Amman, 10 December 2019 – A new report that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) launched today, observes that women and girls have benefited from reforms affecting core aspects of their lives as specific provisions within penal, labour, family and nationality codes have been revised and updated, in some Arab countries over the past decade.

The report entitled “Gender Justice & Equality Before the Law in the Arab States Region: A Regional Analysis of Progress and Challenges,” points to legal reforms that have positively impacted protections against violence against women and sexual harassment; full citizenship rights; guarantees of equal pay at work; entitlements to paid maternity leave; and limiting child marriage.

“The law is central to achieving gender equality and empowerment of women and girls in the Arab region,” said Mourad Wahba, acting Associate Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States in UNDP. “By demonstrating examples of positive legal reforms and breakthroughs, I trust that this new report can help facilitate a constructive dialogue and inspire scaled up action to further improve the status of women and girls across the region.”

The report brings a unique regional lens to laws and law enforcement practices – examining social and economic contexts in which laws are made and pointing to examples of good practice from across the region to encourage exchanges of experience and ideas to advance gender justice. It builds upon 18 country reports that UNDP, UN Women, UNFPA and ESCWA produced, one year ago, under their joint Gender Justice Initiative. The Initiative assesses how laws in countries across the region promote or impede gender justice in conformity with international standards and provides governments and activists at national and regional levels a baseline to track progress and a platform for regional knowledge sharing.

Citing specific examples of legislative changes that some Arab countries have already made in order to achieve gender equality, end discrimination and empower women and girls, the report notes that the process of reform has been challenging, and the gains hard won in many cases. Yet, these reforms point to an emerging consensus on how Arab countries can most effectively chart their own paths, while providing leadership in tackling such socially controversial issues.

The report proposes recommendations for Arab countries to consider in their planning for concrete measures that they can take to achieve equality before the law for women and girls within the timeframe of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which commits countries to achieve gender equality, end all discrimination and empower women and girls by 2030.

All materials, including the new regional report, the 18 updated country summaries and the detailed country reports can be accessed through the respective websites of UNDP, UN Women, UNFPA and ESCWA.

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