Common Strategies for Women in Transition Countries

An expert dialogue on women in transition countries brought together 14 women leaders from Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Tunisia to work together and identify issues specific to each country and determine common problems. USIP’s Steven Steiner summarizes their recommendations on how to overcome the challenges.

• Ongoing dialogues and forums on nations in transition reinforce the commonality of challenges related to women’s rights and roles in society, especially leadership in government.
• Women leaders in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Arab Spring countries face major challenges, including heightened insecurity and the risk of women’s rights being rolled back significantly.
• Steps to address these challenges are to build coalitions across internal divides, engage male religious leaders and other men to support women’s rights, reach out to youth, develop gender-based budgeting, and underscore the importance of women’s economic empowerment.
• Keys to progress in these areas include obtaining grassroots support and taking a long-term strategic focus in international programs.

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) 2013

The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, nonpartisan institution established and funded by Congress to increase the nation's capacity to manage international conflict without violence.