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Engaging Men in Women’s Rights and Empowerment in South Asia and the Middle East

Friday, April 26, 2013 /

By: Anne Angarola;  Steven E. Steiner;  Shannon Zimmerman

Publication Type: Peace Brief

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A new Peace Brief details the lessons learned and best practices on engaging men in support of women’s rights and empowerment in South Asia and the Middle East. It is based on a November 2012 forum organized by USIP’s Center for Gender and Peacebuilding.

Engaging Men in Women’s Rights and Empowerment in South Asia and the Middle East

Summary

  • The role of Islam in society must be taken into account and better understood by international institutions and civil society as women’s programming is designed and implemented in the Middle East, South Asia, and North Africa.
  • Engaging male leaders including Imams on issues of women’s rights is often overlooked but critical to a long-term strategy.
  • Broadening the educational discourse around Islam and creating spaces for female religious scholars in male-dominated educational institutions is a high priority for many Afghan women.
  • Expanding women’s political involvement must not be solely based on a quota system.
  • Engaging young people as key resources for the advancement of women’s rights is essential.
  • Employing media resources as a tool of education on the importance of women’s rights is one of the areas for further exploration.
  • Promoting masculine ideals that include non-violent approaches to problem solving is a critical consideration in advancing women’s rights.

About This Brief

Anne Angarola is a research assistant with USIP’s Center for Gender and Peacebuilding and has been involved in women’s programming in rural Tanzania with a small development nongovernmental organization since 2005, Steve Steiner is a gender adviser with the USIP Center for Gender and Peacebuilding and served as a senior adviser in the Department of State Office of Global Women’s Issues, and Shannon Zimmerman is a program specialist with USIP’s Center for Gender and Peacebuilding and focuses on the nexus of security and women’s empowerment. This brief is based on a forum held by the Center for Gender and Peacebuilding at USIP on engaging men in support of women’s programming. In expert dialogues facilitated by Kathleen Kuehnast, director of the center, and Ambassador Steven E. Steiner as part of a larger project funded by USAID, women from Afghanistan and Iraq identified the necessity of engaging men in support of women’s programming in order for that programming to be successful. Four experts spoke at USIP on November 19, 2012 about their experience in engaging men to support women’s rights. This brief details the experiences the panelists presented.

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