information Center for Women and Children
The Center is considered as an information network that will serve the Kingdom of  Bahrain and GCC states with a view to providing information, data and publications relevant to children and women in the region.

The Lebanese Council to Resist Violence against Women (LCRVAW)
It was founded in Beirut in March 1997. The Council was established in response to the alarming rate of violent acts against women in Lebanon, and the lack of legal and social support for victims of such crimes.

F. International Institutions/Partners

UNIFEM
UNIFEM is the women's fund at the United Nations. It provides financial and technical assistance to innovative programmes and strategies that promote women's human rights, political participation and economic security. Within the UN system, UNIFEM promotes gender equality and links women's issues and concerns to national, regional and global agendas by fostering collaboration and providing technical expertise on gender mainstreaming and women's empowerment strategies.
For UNIFEM Resources click here

Oxfam
Oxfam is a NGO that uses a range of approaches to achieve change and improve peoples' lives, including saving lives through emergency response; longer term development programmes; and campaigning to achieve lasting change.

World Bank Gender Net
This site describes how the Bank seeks to reduce gender disparities and enhance women's participation in economic development through its programs and projects. It summarizes knowledge and experience, provides gender statistics, and facilitates discussion on gender and development.

Department of Gender, Women and Health at WHO
The Department of Gender, Women and Health is charged with helping WHO’s various programs and departments undertake the challenge of integrating gender considerations into their work. It is also responsible for researching and disseminating information on neglected topics directly pertaining to women's health, such as gender-based violence against women.

WAVE - Women Against Violence in Europe

CPSDV - Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence

WomensNet

Women in Global Science and Technology

G. RBAS Programmes

The Fourth World Conference on Women
UN fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing


Beijing Follow Up
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/followup

Assessing Implementation of the Beijing Platform
http://www.wedo.org/new/mapping.htm
http://www.wedo.org/monitor/findings

H. Centers for research / training and courses in gender

1-The Centre for Research and Training on Development (CRTD) is an organisation established and based in Beirut/Lebanon. CRTD is active in servicing programmes, initiatives and activities in the field of poverty, gender and social development in Lebanon and the Arab region. CRTD is organizing its second regional training seminar on "Gender and Communication" The course will be held in Beirut from 27 June to 30 June 2005 inclusive. Detailed information about the CRTD, the course as well as an application form can be downloaded by clicking here

2- (CIDA) Canadian International Development Agency, who's main objective is to facilitate the efforts of the people of developing countries to achieve self-sustainable economic and social development in accordance with their needs and environment, by cooperating with them in developing activities; as well as to provide humanitarian assistance. CIDA's Continuous Learning Section and the Gender Equality Unit have developed the Agency's new online, interactive, self-learning course. They offer courses in English and in French. For more Information Click here

3-The Royal Tropical Institute Amsterdam have a gender unit which offer tailored courses on gender / applied research/resources in French and in English. For more click here . Contact persons: Marguerite Appel and/or Maitrayee Mukhopadhyay

4- Commonwealth Secretariat UK http://www.thecommonwealth.org www.thecommonwealth.org/gender

5 - Ottawa University Canada: bilingual university: French and English. Has one of the most advanced women’s study chair/department University will linkages in different continents. Contact person: Professor Linda Cardinal

6 - Institute of Development Studies at University of Sussex Brighton IDS (English)

I. TORs

1- UNDP Country Office Gender focal point
2- Gender Advisor - Beirut
3- Gender Advisor - Iraq
4- Gender Advisor - Bratislava
5- Gender Network Moderator - Pakistan
6- Gender mainstreaming consultant - Vietnam

J. UN Conventions

UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
http://www.undp.org/rblac/gender/documents/htm
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw
http://www.feminist.org/research/cedawmain.html
http://www.unifem.undp.org/cedaw.htm

K. International Links