Resource center

Organisation website:
The National Organization for Women (NOW) is the largest organization of feminist activists in the United States. NOW has 500,000 contributing members and 550 chapters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Since its founding in 1966, NOW's goal has been to take action to bring about equality for all women. NOW works to eliminate discrimination and harassment in the workplace, schools, the justice system, and all other sectors of society; secure abortion, birth control and reproductive rights for all women; end all forms of violence against women; eradicate racism, sexism and homophobia; and promote equality and justice in our society.

Project webpage:
Project summary of the IDRC project by Nadine Haddad El-Hajj : In brief "One greywater (GW) treatment-and-use project in Lebanon has changed the beneficiaries' lives in many ways, providing recycled water for gardening and improving the beneficiaries' socioeconomic status. In Tannoura, West Bekaa, Lebanon – a remote rural town of the Bekaa Valley – where phase II of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) funded Greywater Treatment and Use Project is being implemented (2006–2008), female beneficiaries have been more affected than their male counterparts by this project."

Organisation website:
In brief : "Our mission is to provide a virtual room where women from different cultures come together for dialogue and understanding; where impoverishment gives way to empowerment; and where every woman is awakened to the other. This awakening benefits children, men, the earth and all beings.

We believe that when any woman shows up “as she is right now” -- with her authentic voice, personal story, and wisdom -- and when she is truly heard, a shift occurs both for the storyteller and for the listener. Within this shift lies the potential for relationships and the momentum of moving from inspiration to action."

Organisation website:
The Muslim Women's League is a non-profit Muslim American organization working to implement the values of Islam and thereby reclaim the status of women as free, equal and vital contributors to society

Organisation website:
The mission of the International Museum of Women (I.M.O.W.) is to value the lives of women around the world.
I.M.O.W. is a groundbreaking social change museum that inspires global action, connects people across borders and transforms hearts and minds by amplifying the voices of women worldwide through global online exhibitions, history, the arts and cultural programs that educate, create dialogue and build community. With its unique focus on cultural change, I.M.O.W. advances the human right to gender equity worldwide.

Project webpage:
The Permanent Arab Court To Resist Violence Against Women is a symbolic popular court that aims at fighting all forms of violence practiced against women in Arab societies.
The Court was established by a group of Arab NGOs and distinguished personalities gathered in Rabat , Morocco on 30th November and 1st December 1996. The main purpose of the Court is to put an end to the intensifying and multifaceted violence against women. This need has become obviously clear by a public hearing on violence against women that was held in Beirut in June 1995, and was the first of its kind in the Arab world.

Organisation website:
Founded in 2009, Bridging the Divide is an innovative non-profit featuring a model that directly connects the American public to local grassroots organizations and activists working overseas on behalf of peace, rights issues, and the promotion of good governance. Bridging the Divide seeks to make meaningful and sustainable advances in global security and justice through:

Direct Engagement: Bridging the Divide seeks to help transform how Americans engage with those less fortunate overseas by connecting them directly with local communities and activist leaders in conflict-affected areas in the Middle East. Through social media and networking technologies, Bridging the Divide facilitates knowledge-sharing about advocacy efforts, and the exchange of financial resources between Americans and on-the-ground organizations overseas.

Smarter Funding: Providing long-term and steady funding to local peace and justice organizations in conflict zones allows them to take the lead in solving their own problems. This results in heightened local ownership and longer-term sustainability.

Accountability: Bridging the Divide promotes good organizational practices through evaluation and certification of organizations overseas. Through technical assistance and regular evaluations of governance, management, and operations, partner organizations improve their accountability and credibility.
Founded in 2009, Bridging the Divide is an innovative non-profit featuring a model that directly connects the American public to local grassroots organizations and activists working overseas on behalf of peace, rights issues, and the promotion of good governance. Bridging the Divide seeks to make meaningful and sustainable advances in global security and justice through:

Direct Engagement: Bridging the Divide seeks to help transform how Americans engage with those less fortunate overseas by connecting them directly with local communities and activist leaders in conflict-affected areas in the Middle East. Through social media and networking technologies, Bridging the Divide facilitates knowledge-sharing about advocacy efforts, and the exchange of financial resources between Americans and on-the-ground organizations overseas.

