ESCWA Publication: E/ESCWA/CL2.GPID/2025/Guide.1
Country: Arab region, Kingdom of Bahrain, Republic of Djibouti, Arab Republic of Egypt, Republic of Iraq, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Sultanate of Oman, State of Palestine, Republic of Tunisia
Publication Type: Information material
Cluster: Gender Justice, Population and Inclusive Development
Focus Area: Financing for development, Gender equality, Governance & enabling environment, Inclusive development, Future of employment, Population dynamics & migration, Resilient development & conflict prevention
Initiatives: Job creation, Reducing inequalities, Women’s economic empowerment, Gender Justice and the Law, Women’s rights and gender mainstreaming, Development challenges, Governance and institution building
SDGs: Goal 5: Gender Equality, Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities, Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Keywords: Arab countries, Bahrain, Case studies, Decent work, Djibouti, Egypt, Gender equality, Gender-based violence, Governance, Government policy, Guidelines, Institution building, Iraq, Jordan, Law reform, Manuals, Oman, Policy making, Political leaders, Political participation, State of palestine, Tunisia, United arab emirates, Women's rights, Women's employment
Guide for the development and adoption of national policies to achieve the principles of gender equality ESCWA 2024
January 2025
Any process of reform and change often runs into obstacles and resistance because it requires stepping out of what society is familiar with and accustomed to, regardless of its validity or suitability. The challenge is even greater when reform and change require breaking stereotypes and constraining acquired norms, especially with regard to women and gender equality issues. Therefore, the preliminary stages of action must be planned to create an enabling and responsive environment for change through advocacy and awareness-raising. National machineries for women, being the most knowledgeable about these issues, play a pivotal role in identifying national needs, strengths and challenges related to achieving gender equality and women's empowerment by reflecting national realities through field studies and partnerships with civil society organizations and research centres. Women must participate and be represented in the early stages of recognizing the need for change, as they represent the voice and needs of every woman and are able to assess change and its impact on her.
It is also essential for governments to lead policy reform towards mainstreaming gender equality at the national level, based on their commitment to regional and international treaties and conventions. Policy reform involves legislative reforms, including reforms and amendments to the Constitution and the law to regulate relations and preserve rights for achieving gender equality. It also involves national strategies that include an integrated set of activities and interventions to achieve short, medium and long-term outputs to attain one or more national policy objectives. To be efficient and framed in line with its intended objectives, policymaking requires a governance mechanism that needs to be committed to the approach developed for policymaking in all its stages. The provision of evidence should not be driven by instantaneous needs. State institutions concerned with data and studies should rather plan periodically and in advance, and work to systematically collect sex-disaggregated data in all areas of life. Monitoring and evaluation are essential during the stages of policy change and reform as they provide evidence for decision makers to identify trends based on non-random information that captures needs. Monitoring and evaluation also help to strengthen accountability, which is essential to define roles and responsibilities in the framework of participatory action, especially at the national level.
Related content
Financing for development, Gender equality, Governance & enabling environment, Inclusive development, Future of employment, Population dynamics & migration, Resilient development & conflict prevention
Any process of reform and change often runs into obstacles and resistance because it requires stepping out of what society is familiar with and accustomed to, regardless of its validity or suitability. The challenge is even greater when reform and change require breaking stereotypes and constraining acquired norms, especially with regard to women and gender equality issues. Therefore, the preliminary stages of action must be planned to create an enabling and responsive environment for change through advocacy and awareness-raising. National machineries for women, being the most knowledgeable about these issues, play a pivotal role in identifying national needs, strengths and challenges related to achieving gender equality and women's empowerment by reflecting national realities through field studies and partnerships with civil society organizations and research centres. Women must participate and be represented in the early stages of recognizing the need for change, as they represent the voice and needs of every woman and are able to assess change and its impact on her.
It is also essential for governments to lead policy reform towards mainstreaming gender equality at the national level, based on their commitment to regional and international treaties and conventions. Policy reform involves legislative reforms, including reforms and amendments to the Constitution and the law to regulate relations and preserve rights for achieving gender equality. It also involves national strategies that include an integrated set of activities and interventions to achieve short, medium and long-term outputs to attain one or more national policy objectives. To be efficient and framed in line with its intended objectives, policymaking requires a governance mechanism that needs to be committed to the approach developed for policymaking in all its stages. The provision of evidence should not be driven by instantaneous needs. State institutions concerned with data and studies should rather plan periodically and in advance, and work to systematically collect sex-disaggregated data in all areas of life. Monitoring and evaluation are essential during the stages of policy change and reform as they provide evidence for decision makers to identify trends based on non-random information that captures needs. Monitoring and evaluation also help to strengthen accountability, which is essential to define roles and responsibilities in the framework of participatory action, especially at the national level.
