Topics and participants of the annual meeting of the Arab network for gender and development
Regional-Tunisia, Culture, 10/27/2003

The second regional annual meeting of the Arab network for Gender and Development "ANGED" was held in Tunis on October 20 through 22nd under the title: effective partnership for Furthering Knowledge and building capacities.

The event falls in the course of the work plan of ANGED, carried out by the center of Arab Women for Training and research CAWTAR at the support of the World Bank.

The ultimate aim of the project is to establish an Arab regional network including members, and governmental and non- governmental organizations working in the field of gender and development, so as to furnish for a common ground that makes of the mass media an effective partner in this process.

However, the cooperation between CAWTAR and the World Bank yielded in the foundation of ANGED: A network of an open membership for governmental and non- governmental organizations as well as research centers, academics and press and media people.

The first main workshop focused on gender and decision making with four main themes. The first was: women's participation in decision - making " general introduction," with experts presenting papers: Fathia el- Saidi from Tunisia; Ikbal Doughan from Lebanon; Soueihi and Ikbal el-Gharbi from Tunisia.

The second themes: Arab women's political participation with case studies by experts Abdullah Abu el-Atah and Baria Alnakshbendi – Jordan; Abdullah Hazaa and AbdulKarim Elcharjabi- yemen, Azza Khalil - Egypt, Mariana Khayat al-Sabouri- Lebanon; Faiza el-Bacha- Libya; Mounjia Zbeidi- Tunisia, Aicha Zainai, Algeria, and Najoua Bouraoui- Tunisia.

The third theme: depicting women's image in academic texts was highlighted by experts papers: Rajah Nimah- Lebanon, Anis Eltaih- Yemen; and Amin Kbara Sharani - Lebanon; while the fourth theme focused on legislation presented by experts: Salem el-Mizouri and Fathia Kassar- Tunisia, and Betoul Mouhieddine Taleb - Sudan.

On the sideline of the workshop the report on the second Arab women development on the Arab Adolescent was read: "Girl: reality and perspective."

Another focal point which was debated by the participants was under the title of "community of practice in the field of gender and Development." It is a research in the field of gender and development in the Arab region: methodological and practical challenges -- financial and human resources. The main objective is establishing a community of practice in the field of research on development and gender in ANGED.

Other objectives are to define the model of the community of practice; exchange expertise in the field of research on Arab gender and development with a focus on the challenges as regards to methodology, human and financial resources; determine the joint benefits from practice development with regards to this field and determine strategies for establishing an Arab community of practice for research on gender and development in ANGED.

The Center of Arab Women for Training and Research (CAWYAR) was establisged in 1993, with Tunis, Tunisia as a headquarters. It is supported by a Board of Trustees, presided over by Prince Talal Bin Abdul Aziz, President of the Arab Gulf program for United Nations Development organizations (AGFUND). The Board of Trustees includes representatives from the League of the Arab States (LAS), the Tunisian government, the United Nations Development program (UNDP), the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia ( UNESCWA), the European Union (EU) and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). CAWTAR aims to promote research and training conducive to a better understanding and appreciation of the status and role of Arab women and to supporting gender equality as an integral part of human rights in the Arab states. These aims were part of the objectives of various world conferences, notably the 1994 Conference on population and development (ICPD) in Cairo and the 1995 Fourth Conference on Women in Beijing. These objectives are being incorporated into, and implemented through, national action plans in many states in the Arab region.

For further support of these objectives, CAWTAR has embarked on a project to launch an annual publication under the title the CAWTAR Arab Women's Development report, inspired by, and following the format of the annual UNDP Human Development report. Each report focuses on a particular theme, based on solid research and present up to date quantitative and qualitative gender- sensitive indicators. The aim is to disseminate information to support decision-makers in the Arab region in formulating gender and poverty sensitive policies and strategies without which sustainable human and economic development is not attainable.

In her forward to the Arab Women Development Report 2001 under the title Globalization and Gender: economic participation of Arab women in the challenging subject of the first report, CAWTAR executive director Dr. Soukeina Bouraoui said that although debates on the complex impact of Globalization on the Arab states are beginning to gather momentum, evidence to date suggests that the gender dimensions of this phenomenon have been largely neglected. She indicated that this reality is reflected in the 1999 world survey on the role of women in development: Globalization, Gender and Work, a publication of the United Nation Department of economic and social affairs (DESA), in which mention of Arab women's economic participation in a globalising world is sparse. This publication and the UNDP human development report 1999, says that the benefits of global restructuring are to date unequally distributed, have provided the impetus for the focus of the report.

She indicated that following the CAWTAR strategy of promoting networks as a crucial advocacy tool in the Arab region and its belief in a participatory approach to project formulation and implementation, a brainstorming workshop was held in September 2000 in Tunis to which experts on Globalization from the Arab states and beyond were invited. This first workshop, she indicated reached a consensus on the structure and content of the report.

Dr. Bouraoi invited experts from the International Labor Organization ( ILO), the United Nation Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the United Nation Development Program UNDP and ESCWA and World Bank to participate in coming activities.

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