1. The ALWANE Coalition for the
Advancement of Women’s Leadership
2012

2. Who is Women’s Campaign International?
Women’s Campaign International (WCI) empowers women to actively
participate in civil society, political leadership, and economic
development. Specializing in transitional states and post-conflict regions,
WCI equips women leaders with the skills and support needed to
transform their lives and communities.

3. What is ALWANE?
ALWANE stands for Active Leaders for
Women’s Advancement in the Near East
In Arabic, “ ‫ ” ألواني‬means “my colors”
The ALWANE Coalition is a sustainable and
active network of leaders and youth
committed to the advancement of
women’s leadership

4. What is the ALWANE Coalition?
The ALWANE Coalition includes men and women academics, activists, actvists, experts,
political and civil society leaders, entrepreneurs and youth
ALWANE seeks to advance women’s participation and leadership in society by:
 creating a basis for sustained collaboration between emerging and established leaders
 raising awareness
 creating a platform for dialogue
 advocating for change
 influencing national, regional, and international policies

5. Program Objectives
 16 Active Country Committees
 Inter-regional collaboration and national advocacy
campaigns focused on advancing women’s leadership
 Regional Summit in Amman, Jordan, November 11-13
 Group and person-to-person mentorship
 Online and social media platforms for coalition’s
continuous collaboration and public outreach
 Policy recommendations focused on women’s rights

6. Country Committees:
Diversity and Inclusiveness
 6-10 Mentees and 6-10 Mentors
 Men and women working as partners
 Variety of backgrounds and experiences (civil society
leaders, students, public officials, business leaders,
media personalities, social entrepreneurs, etc.)

7. Country Committees:
Roles and Responsibilities
National Advocacy Campaigns
• Selection of country-relevant
issue/area
• Design and implementation of
advocacy campaign
Palestine Committee conducts its first workshop raising
awareness on the triple-burden of working women
Policy Recommendations
• Drafting of policy
recommendations
• Dissemination of policy report
to local and national policy
makers and the international
Iraq Committee meets with Minister of Youth and Sports to
discuss commitment to addressing gender in the drafting
community
National Strategy on Youth

8. North Africa
Algeria
Egypt
Morocco
Libya
Tunisia

9. ALGERIA
Country Committee Objectives:
 Engage the public in a national dialogue focused on internal obstacles for
women’s full participation in Algerian society
 Focus on interviewing top men and women leaders in all sectors
 Network with other Algerian women’s and human rights organizations to
generate public discourse

10. LIBYA
Country Committee Objectives:
 Ensure that women are included in
the country’s 60-member Constituent
Assembly, which will be responsible
for drafting a permanent constitution
for Libya
 Work to overturn and/or prevent
laws and regulations that restrict
women from reaching positions of
leadership

11. TUNISIA
Country Committee Objectives:
 Work to quantify women’s contributions at all levels of society
through an intensive, research-based process
 Begin by identifying unfair practices and laws in society, then
survey public national and international statistics and records
which measure women’s participation and contributions

12. MOROCCO
Country Committee Objectives:
 Address women’s and girls’
access to education and
women’s representation in
textbooks
Promote increased
educational opportunities for
women and provide more
positive images and examples
of women’s leadership
potential through curriculum
materials

13. EGYPT
Country Committee Objectives:
 Created four sub-committees (women’s health, women in the media,
women’s economic empowerment, and women’s social and economic rights)
comprised of advisers, practitioners, and youth
 Sub-committees will work together to implement a comprehensive
advocacy strategy which will address the state of these four categories
during Egypt’s historic transition period

14. GCC
Bahrain
Kuwait
Oman
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
UAE
Yemen

15. BAHRAIN
Country Committee Objectives:
 Increase the percentage of women in the workforce across all sectors
 Increase awareness of women’s rights and economic potential through
structured empowerment programs that promote existing laws protecting
women’s economic rights and freedoms
Draft new legislation focused on women’s economic independence

16. KUWAIT
Country Committee Objectives:
 Focus on women’s participation and engagement in the
private sector, particularly building women’s capacity to run and
operate their own small- and medium-sized enterprises
 Organize advocacy efforts and capacity building workshops,
emphasizing their slogan: “My life…passion and ambition”

17. OMAN
Country Committee Objectives:
 Work to raise awareness and knowledge of women’s rights vertically
(across all socio-economic classes) and horizontally (across all sectors)
 Focus on raising the visibility and discussion of women’s rights in
Oman’s new and traditional media
 Provide and conduct ToT trainings for selected youth
The committee hopes that these
efforts can contribute to Oman’s
current efforts to develop a more
positive, comprehensive national
strategy on gender.

