Women's Participation and Leadership in Lebanon, Jordan and Kurdistan Region of Iraq: Moving from Individual to Collective Change

This report sets out the findings of a 7-month qualitative study commissioned by Oxfam's Regional Gender Justice Programme and conducted in Lebanon, Jordan, and Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) by researchers from the American University of Beirut (AUB). The research explores the dynamics at individual, community, and systemic levels that lead to the limited participation of women in decision-making processes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, where women make up only 19% of Parliament. It also examines how people and institutions change their perception, attitudes, and practices towards gender justice and women's rights. The 2 specific objectives of the research project were: i) to conduct a comparative assessment of the role that customary institutions play in maintaining gender inequality in Lebanon, Jordan and KRI; and ii) to analyse the chain of changes in perceptions and attitudes on gender equality from the individual sphere to the social and political spheres, and from local to national level. The report consists of a preliminary and condensed literature review focused on the themes of gender equality, social change, and the potential role of education and media, entailing theoretical and empirically contextualised findings; this is followed by the qualitative empirical research across the 3 country sites, entailing interviews with stakeholders and focus group discussions with with men and women from a diverse range of backgrounds, as well as from women's rights organisations (WROs) and civil society organisations (CSOs).

Discussed in the report is Oxfam's LANA ("ours" in Arabic) project, which aims to promote gender equality and women's political participation by changing men's and women's attitudes with regard to gender roles and understandings of citizenship. It is based on the "We Can" approach, whereby recruited individuals act as "changemakers" in their communities. During the first phase of the LANA initiative, these changemakers raise awareness of gender roles, the idea being that personal change can lead to large-scale social transformation. The emphasis is thus on micro-level change, while acknowledging macro-level constraints such as religious discourses and practices, family and tribal constructions of gender roles, and political and legal institutions. The report highlights research findings that have implications for future LANA endeavours.

Stakeholders and focus group participants discussed their views on a range of issues including women's economic participation, the role of media and education in driving change; religious interpretation; and what gender equality means in practice. ChangeMakers in the 3 countries have reported that stereotyping and traditional gender roles that depict women as weak and unqualified for political office are fuelling women's limited participation in these countries. They also highlight the important role the media plays in spreading this stereotype. Some of the main findings are:

• The level and type of women's leadership and participation varies greatly across age, status, religious, and socio-economic background and living areas (rural/urban) of women. This shows the importance of investing in sound gender analysis of communities and in ensuring intersectional approaches to work on women's leadership and participation.
• Women's economic participation is seen as an important entry point to foster women's leadership and political participation. Interlocutors mentioned that in the current context of fragility and increased economic instability, the acceptance of women's participation in the public sphere is primarily economically and instrumentally driven rather than values driven - not because the male "accepts and is avant-garde, but because he can't afford to support a family on his own".
• Religious interpretations, rather than religion per se, are seen as an obstacle to women's leadership and participation. People interviewed, especially men, expressed the challenges they face in responding to religious interpretations when used to legitimise status quo and patriarchal structures and practices.
• Strong gendered socialisation with associated roles and responsibilities on what it means to be a woman or a man in a given context plays an important role in limiting women's leadership and participation. It demonstrates the importance of engaging with opinion makers to challenge restrictive social norms and promote norms that contribute to active and meaningful participation of women in private and public spheres.
• Disconnect between stakeholders, such as WROs and CSOs, and individuals' perceptions are the main obstacles to women's leadership and participation. While stakeholders identify structural obstacles such as absence of quota laws or lack of child care services for women to be able to balance work and unpaid care work responsibilities, individuals emphasise personal and societal obstacles.
• Positive messaging showcasing how change at the individual level and women's leadership and participation can bring about positive changes to individuals, communities, and society are seen as critical to rally a mass of supporters.
• The media and social media can play either a positive or negative role in conveying messages on gender equality and women's rights. The research proposes to engage with media and social media as key player to facilitate a chain of change from individual to the society.

Noting that education, media, and social media were frequently mentioned across all 3 countries as providing opportunities or acting as facilitators for social change, the researchers "propose that this supports a model of social change where education and media - while they can act to represent and transmit the state's aims and values - can also be conceptualized to operate as a dynamic 'meso-level' domain for social transformation. In the case of education, teachers and the pedagogic relationship play a vital part, along with the family. As such, education plays a critically important role as a link between the micro-level of personal attitudes and the macro-level of social change - facilitating the chain of changes from the personal to the societal level."

