Women and the Law – A Regional Dialogue

Amman, Jordan
February 16-18 2004

The United States, through the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), is delighted to have sponsored the Women and the Law Workshop in Amman, Jordan, in partnership with Jordan’s Ministry of Justice. This event brought together nearly 100 women in the legal profession and other prominent individuals from 16 countries in the Middle East and North Africa to discuss challenges facing women in the judicial and legal profession, as well as aspects of law that directly impact women in the Arab world. The three day conversation was stimulating and lively, and provided strong evidence of the pertinence of this issue in the region today. The workshop has raised understanding of the challenges, and identified constructive ways to address them. We would like to thank Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah for her patronage of the conference, the Government of Jordan for its support for this event, and all the participants for their contributions, which did so much to make this workshop a success.

The inspiration for the Women and the Law Workshop came from the groundbreaking Arab Judicial Forum held in Bahrain in September 2003, which was co-hosted by the Government of Bahrain and MEPI. We noted at the conclusion of that Forum that MEPI was committed to working in partnership with the region, and that an integral part of the Initiative was to support indigenous legal reform efforts.

MEPI believes it is important to build further on the momentum of these two events. Our aim is to support the ongoing efforts of people in the region to establish modern judicial and legal systems, which are able to respond efficiently and effectively to the demands placed upon them, and in conformity with international standards. As a result of the suggestions made by participants at this workshop, MEPI is pleased to announce several follow on programs, focusing specifically on the challenges facing women legal professionals, and aspects of the law affecting women.

First, the participants noted that few mechanisms exist at either the country or regional level to facilitate networking and information-sharing between women in the legal profession. Such professional women’s networks can help both as a forum for sharing ideas and experience, and for encouraging more women to enter the profession. MEPI proposes to help the participants establish such a network, including through the creation of an alumni website for participants of this program, with links to regional and international events of relevance to women and the law, establishing connections to other organizations active in this field, such as the International Association of Women Judges, and publication of a regular newsletter or magazine highlighting important regional developments affecting women and the law. This could be broadened over time to become a regional association of women in the legal profession. This association could share information on best practices, provide training on substance and skills, and organize further conferences on women’s legal issues.

Secondly, it was also noted during the Workshop that there was a lack of public awareness of how women are negatively affected by certain aspects of the law, and of the negative impact this can have on society as a whole. Moreover, women in particular are not sufficiently informed of their legal rights. MEPI will work in partnership with participants from the forum, professional associations, NGOs and other expert bodies in the region to help them develop a regional public legal education program to ensure that Arab citizens, both men and women, are aware of their rights within the legal and judicial systems, and have a better understanding of issues concerning human rights and equality.

Finally, MEPI will continue to make Women and the Law a priority area for the development of other programs within the women’s pillar.

The Middle East Partnership Initiative

The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) is a Presidential initiative founded to support economic, political, and educational reform efforts by people in the Middle East and promote opportunities for all people of the region, especially women and youth. The Initiative strives to link together Arab, U.S., and global private sector businesses, non-governmental organizations, civil society elements, and governments to develop innovative policies and programs in support of regional reform efforts.

MEPI is structured in four areas. In the economic pillar, MEPI policy and programs support region-wide economic and employment growth driven by private sector expansion and entrepreneurship. In the political pillar, MEPI works to support an expanded public space where democratic voices can be heard in the political process, the people have a choice in governance, and there is respect for the rule of law. In the education pillar, MEPI supports education systems that enable all people, including young women and girls, to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in today's economy and improve the quality of their lives. Finally, in the women's pillar, MEPI works toward economic, political, and educational systems where women enjoy full and equal opportunities.

Among the hallmark activities being conducted under the auspices of MEPI are the establishment of the Middle East Finance Corporation (economic pillar); a Regional Judicial Forum and Regional Campaign Schools (political pillar); "Partnership Schools" that offer creative, innovative alternatives for quality and relevant education for children and serve as models for governments as they build schools in the future (education pillar); and business internships for women (women's pillar).

For more information on MEPI please see our website at www.mepi.state.gov.

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