The year 2025 marked the 25th anniversary of the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000), the cornerstone of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda. Yet, a quarter of a century later, the implementation of this agenda remains highly inadequate, in all its aspects (participation, protection, prevention, relief and recovery). Militarisation, military occupation, intervention by external actors and authoritarian governance have characterised the conflicts in Syria, Libya, Iraq and Lebanon. Here, women have been active as peace builders, human rights defenders and first responders, yet their participation continues to be undervalued, their protection insufficient and their rights systematically denied.
Civil society organisations in the SWANA region (South West Asia and North Africa) are central to promoting peacebuilding, protection and resilience, but operate under increasingly difficult conditions. The objective of the project is to promote the active participation of women and young people from civil society in Italy, the Middle East and North Africa, through protection, prevention and political empowerment actions, in line with resolution 1325 and in support of the implementation of the fifth Italian National Plan on Women, Peace and Security (2025-2029).
During the implementation of the project, four workshops will take place between the partner organisations in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Libya. The workshops will focus on the recognition of women's rights, particularly those belonging to minorities from a legal point of view. Starting from the analysis work carried out at the national level, the project will move on to the elaboration of a regional manifesto, highlighting cross-cutting issues in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Libya. The manifesto will be a summary document of the challenges women face in the region and will present a series of recommendations on actions to be taken in defence of women's rights and in line with the contents of the Women, Peace and Security agenda.
Two legal support and protection services will also be activated in Libya and Iraq for women activists, and for those in Iraq who faced the consequences of the reform on their personal status.
