Women’s Voice and Leadership in the Middle East

This project is part of Canada’s Women’s Voice and Leadership Program which supports local and regional women’s organizations and networks working to promote women’s rights and advance women’s empowerment and gender equality in developing countries. This is done by supporting activities building institutional capacity and promoting network and alliance-building as women’s rights and feminist organizations are critical agents of change. The program also responds to the significant gap in funding and support for women’s rights organizations and movements worldwide. The project helps address the challenges facing women’s rights organizations in Jordan Lebanon and Iraq by strengthening their organizational capacity through training and mentoring providing multi-year core funding flexible short-term funding for nascent organizations and creating opportunities for the feminist movement to thrive in the three countries.

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) improved management programming and sustainability of local women’s rights organizations (WROs) in Jordan Lebanon and Iraq particularly those representing vulnerable and marginalised women and girls; (2) enhanced delivery of quality and inclusive services and advocacy by WROs to advance gender equality in Jordan Lebanon and Iraq; and (3) increased effectiveness of women’s rights platforms networks and alliances to fully exercise their civic rights and affect gender-sensitive policy change and implementation in Jordan Lebanon and Iraq.