Capacity Development on Gender Mainstreaming

ABAAD has organised various trainings on gender mainstreaming throughout Lebanon, including:

• with the objective of sensitizing field officers and coordinators as well as programme managers to include gender perspectives in the design and implementation of their programs and activities (2016);

  Training Programme on Gender and Gender Analysis for International NGOs

• Training Programme on Gender Analysis for the Ministry of Social Affairs’s personnel, namely the head of the Social Development Centers (SDCs), MOSA Gender Unit Personnel as well as affiliated social workers. The training programme was jointly organized by the Ministry of Social Affairs and the National Commission of Lebanese Women (NCLW) (2014);
• Training on gender related concepts for Syrian and Syrian-Palestinian women in Chatila camp, in Beirut (2013);

• during a programme led by MASAR and Permanent peace Movement, targeting young activists affiliated with political parties in Lebanon (2013);

  Training sessions on Gender and Women Empowerment

• tackling all forms of gender discrimination against women in workplaces and the positive roles Media and NGOs can play to eliminate all these forms of discrimination. The training was jointly organized by Amel International Association, CESTAS, with the financial support of the European Union. The training workshop was designed to target activists and people working in sector, as well as media personnel (2012);

  Training on Mainstreaming Gender in Media in Lebanon non-governmental

• targeting women and young girls from the communities in South Lebanon. These focused on the international frameworks of women’s rights namely CEDAW, and how to apply CEDAW at the community level while working with field-based actors (2012).

  Training workshops on the Convention on the Elimination of All Form of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)trainings

Specialised Interventions in Mainstreaming Gender in Related Issues

National Consultations on UNSCR 1325 from gender lens

Since 2012, ABAAD has been closely partnering with the Women’s League for International Peace and Freedom (WILPF) in Lebanon to lead the national consultation process on women peace and security, and identify and/map women’s issues and concerns that relates to the policy of UNSCR 1325.

During that phase, two participatory and all-inclusive national consultation meetings were held in May and November 2012 respectively. These consultation meetings gathered women organizations working on women’s human rights and women peace and security.

Consultation sessions on UNSCR from gender lens

Between October and December 2014, ABAAD also organised a series of 10 consultation sessions at the local level on UNSCR 1325. The aim of these sessions were to sensitize women and men on the UNSCR and raise their awareness about this important tool in advocating for full participation of women in decision making spheres related to peace and security, and to lobby for full protection of women from gender-based violence during conflict and post-conflict situations.

More importantly, ABAAD, through these sessions aimed at assessing women and men’s perspectives on the possible challenges (and priorities) with regards to women, peace and security issues in their respective context.

Development of tools

ABAAD Gender Equality Programme has also operated through the development and production of tools aiming at raising awareness about sex and gender, gender-based violence, gender equality, and Women, Peace, and Security, including:

• A simplified version in Arabic of the UNSCR 1325;
• The study “Shifting sands: changing gender roles among refugees in Lebanon”, which is a vulnerability assessment conducted by ABAAD and Oxfam and aiming at understanding the changing gender roles among Syrian and Palestinian refugees from Syria living in Lebanon. The findings aim to contribute to an improved understanding of the gendered impact of the Syrian conflict and subsequent displacement on refugees now in Lebanon;

• “Varying Perceptions, One Outcome: Field Study Regarding Women’s Rights in Lebanon”, a study conducted by ABAAD and World Vision and focusing on five major aspects of women’s human rights. It was designed to act as a survey of how well women and men respondents are aware of the chosen rights and the issues. The objective of this study is identifying the knowledge of participating men and women of rights exercised mainly within the household scope;

• Conducting a comprehensive media mapping and issuing policy brief(s) on the triangulation of gender, war and media during conflict and post conflict situations;

• Playing for Gender Equality toolkit for certified trainers and experienced facilitators, published by ABAAD and Save the Children in 2013 and aiming at developing children’s awareness of gender-equality related issues through interactive and fun methods. The manual is composed of fun and interactive games for children aged 8 to 12 years old. The games will facilitate the learning of important concepts and terminology pertaining to Gender Equality. More importantly, during/after the games have been played, it allows the trainer the freedom to begin important discussions about the gender-related concepts that the children learned during the games;

• Gender Comic Books, a series of three comic books were produced by ABAAD in 2012 to shed light on the popular notions of gender, and how these are perceived in our societies.