G-Concerns May - June 2012

The Director’s Message

Dear readers, colleagues and associates, we are presenting you with our newest version of G-Concerns. With this edition, we hope you will get more insight into the work we are currently engaged in.
It has been a busy period. From Brussels to Cairo, Tunis and back to the Netherlands, we have been actively engaged in a broad range of activities to advance our work in establishing a gender balanced society for women in the Arab Spring. This is crucially needed in a time like this when so many Arab countries are undergoing a transition that we hope will place women in strategic positions to further equal participation of both genders.
We are pleased to be a part of a system that is working towards addressing the barriers that are preventing women from the center of political and economic empowerment. For this reason, we would continue to monitor elections from a gender perspective in order to measure the advancement of women in this area. In addition, we will continue to network and dialogue with our local partners in order to understand their needs and follow it up with our lobbying and advocacy work.
Finally, we would like to thank the various women organizations that have collaborated with us, the government institutions that have supported us as well as every single individual that has helped us in one way or another.
We encourage your feedback as well as the continuous support of our mission.

Best Regards,
Sabra Bano.
Director, Gender Concerns International.

Gender Concerns International in Libya - Gender Concerns International is intensifying its relations with Libyan civil society. Sabra Bano, the director of Gender Concerns International, is in Libya at the moment in order to meet with partners and donors, and to prepare a Gender Election Monitoring Mission to Libya. Gender Concerns International is very keen to monitor the elections in Libya from a gender perspective and to support Libyan organizations in building a strong and independent civil society.

Women’s Security and Transition in Afghanistan:  Measuring the success of transition by lasting protections for women’s security  - In advance of the Chicago NATO Summit, Afghan Women’s Network consulted over 300 women leaders across eight Provincial Zones to document women’s perceptions of the Security Transition, their involvement in Transition, and the impact Transition has thus far had on their mobility, security, and access to public space. Read More>>>

Tunisia: GEM Follow-Up Visit - Having officially launched the Tunisia GEM Report in NieuwsPoort on February 2, 2012 Ms. Bano was in Tunis-Tunisia to meet with local partners to publically release the report in Tunisia, to discuss the outcome of the report and construct a working framework to begin the implementation of follow up activities. Read More>>>

Round Table  Discussion: Europe and Women in Egypt  - Egyptian Women still have to overcome a lot of obstacles in post-revolutionary Egypt. Gender Concerns International facilitated a Round Table Discussion in Cairo on 1st May 2012 between Members of the European Parliament visiting Egypt and important Egyptian women’s organizations. The Round Table was aimed at getting support for the visions and concerns of the women in the new structures of Egyptian governance. Read more >>>

World Leaders back Afghan Women’s Inclusion at NATO Summit Chicago - Gender Concerns International endorses and supports strong statements issued by a number of women’s and civil society organizations and prominent international leaders raising the importance of including women in brokering any peace deal with the Taliban and agreeing on a peace and security framework for Afghanistan post-2014. Read more>>>

Press Release : European Parliament Mashreq Delegation -  Gender Concerns International has been very active in Brussels these last few months attending the Mashreq and Maghreb Delegation meeting that took place on the 25^th of April 2012.

The Mashreq Parliamentarian Meeting featured a number of key speakers and representatives from Human Rights Watch-Egypt, Freedom House and the Anna Lindha Foundation who shared their analysis of the current political situation in Egypt as well as  made specific recommendations to the parliament.  Read More>>>

Report on Rio +20: Green Economy – Justice, Peace and Stability Briefing Conference: “On the 16^th of April 2012, Gender Concerns International attended a briefing Conference on the importance of sustainable development in relation to women’s organizations and women’s rights.  The aim of the Conference was to provide insights to the topics to be discussed at the UN Sustainable Development Conference, Rio +20, to be held in Rio de Janeiro in June of 2012 and creating a nexus to women’s organizations and women’s rights.” Read More>>>