Smarter Funding: Providing long-term and steady funding to local peace and justice organizations in conflict zones allows them to take the lead in solving their own problems. This results in heightened local ownership and longer-term sustainability.

Accountability: Bridging the Divide promotes good organizational practices through evaluation and certification of organizations overseas. Through technical assistance and regular evaluations of governance, management, and operations, partner organizations improve their accountability and credibility.

Organisation website:
In brief: "The Economic Commission for Western Asia (ECWA) was established on 9 August 1973 pursuant to the Economic and Social Council's resolution 1818 (LV). The purpose of setting up the Commission was to raise the level of economic activity in member countries and strengthen cooperation among them. It was also intended to meet the need of the countries in Western Asia for the services of a regional economic commission to promote the development efforts in the region.
In recognition of the social component of its work, the Commission was entrusted with new responsibilities in the social field by virtue of Economic and Social Council resolution 69/ 1985 of July 1985. Its name therefore became the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).
ESCWA has been located in a number of Arab capitals. It started in Beirut (1974- 1982), moved to Baghdad (1982- 1991), then to Amman (1991- 1997), and returned to Beirut in 1997, its permanent headquarter."

Organisation Website : portail en langue francaise. En bref "L'AEP est une association à but non lucratif, oeuvrant pour le développement socio-économique dans le domaine de la micro finance.
En pleine guerre, dans la tourmente et la débâcle, alors que beaucoup de Libanais baissaient les bras, ces hommes et ces femmes ont été parmi ceux qui ont cru, espéré, osé.
Au lieu de recourir à la mendicité, occasionnelle ou régulière, voire aux armes, ils ont préféré prendre leurs responsabilités par leur travail."

Project webpage:
In 1996, Lebanon ratified, with reservations, an international covenant regarding women's rights known as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. This Convention sets out, in a comprehensive, legally binding form, internationally accepted principles on the rights of women. It further commits States Parties to take all appropriate measures, to ensure the full development and advancement of women and to guarantee them the enjoyment of the fundamental rights and freedoms to which they are entitled, on a basis of equality with men. Moreover, the Convention requires that Governments work to eliminate discrimination against women in public life as well as in private life. Indeed, according to the Convention, women must be as free as men to make choices not only in political and legal sphere, but also in such areas as marriage, the home and family life in general.

To implement women's rights, as stated in the Convention, the establishment of official and non-governmental monitoring mechanisms (national and international) helps ensure that goals are being reached and that legal rights and duties of women are recognized, understood and enforced.

The Lebanese government submitted, in 1999, its initial report regarding the progress made on the implementation of the Convention in its country, to the international monitoring treaty body known as the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against women (CEDAW Committee). Non-governmental organizations are also encouraged to submit a parallel report in conformity with the guidelines set by the CEDAW Committee.

In this respect, the Lebanese NGO Forum, an umbrella organization of various NGOs distributed geographically throughout the Lebanese territory has set a permanent monitoring mechanism entitled Women's Rights Monitor.

This project aims at helping NGOs monitor women's rights and implement the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in Lebanon by establishing a platform for co-ordination that will, at the national and regional levels:

- Provide information about the Convention and the CEDAW Committee

- Provide guidelines in view of helping NGOs to write their report to the CEDAW Committee

- Establish a set of baseline data regarding women's rights in Lebanon in accordance with the guidelines of the CEDAW

- Elaborate a permanent report regarding women's situation in Lebanon, based on the compiled data

- Establish a bibliography on the subject of women's rights and facilitate the exchange of information and documentation

- Provide a mailing list of participating NGOs