The paper offers a number of recommendations for action, organised in terms of the level of intervention (personal, societal, structural, strategic); they are largely addressed to non-governmental organisations (NGOs), both local and international. Here is an excerpt from the report:

"Personal/societal

Economic empowerment initiatives for women (including micro-loans): As economic participation has been identified as a priority, and given the context of poverty and political uncertainty, we recommend a particular focus on promoting women's access to the labour market through a range of initiatives including practical skills training (e.g. [information and communication technology, or] ICT, language) and supporting women starting small businesses....This will also require structural accommodations relating to childcare provision....[R]ationales for such initiatives are not solely predicated on poverty alleviation however, but rather are premised on gender equality in order to achieve sustained change.

Increased funding for projects working on ending violence against women: This is critically important both in terms of values of human dignity and gender equality, but also instrumentally in terms of creating a safe environment so that women feel safe in the public sphere, as well as combating violence in the private sphere...

Dialogue with partners - moderately religious clergy: The interpretation of religious discourse has been identified as an obstacle in promoting gender equality, and so it is important to work cooperatively with moderately religious stakeholders who have significant influence within local communities. This links with the role of education and awareness-raising in a chain of social change.

Including men in gender equality initiatives: It is important that promoting gender equality is understood to be in the interests of society as a whole, as opposed to men's versus women's interests, and that misconceptions (e.g. perceived threats to men's employment or standing in society by the promotion of women's rights and participation) are challenged. Such initiatives will need to go beyond paying lip service to gender equality in the abstract...

Structural

Campaigning for legal and policy changes: Changes to policies and laws can be conceptualized as necessary but not sufficient in and of themselves, rather they must be in conjunction with critically important work at the grassroots level on attitude change...

Quotas as intermediary measures to promote women's participation and leadership to be coupled with substantively prioritizing and promoting gender equality institutionally (e.g. a watchdog in Cabinet looking out for women's issues in all areas of decision making, including budgeting)...[A]t a minimum, quotas promote the visibility of women in the public sphere and 'normalize' their presence as participants and leaders of society.

Inclusive and supportive gender-sensitive policies and networks: Recommendations include building and institutionalizing women's professional support networks, given the relative lack of these, in order to provide institutionalized forums for sharing experiences and good practice as well as moral support. In addition, inclusive policies for women in political parties will enable women's political participation at the national level.

Educational reform: Given the critical potential of education in the promotion of gender equality, it is recommended that curricular reform is implemented to remove gender stereotypes and to represent women in positive role models. In addition, the systematized introduction of gender-sensitive teacher-training is recommended both to promote pedagogical practice and also to improve workplace conditions for women teachers.

Youth initiatives: ...[I]t is important to maximize the significant potential of youth in the three countries, given their large demographic presence....Recommendations entail prioritizing funding for youth training projects, e.g. developing skills in campaigning, media and civic literacy, organizing and leading projects, etc.

Strategic

More coordination between NGOs and between local and international initiatives/organizations: It was widely recognized that there is a lack of coordination for various reasons, including perceived competition for funding, which is divisive and against the strategic interests of the organizations. Coordination should be institutionalized in the form of coalitions to overcome these obstacles.

Media and digital media campaigns (e.g. against sexist advertisements), as well as gender-sensitive programming: ...Campaigns are needed against gendered stereotypes and the sexual objectification of women in the media, as well as the promotion of a gender-sensitive environment for women participating and in leadership positions in the media industry.

Coordinating with broader campaigns for marginalized groups linked to a conception of inclusive citizenship (migrant worker rights, refugee rights, LGBTQI [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, and Intersex] rights as well as women's rights): Campaigns for equal rights across different marginalized groups should coordinate to consolidate strategic efforts....Particularly marginalized groups, namely LGBTQI and migrant workers (in Lebanon and Jordan) recognize the potential of such coordination with groups campaigning for and working on women's rights issues, although it is reported that women's rights groups are not always open to working with LGBTQI groups in particular, given negative attitudes to non-normative sexuality.

Promoting democratic citizenship/ending sectarianism: The promotion of gender equality and institutionalization of laws and policies in the public sphere is predicated on a social contractual understanding of the relationship between citizens and their state. As such, many commented on how all people, not just women, are 'not really citizens' first and foremost but members of families, tribes or sects. As such, promoting a civil democratic citizenship and renegotiating a new social contract, as has been unfolding across the Arab region, is an important part of this social change."

To spark a discussion on barriers to women's participation, project organisers released a short video animation (below) presenting some of the findings of the research and looking at the factors limiting women's participation at individual, social, and institutional levels.