On June 5th and 6th, the Swedish Dialogue Institute for the Middle East and North Africa hosted the inaugural meeting of the WPS Working Group for the Arab States in Amman. This event marked the beginning of a series of consultations and dialogues, aimed at analyzing existing WPS frameworks, identifying gaps and challenges, and developing concrete recommendations for better implementing the WPS agenda in the Arab States region.
The WPS Working Group for the Arab States has been created to be a regional mechanism that influences and informs WPS policy spaces and develops policy recommendations. As part of this work, a so-called “white paper” will be produced and shared with the international community, to ensure that voices from the region are included in global discussions about the WPS agenda. This initiative has been taken as the global community prepares to commemorate the 25th anniversary of UNSCR 1325 and the landmark Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda, in 2025.
The Working Group, which consists of some fifteen WPS experts (peacebuilders, peace practitioners, policy experts, researchers, and private sector representatives), is led by the WPS Regional Hub at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs in collaboration with the UN Women Regional Office for the Arab States. Other organizations partnering in these efforts are Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the Arab Reform Initiative, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung MENA, the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, Inclusive Peace, the Embassy of Switzerland to Lebanon and Syria, and the Swedish Dialogue Institute.
Read the Report from the Inaugural meeting of the WPS Working Group for the Arab States
