MENA Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) Forum Report

An image with an illustration of a group of women and text "Women Human Rights Defenders Regional Forum"

Organised by the Innovation for Change (I4C) Network – Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), the MENA Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) Forum was held on 15, 16 and 17 September 2022. 

A group of women human rights defenders from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Algeria, Yemen, Sudan, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Syria and Bahrain participated in the Forum, working on various human rights issues. 

The Forum aimed to create a safe space for women human rights defenders from countries in the region in order to share their experiences and stories, to inspire each other, celebrate their successes, and respond to the challenges they face. 

The Forum also aimed to build sustainable frameworks in order to increase the level of influence and create spaces in which women human rights defenders have ownership of their campaigns and narratives. 

The Forum comes as a continuation of a concept that began in 2018 when a group of women human rights defenders met during a meeting to launch the Innovation for Change Middle East and North Africa in the Middle East and North Africa, and developed the initial vision for the Forum project. A series of community of practice (CoP) meetings were organised for the Forum, which contributed to the development of the Forum agenda and its main themes.

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