HIVOS MENA 1325 Although women in the MENA region are currently suffering from a backlash in the area of womens rights, the current uprisings and transitions taking place in that region provide an invaluable window of opportunity for gender equality. To utilize this opportunityit is extremely important that women effectively participate in decision-making and peace and transition processes. Three Dutch applicants will do so by strengthening the capacities of CSOs at national level (Iraq, OPT, Syria and Yemen) and regional level; challenging attitudes, idea and beliefs on womens participation and linking national results and learning to regional and global level and vice versa. By combining their specific strengths in different areas they will contribute to strengthening womens voices, and social acceptance thereof, for sustainable conflict transformation through application of UN1325 as a positive and dynamic tool for participatory peace building.

The programme aims to contribute to the creation of an enabling environment for womens leadership and political participation, in order to promote more inclusive, just and sustainable peace, recovery and reconstruction processes, by strengthening womens voices in the political arena, in particular in the area of peaceand security, and social acceptance of their (womens) roles, for sustainable conflict transformation in the MENA region.

The specific program objective is strengthening understanding and capacities of stakeholders on UN1325 at global, regional level and at national level in Yemen, OPT, Iraq and Syria and piloting innovative techniques altering attitudes and believes to create acceptance of gender equality and womens rights.
Expected results include:
1. A contribution to increased accountability andmonitoring of the integration of peace, justice and disarmament from a gender perspective into the work and output of the relevant processes of the Human Rights, WPS and disarmament systems, in relation to the MENA region (By monitoring of all Human Rights Council and Security Council sessions; By submission of statements and organisation of side-events; By support to the NGO reporting to the UPR and the Treaty Body system  through information, webinars and guidelines developed for NGO reporting including the new general recommendation on WPS to CEDAW;
2. Linkages between women, peace and security perspectives and UN1325, and lobby and advocacy on peace <(>&<)> human security towards the League of Arab States;
3 . At least 25 civil society representatives have enhanced understanding of state accountability, gendered peace and security, with the inclusion of a masculinities perspective;   (By building the capacity of concerned organisations, individuals and experts on gender-sensitive active nonviolence (withinclusion of a masculinities perspective) and the WPS agenda; By linking and learning from each others (national) contexts and experiences, and bringing them together at the regional level).
4. At least 10 women - and peace organisations have advancedcapacity, outreach and influence of womens and peace organisations to address WPS issues at the national and local levels (By improving the ability of civil society organisations to link women at grassroots level to women in positions of representation,either at national level or at the most relevant local/regional level depending on country context; By placing womens participation as central to peace-building and conflict transformation; By coalition building and networking between organisations workingtowards a gender just peace from either a conflict transformation or womens rights angle).
5. The understanding and support of both women and men targeted by the program have increased for womens participation in peace and security processes with 10%;(By supporting potential change makers to effectively undertake advocacy roles; By positioning women as strategists in the decision-making process, to go beyond a symbolic presence in peace processes and to ensure that womens concerns are taken fromgrassroots to national level; By altering patriarchal and conservative interpretations of gender roles through testing innovative approaches and techniques; By rolling out a number of successful pilots that have already taken place in the MENA region)