Arab Women's Organization, Arab Network for Civic Education (ANHRE) and ACTED launched a project to increase the participation of local Jordanian civil society organizations in the humanitarian response to the Syrian crisis through gender-based planning in five governorates of the Kingdom, funded by the Women's Fund for Peace and Humanity in 5 governorates of the Kingdom (Zarqa, East Amman, Irbid, Mafraq, Tafilah). The project aims mainly at building the capacities and knowledge of local associations to integrate women and youth into their plans and programs in the context of the Syrian crisis and build their capacity to collect and analyze data based on gender sensitive evidence to influence decision-making more effectively.

 

The project, which lasts for one year from November until the end of October 2018, aims to establish a network of local activists and local associations familiar with the context of the Syrian crisis and its impact on citizens in host communities and refugees. The rules and standards set by the task forces and groups working in response to the crisis.

 

And to stimulate these associations and train them on the indicators of gender and gender mainstreaming in various sectors in the field of development in emergency and post-emergency situations. This local network of local associations and activists is encouraged to take practical action to improve the participation of women and young people in human response as participants or as beneficiaries. The network is ready to increase local efforts to collect relevant and sensitive data and information for the gender, thus contributing to improving the information available to decision-makers, community leaders and all stakeholders involved in Syrian response plans.

 

The first of the activities of this project was a training workshop for trainers on "gender-based planning" in order to provide 21 leading women from the targeted governorates with life skills and build their skills on advocacy, communication and communication. The workshop also aimed to build the capacity of women and youth leaders to evaluate and analyze the management of gender-sensitive data, to promote advocacy and gender equality concepts and to develop the skills of women involved in leadership, lobbying and prioritization. The workshop was held at the Century Park Hotel in Amman from 22 to 24 January 2018. Participants in the workshop are expected to transfer their knowledge to 500 women and young men from the five governorates at a rate of 100 women and youth from each governorate through local training workshops and initiatives.

 

Mrs. Fattouh Younis, Executive Director of ACIN, said that this project will contribute to empowering women, providing them with knowledge and skills, building the capacity of local associations to integrate women and youth into their plans and programs in the context of the Syrian crisis, and collecting and analyzing data based on gender sensitive evidence to influence effectively in decision-making.

 

The project will also provide women leaders with the necessary tactics to overcome the challenges facing their leadership role in civil and political participation.

 

 Where the challenges facing women will be addressed by focusing on laws, legislation, norms and cultural heritage that promote discrimination. Yunus added that the project will focus on the role of women to achieve gender equality in political and social development at the local level, taking into account the role of women and local organizations in decision-making.

 

Work will be done with women and young people at the local level to increase awareness of gender-sensitive gender analysis and inclusion in gender-sensitive local plans and initiatives to address the needs of women and youth in the context of the Syrian crisis.

 

Laila Nafaa, Executive Director of the Arab Women's Association, said that the association seeks to create new partnerships at the national level to enhance the role, participation and impact of women leaders in the targeted governorates to respond to all changes in the Kingdom and at the governorate level, including the Syrian refugee crisis. Mrs. Nafa added that the Association of Arab Women seeks, through partnership with local institutions, to strengthen partnerships with the community and its leaders at all levels.

 

Cyril of ACTED said that "The organization's contribution to the project includes an assessment of the capabilities of local institutions using the GOCA tool for 15 local partner institutions in the targeted governorates", the results and recommendations will then be formulated to improve the capacity of these institutions. Mr. Cyril also stressed that building partnerships with national and local institutions is crucial because it contributes to more effective results because work starts from targeted governorates with the participation of leaders from the same governorate and thus a deeper understanding of the context in all its components and hence more effective initiatives.

 

The Women's Fund for Peace and Humanity is the only global funding mechanism exclusively dedicated to supporting women's participation in peace-building and humanitarian action. The Women's Fund is a flexible and fast funding tool that supports specific qualitative interventions to strengthen the capacity of local women to anticipate conflicts, respond to crises and emergencies and capture key peace-building opportunities. The Fund is an innovative partnership between Member States, the United Nations and civil society, representing all concerned parties in its Global Finance Council. The United Nations Women's Fund provides support to the Fund as a Secretariat and ensures coordination for the implementation of the decisions of the Financing Board.

 

IFAD donors currently include Australia, Canada, Ireland, Spain, the United Kingdom, Liechtenstein and Lithuania.