EU to promote gender equality in Mediterranean countries

30/01/2009

The EU has allocated over four million euros towards improving gender equalities in nine Mediterranean countries and "in order to push the existing dynamics forward."

By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis – 30/01/09

[Jamel Arfaoui] On a visit to Tunis, an EU delegation announced a programme to boost gender equality in countries on the southern shore of the Mediterranean.

The European Union launched an ambitious programme Wednesday (January 28th) to boost gender equality on the southern shore of the Mediterranean. The announcement was made during an EU delegation's visit to Tunis.

Officials said the programme will benefit nine Mediterranean countries: Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, the Palestinian Territories, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria. It will be funded by the EU and implemented by the Tunis-based Centre of Arab Women for Training and Research (CAWTR), in co-operation with Belgium's Transtec, which will provide consultancy and technical support in the fields of social, economic and commercial development, and support of the private sector and democracy.

Atidel Mejbri, a media and communications official with CAWTR, said that the centre envisions a comprehensive programme that includes the training of media professionals on gender-based issues and the human rights of women. Mejbri added that the centre also plans a survey on the role of women and her image in the community.

"This is almost the first time ever that such a thing takes place in the Arab region," said Mejbri.

Jane Haile, team leader of the Euromed regional programme "Enhancing Equality between Women and Men", said that the programme will span a period of three years, with a budget of 3.3 million euros, of which some will be allocated for training media professionals specialising in gender-based issues.

Officials said the programme will have three components.

"The first is to boost the existing dynamics that operate on all levels to achieve gender equality, and to contribute to the enhancement of women's basic rights in the region," said Algerian Faiza Ben Hadid, an international expert in gender-based issues. "The second will be boosting knowledge related to gender-based violence and supporting programmes and activities in this field. Finally, the third aspect will seek to enhance women's role in society."

The objective, Ben Hadid said, is to improve gender equality and reach a consensus on the definition of violence against women; to unify research methodologies and techniques in this field, and to support efforts made in that direction.

The idea for the new programme came in 2006, when 37 Mediterranean countries held a ministerial conference in Istanbul entitled "The Enhancement of Women's Role in Society." At the time, participants promised to implement possible ways to improve women's status in society.

Carla Montesi, an EU Commission official, said the new programme "comes within the framework of following up on the conclusions and recommendations of the Istanbul conference in order to push forward the existing dynamics."