International NGO Collaborates With Lebanese Groups to Advance Women's Rights

Fresh data on the status of women in Lebanon will be made public at conference

BEIRUT, February 17, 2010 - The second phase of an innovative project to propel the efforts of local
nonprofits working to improve the standing of women in the Middle East and
North Africa region will be launched in Beirut, Lebanon today.

The Status of Women in the Middle East and North Africa (SWMENA) project
acquires scientific survey data to accurately identify and properly address
the areas of greatest need for women in the MENA region. The second stage of
this endeavor is to deliver the data to local nonprofit advocacy groups or
individuals and train them to use the information to better advance their
goals. Lebanon is the first country for which this data is available. The
survey findings will be made public on February 18, at the end of the two-day
conference during which local Lebanese groups will receive training.

"We are very excited to begin this second phase of the program.
Accumulating the data was empowering because it allows us to see very clearly
the areas where women in the region lacked equality or support. Now we can
begin training nonprofits to address and improve those areas of need," says
Rola Abdul-Latif, research officer at the International Foundation for
Electoral Systems (IFES).

The SWMENA project was initiated in March 2008 as a collaborative effort
between the Middle East and North Africa division and the Applied Research
Center (ARC) at IFES, the world's premiere election assistance and democracy
promotion NGO. IFES is also collaborating with the Institute for Women's
Policy Research to create the survey instrument and subsequently analyze the
data. The main goal is to work with local stakeholders and encourage them to
use solid data in their advocacy efforts in order to bring more credibility
to their demands, become more effective at advocating with policymakers and
through the media, and build their own local data collection and analysis
capacity.

SWMENA is currently collecting data in three countries — Lebanon,
Morocco, and Yemen — but the project's overarching goal is to improve the
status of women in the broader MENA region by strengthening local NGO
capacity to effectively advocate on behalf of women in these countries.

Preliminary findings from the Lebanon SWMENA survey have provided much
insight, including how much support exists for the introduction of gender
quotas in parliament, the rate of female political participation, the
introduction of an optional civil marriage law in Lebanon, and reform of laws
governing marriage and family, among other things. The survey has also
collected new data in other key areas including women's economic
participation, social autonomy, and access to healthcare.

The conference in Beirut will be attended by more than two dozen local
entities.

Laura Osio, press officer of IFES, +1-202-550-9634, losio at ifes.org