18. QATAR
Country Committee Objectives:
 Partner with Roudha Center to
increase women’s economic
participation through offering
comprehensive support services
for SMEs including the creation of
a women’s business directory
 Work with the government to
advocate for policy changes that
would support SMEs, legalize
women’s home businesses, and
partner with large corporations to
cultivate an environment that
supports women’s start-ups

19. SAUDI ARABIA
Country Committee
Objectives:
Partnered with Glowork to increase the number of women in the
workforce through the dual strategy of overcoming negative cultural
obstacles while simultaneously increasing employment opportunities for
women
 Work to raise awareness of equal rights and inform women of at-home
job opportunities and their benefits
 Create 500 jobs for Saudi women and conduct workshops for 500 Saudi
graduates

20. UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Country Committee Objectives:
Raise awareness and promote women’s
leadership at various schools, universities,
women’s associations, and through an online
platform to generate debate
 Promote women’s active participation in
politics and address the obstacles women face in
the political sector
 Organized a donation drive with the Red
Crescent to demonstrate the importance and
value of women’s leadership in their community

21. YEMEN
Country Committee Objectives:
Focus on the impact that conflict and crisis have on women in Yemen
 Design and manage intervention strategies that support women affected
by conflict in a variety of sectors
 Launched a national and regional radio ad campaign and held small
experimental workshops(s) to promote this initiative

22. Levant
Iraq
Jordan
Lebanon
Palestine

23. IRAQ
Country Committee Objectives:
 Engage men and women civil society and political leaders to support and
strengthen current women leaders and create a positive example and
environment for Iraq’s girls and young women
 Increase the effectiveness of current women in office by building coalitions of
governmental and non-governmental organizations to strengthen of women
leaders and increase the number of women in leadership positions
 Push for legislation that protects women and girls and promotes their rights

24. JORDAN
Country Committee Objectives:
 Work with private and public sector to increase women’s
representation at all levels
 Ensure that women’s ideas,
opinions, and concerns are
addressed within
organizational
and governmental
policies.

25. LEBANON
Country Committee Objectives:
 Use digital storytelling and social media to highlight and share women
entrepreneur success stories from across Lebanon
 Create a photo and video campaign to showcase in-depth biographical
interviews from Lebanon’s rural and marginalized communities, encouraging
other women to follow their own entrepreneurial pursuits.

26. PALESTINE
Country Committee Objectives:
Build advocacy strategy with four overarching
objectives:
•Raise awareness about women’s participation
in the economy through a short documentary,
survey, workshops, and media campaigns
•Increase women’s participation in the labor
market locally and globally through the newly
launched “5aleek Online” initiative
•Provide capacity-building opportunities for the ALWANE Palestine
Committee in Palestine and regionally through a ToT model
•Change and influence national policies by increasing women’s
representation in leadership positions and the public sector

27. Consultative Forum
• Using the ALWANE network,
members can convene to
address pressing regional,
national, or local issues
drawing on the diverse
expertise and backgrounds
• In the first year, Levant
committee members
worked with Iraqi
government officials and
CSO leaders on the
advancement of women’s
leadership in Iraq

28. Online Platform
ALWANE initiative’s official website:
• Each Country Committee
represented on online community
page
• Shares current news updates,
videos, photos and live discussion
forums on website and ALWANE
Facebook and Twitter pages
• A space for collaboration with
likeminded and proactive
individuals across the region
Check it out at:
Alwane-mena.d1g.com

29. Mentorship Program
 6-10 one on one mentorship
pairs per committee
 Expand personal and
professional network
 Mentorship pairs work
together to ensure ongoing
support and guidance in
advocacy efforts
 Sustain and grow past the
completion of committee work

30. Regional Collaboration
Intra-regional meetings provide an excellent opportunity for committees to share
their vision for women’s leadership and gender equality, address challenges, and
come together as a united front.
 Sub-regional meetings bring together committees from the Levant, North
Africa and GCC
– Focus on teambuilding, strategic planning and capacity building
– Network and collaborate with other coalition members.
 Regional Summit- November 11-12, 2012 in Amman, Jordan
– Present committee work
– Participate in social/new media and leadership trainings
– Draft and sign Constitutions for the Advancement of Women’s Leadership
in the region
WCI Iraq Country
Officer Essam’s YDI
program with women
and youth in Iraq

31. Thank You!
“Get informed, get involved
and share your voice!”