Despite measurable progress on various development goals, socio-political and economic impediments continue to stifle the pursuit of gender equality in the Arab region, which transcends issues of women’s public participation. Our team supports the efforts of Country Offices and their partners to advance women’s rights, foster wider engagement of women in political processes and respond to women’s needs in conflict and humanitarian settings. In light of evolving political changes in the region and continued exclusion of women from public life, we help catalyse interventions at different levels of influence to enhance women’s positioning in decision making forums.

We focus on

• Gender and Sustainable Development: working with national partners to engender national development policies to reduce and eliminate barriers to women’s economic empowerment and foster gender equality as prerequisite to achieving sustainable development;
• Gender, Democratic Governance and Peacebuilding: supporting advocacy, policy and legislative reforms to accelerate the equal participation of women in all governance processes and decision-making spaces in pursuit of social harmony and sustainable peace;
• Gender, Climate and Disaster Resilience: considering the disproportionate impact of climate change and disasters on women, we support national partners to strengthen the participation of women in disaster mitigation and recovery efforts; and

• Institutional Innovation: helping UNDP Country Offices and interested partners attain the Gender Equality Seal—an institutional certification programme that promotes gender equality both as a development goal and an integral part of organizational functioning.