Women's political participation in the Arab region remains limited despite some progress in recent years. Cultural and societal norms, as well as discriminatory laws, continue to restrict the political space for women in the region. Despite the efforts of many women's rights activists and organizations, significant barriers remain to full and equal political representation for women. The current political climate presents both challenges and opportunities for further progress towards gender parity in the Arab region. While there has been some progress, we know significant work remains to raise awareness of this equality gap, improve public perception of women in politics, combat violence that women leaders and candidates face, and promote women's increased participation and representation in politics and decision-making positions.

The Regional Electoral Support for Middle East and North Africa project is organizing a workshop "Disrupting the Status Quo: Charting a New Path to Women's Political Participation in the Arab Region" to facilitate discussion and thinking on a new path for women’s political participation in the region to advance women's political participation in the Arab region that can be collectively implemented by CSOs, institutions and ministries at both the regional and national level through projects and initiatives.

The three-day workshop will use various innovative approaches and tools to explore opportunities for collective action and to generate a concrete action plan to address obstacles to women's political participation. Specifically, iy will use systems thinking tools as a way to examine system-level dynamics that encourage and inhibit women’s political participation, and futures thinking to broaden our thinking about what futures might be possible (preferred) in terms of women’s political participation. 

The workshop will involve diverse and deep expertise and experiences of the participants to create linkages across sectors and countries.

Follow the hashtag #ArbWomenNewPath for more updates