Promoting Principles of Partnership and Cooperation Between Governments and Civil Society
Rabat, Morocco 5-6, October 2009

By Wahid Labidi

Over 150 representatives of civil society attended the Rabat Workshop on Democracy and Local Governance in the Broader Middle East and North Africa region (BMENA) organized by the Moroccan Organization for Human Rights (OMDH) and No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ), in cooperation with the Governments of Italy and Morocco, co-chairs of the 2009 Forum for the Future. The workshop took place October 5-6. Along with two other thematic workshops — “The Impact of the International Financial Crisis on the BMENA Region" in Beirut, September 26-27, and “Human Development and Human Security” in Doha, October 10-14 2009 — the Rabat Workshop contributed to the formulation of ideas for the Forum. (Read more).

Bedouin High School Girls Benefit from Pre-Academic Program

The Association for the Promotion of Bedouin Women Education in the Negev launched a pre-academic program aimed to help more than 100 Bedouin high school girls in Israel, from grades ten, eleven and twelve, prepare for university. Participants have been receiving tutoring in key exam subjects, as well as counseling on how to cope with personal and social challenges they may encounter with a focus on women’s rights and empowerment. (Read more).

Broadcasting on YouTube: Creating Our Own Video to Promote Social Change

 Mona Hamed and Amel Wehda recently received an honorary award for their production of a bilingual, Arabic and English, Public Service Announcement (PSA) on “honor killing” on behalf of the Women’s Affairs Technical Committee (WATC). The honor killing PSA video was submitted in a YouTube competition entitled “What Do Human Rights Mean to You” organized by the Women’s Learning Partnership for Rights, Development and Peace (WLP).
WATC is one of seven civil society organizations that received training from the Barefoot Workshops PSA production project in late 2008. (Read more)

Youth of Today, Leaders of Tomorrow

A diverse group of North African women with the potential to be leaders in their countries convened in Rabat, Morocco, last week as part of a collaborative program, unprecedented in the region, to shape future roles for women in political and civic life.  The “Youth of Today, Leaders of Tomorrow” conference brought together 25 women, aged 22 to 34, from Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. They are writers and artists working to create after-school programs for children and end violence in schools, business women raising money and awareness to fight the rise of HIV/AIDS, and students running micro-credit programs on campuses for rural women. (Read more)