CAWTAR builds a Democracy Network

Through a MEPI-funded initiative titled “Arab Women and Political Participation: From Concept to Practice in Local Governance,” the Center of Arab Women for Training and Research (CAWTAR) has been working to build a network of democratic reform-minded women throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

This project of the Tunis-based women’s advocacy group aims at increasing the effective participation of women in local government through the creation of an independent regional network of women’s activists and organizations in Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia, and Yemen, with additional countries being considered for future participation. 

Under its MEPI-funded project, CAWTAR has sponsored five policy roundtables, including a conference in Algeria in June that brought together 195 participants representing national councils, academia, women’s organizations, civil society associations, and the media, and resulted in the drafting of a list of best practices for increasing women’s participation as both voters and political candidates.

“These efforts are extremely important,” said Dr. May Al Dabbagh, who presented a talk at the conference titled “Revisiting the Discourse on Arab Women Political Participation.”  Dabbagh, a Research Fellow who is developing a leadership program for women at the Dubai School of Government’s Women and Leadership Program, added that “while some trends exist across the region, many women’s issues are very context specific and need tailor-made solutions rather than broad recommendations.”

CAWTAR, which recently authored a ground-breaking report called Arab Women in the Media, is now preparing to launch an interactive, multimedia website to expand global discourse on Arab women and governance.  It will also publish five studies conducted by research partners and corresponding to its policy roundtables on various issues related to women’s participation in the political process throughout the region.