ESCRNet Arab Regions Brief Achievements and Challenges CWS

ESCR-Net Arab Region’s Brief Achievements and Challenges CWS- UN March 18/2015 Islah Jad: Qatar University/Bir Zeit University

Arab Region: General Background • Socio, economic, cultural, and political variations • Highest percentage of displaced and refugees in the world. • Wars and conflicts as the ‘norm’ (Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Lebanon. . etc). • Youth crisis.

Beijing Platform for action: contribution to advance women’s ESCR and substantive equality in the Arab Region • it helped in: • Raising awareness on women’s rights and issues at the level of governments and nongovernment. • Introduce important legal reforms • Institutionalizing gender issues and the subsequent policy formulation • The spread of many women’s organisations

Change on Normative Frameworks and Economic Policies • Universal platforms cannot change structural problems: • Important changes in wealthy countries but cultural constraints and weak human resources. • Rising in youth unemployment and growing social gaps: • Jordan 22. 2%, Bahrain 84%, Tunisia 22%, Algeria 16. 3%, Comoros 47%, Iraq 20. 7%, Oman 38. 5%, Palestine 35%, Egypt 24%, Yemen 60%. •

Progresses and Gaps: 20 years after • Endorsing CEDAW but with some reservations. • Introduce some legal reforms: Labour, maternity, family law, penal code, political participation, nationality. . . etc. • Great advancement in health and education. • Economic empowerment (individual approach) • Gendered budgeting

Progresses and Gaps: 20 years after • Wars and conflicts and resource distraction: • Regression after progression at all levels: • Health, education, national mechanisms, rights, poverty, violence, loss of homes and families. . etc. • The cooptation of the rights discourse by governments and non-governments organisations (Bahrain, Egypt. . etc) • Growing regional and social gaps. • More NGOs and weaker movements. • The political use of women’s and human rights organisations.

Lessons Learned and Women’s ESCR in the Coming Decade • Integrated approach to women’s rights. • International humanitarian law and Beijing Platform were not entirely clear on displaced women and refugees. • Focus on monitoring and observatories. • Invest in women’s power and movements. • Mechanism to enforce government’s accountability. • Focus on women’s education in conflict areas.