Middle-East Gulf Regional Learning Institute for Women's Leadership

November 18-21, 2005

The Women's Learning Partnership for Rights, Development, and Peace (WLP) and the Collective for Research and Training on Development-Action (CRTD.A) convened the Middle East-Gulf Regional Learning Institute for Women's Leadership and Training of Trainers from November 18-21, 2005 in Beirut, Lebanon. Twenty-seven women's rights activists and leaders of women's groups from Bahrain, Iraq, Yemen, Egypt, Syria, Morocco and Lebanon took part in the Institute. Participants from Palestine were not able join the Institute because of security restrictions in their region. Participants were selected based on the extent and diversity of their outreach within their respective countries, their ability to mobilize other individuals or organizations around women's struggles for gender equality, and their familiarity with training activities. The training and facilitation team included leadership trainers from Morocco, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt.

The primary goal of the Regional Institute was to enable participants to develop skills in participatory leadership, facilitation, communications, and advocacy, building their capacity as leaders. This intensive skills development was designed to support participants in their work to empower grassroots women in the Middle East-Gulf region to actively participate in decision-making processes within their families, communities, and societies. In addition, the Institute created an opportunity for women leaders to engage in dialogue and reflect on shared challenges, developing stronger national and regional linkages.

At the individual organizational level, participants developed new skills in facilitation, communications and advocacy, and committed to planning and implementing participatory training sessions. At the network level, participants with extensive training experience decided to meet for an in-depth methodology workshop later in the summer of 2006 to discuss ideas for effective dissemination of the WLP-CRTD.A participatory leadership methodology.  CRTD.A also agreed to host further training for women from Iraq.

Many of the participants are involved in a regional campaign, coordinated by CRTD.A and others, to secure equal citizenship rights for women in the Middle East and North Africa, particularly the right to transfer their nationality to their foreign spouse and children. The Institute provided an opportunity for extensive face-to-face discussion on the campaign, using it as a case study for multiple activities, and strengthened collective planning.