The event “Women in Public Life in the Middle East and North Africa” will be held on 5th March 2015 in Madrid, Spain. The discussions will examine good practices and challenges on gender sensitive policies and gender budgeting, as well as the progress made in legal reforms to advance on gender equality and promote women’s political participation in the region.

1. BUILDING
WomeninPublicLife
intheMiddleEastandNorthAfrica
5 March 2015
Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation
Madrid, Spain

2. 2
AGENDA
0 9 : 3 0 – 1 0 : 0 0 h Opening session
 Mr. Alberto Virella, Director of Cooperation with Africa and Asia,
AECID, Spain.
 H.E. Mr. Ricardo Díez-Hochleitner, Ambassador, Permanent
Representative, Delegation of Spain to the OECD, Co-Chair of the
MENA-OECD Governance Programme.
 Mr. Luiz De Mello, Deputy Director, Territorial Development and Public
Governance, OECD.
 Ms. Soukaina Bouraoui, Chair, MENA – OECD Women in Government
Platform, Executive Director, Centre for Arab Women Training and
Research.
1 0 : 0 0 – 1 1 : 0 0 h Session 1 : Towards inclusive and gender-sensitive policies and budgets for
inclusive growth
Chair: Mr. Alberto Virella, Director of Cooperation with Africa and Asia, AECID.
 Ms. Carmen Plaza, Director of Women’s Institute and Equal
Opportunities, Spain.
 Mr. Youssef Belal, International Expert- Gender Responsive Budgeting,
Prof. Political Science, University Mohammed V, Casablanca, Morocco.
 Ms. Tatyana Teplova, Deputy Head of Division, Senior Analyst,
Governance Reviews and Partnerships, OECD.
1 1 : 0 0 – 1 1 : 3 0 h Coffee Break
1 1 : 3 0 - 1 2 : 3 0 h Session 2 : Promoting women’s political participation and advancing legal
reforms for gender equality
Chair: Mr. Alberto Virella, Director of Cooperation with Africa and Asia, AECID.
 Ms. Soukaina Bouraoui, Chair, MENA – OECD Women in Government
Platform, Executive Director, Centre for Arab Women Training and
Research.
 Ms. Reham Afifi, Managing Director, Group Leader of Free Egyptian
Women Speak Up group and Project Manager of Egyptian Democratic

3. 3
Academy, Egypt.
 Ms. Macarena Cotelo, Project Manager, Foundation for the Social
Promotion of the Culture, Spain.
1 2 : 3 0 - 1 3 : 4 0 h Session 3 : International Donors working on advancing gender equality in
MENA region
Chair: Ms. Laura López de Cerain Director of Multilateral, Horizontal and
Financial Cooperation, AECID.
 Mr. Nasser B. Al – Kahtani, Executive Director, Arab Gulf Programme
for Development (AGFUND). (TBD)
 Ms. Elena Ferreras Carreras, Senior Gender Adviser, Gender Team,
Environmental and Sustainability Department, EBRD.
 Ms. Rana El-Houjeiri, Monitoring and Reporting Specialist for the Arab
States at the UN Women Fund for Gender Equality.
 Programme for the fight against gender-based violence through the
empowerment of women and girls in Morocco, The MDG
Achievement Fund (MDG-F) UNDP-Spain.
1 3 : 4 0 - 1 4 : 0 0 h Conclusion
Chair: H.E. Mr. Ricardo Díez-Hochleitner, Ambassador, Permanent
Representative, Delegation of Spain to the OECD, Co-Chair of the MENA-OECD
Governance Programme.
 Mr. Carlos Conde, Head of Middle East and Africa Division, OECD.
 Mr. Gonzalo Robles, Director of the Spanish Agency for International
Development Cooperation, AECID.