WUNRN
Call for Empirical Case Studies - The Ford Foundation’s
office is partnering with CAWTAR (
and Research) on a large scale regional study and
analysis exploring
Social Practices and Gender Equity. Our hope is to
retrieve practical
and theoretical information from practitioners in the
field and from
a wide range of disciplines on best practices and lessons
learned
during the last twenty years.
MARCH 15, 2006 The deadline for submission of an
initial expression of interest..
Contact: Ms. Adila Abusharaf
Center for Arab Training & Research
adila.abusharaf@cawtar.org
Middle East & North Africa
The Ford Foundation
Tel: (202) 795
2121
Fax: (202) 795 4018
Call for Empirical Case Studies:
The Dynamics of
Discriminatory Social Beliefs and Practices and
Gender Equity in the Arabic-Speaking MENA Region: Lessons
Learned in
the Last 20 Years
Ref: competition/gender equity/1/2006
A. The General Background
Gender equity is generally defined as “the process of
being fair to
women and men. To ensure fairness, measures must often be
available
to compensate for historical and social disadvantages
that prevent
women and men from otherwise operating on a level playing
field”.[1]
There is a general consensus that gender discrimination
is a real
threat for sustainable development. In spite of the
on-the ground
efforts to influence social transformation, development
actors
(donors, international and regional organizations, NGOs,
practitioners and the media) are particularly concerned
about
persistence of discriminatory social beliefs and
practices in the
Arabic-speaking MENA region. This is because these practices are
responsible for the unbalanced power relations and their
reproduction
by institutional and legislative settings. Consequently,
the
resulting gender biases can compromise the citizens’
equitable access
to resources and opportunities which is key to social
development and
economic growth.
Accordingly, development actors are more interested than
ever before
to identify the extent to which existing programs,
projects, or
initiatives have been successful in addressing the
negative social
practices, and how to capitalize on successful
experiences to make
their efforts towards
the promotion of gender equity in the region
positive and sustainable.
CAWTAR (Centre of Arab Women for Training and Research)
has
developed the regional project, the Dynamics of Social and Practices
and Gender Equity in the MENA Region: Lessons Learnt in
the Last 20
Years, which is mainly
funded by the Ford Foundation. As a
contribution, this project aims to promote use of
successful
experiences and good practices to address the persistence
of
discriminatory social practices and their detrimental
impact on
gender equity in a systematic manner.
The expected outcome of this project is to extract good practices
from existing programs, projects and initiatives and
integrate them
in a two-pronged multidisciplinary action-oriented
strategy. At the
regional level, the good practices will be brought to the
attention
of all development actors to better learn about and
benefit from in
developing their interventions in this field. At the
sub-regional and
national level, these practices will be adapted in a
workbook for
specialized organizations and practitioners to acquire
tools to
manage and use these practices to optimize the impact of
their
programs, projects or
initiatives in this domain.
B. The Objective of
the Call for Case Studies
The general objective of this call is to compile case
studies based
on actual experiences of existing programs, projects or
initiatives
in tackling discriminatory social beliefs and practices
intersecting
gender equity in the Arabic Speaking MENA region. The
studies can be
in the form of assessments of the experiences of, among
others, NGOs,
field workers, practitioners, human rights educators,
specialized
governmental and non governmental research centers or the
media.
Towards this end, CAWTAR calls for empirical sub-regional
or national
case studies from all parts of the Arabic Speaking MENA
region. Among
the submissions, the Center will be selecting four
sub-regional and
fifteen national case studies.
The considered sub-regions of Arab Speaking MENA covered
by this call
are: the Gulf
Countries, Mashreq (
and
C. Focus
and Sub- Themes
1. The
primary focus of this call is social beliefs and
practices and gender equity in the Arabic Speaking MENA.
Hence, all
submitted sub-regional or national case studies of
programs, projects
or initiatives in response to this Call will be reviewed and
selected upon this basis.
2.
Submissions that focus on programs, projects or
initiatives which utilize innovative approaches and
mechanisms such
as: sports, team work, ICTs, the theatre, public service
announcements, networking, are highly encouraged.
3. The
choice of the sub-theme of sub-regional or
national empirical
case study of programs, projects or
initiatives
is open. However, interested candidates are encouraged to
undertake
this exercise by focusing on a program, an initiative, or
a project
working on one of
the following sub-themes:
-
Reproductive health
- The media
- The arts
and/or literature
-
Gender-related knowledge in higher education
- Masculinity
and community empowerment
-
Economics/employment related social transformation
- Social
institutions and representation
- Civic
education and gender-based violence
-
Peace-building and reinvention of gender roles
- Socio-legal
activism
D. Submission Terms
Each of
sub-regional or national empirical case study should
include the followings:
1. A background
on legislative and institutional policy framework
of gender equity in the sub-region or the national level
at which
selected program, initiative or project is implemented.
2. The prevalent negative social practices upon which the selected
program, initiative or project is focusing. The roots/or
origins of
these practices (religious or customary based) and the
extent to
which these practices hinder gender equity.
3. A statistical overview to assess the scale of negative
practices
that intersect gender equity in the area focused upon by
the selected
program, initiative or project under study.
4. A profile of
existing sub-regional or national programs,
initiatives or
projects focusing on the same practices
handled by
the selected program, project or initiative under study (state or
privately run, their funding sources, duration,
objectives, goals and
indicators of their
tangible impact ...etc).
5. It is imperative that the empirical case studies
provide the
following information about the selected program, project
or
initiative under study:
a. Its
conceptual approach, methodology, strategy and added value
compared to other existing programs, initiatives or
projects.
b. The measures
it has undertaken in overcoming challenges and
difficulties during the implementation process.
c. Concrete
examples of its resulting changes among its targeted
beneficiaries, such as, in the level of their
participation in
process of implementation; and the beneficiaries’ use of
the tools or
mechanisms after the completion of the selected program,
initiative
or project under study.
d. The best
Practices of the selected program, project or initiative.
e. The
benchmarks it has used to assess change and evaluate its
tangible impact.
f. Qualitative
and quantitative indictors of its resulting
change, and how possible they can be formatted to be used
as
practical tools in implementation of similar programs,
initiatives or
projects.
E. Eligibility and Contribution Terms:
- CAWTAR invites submissions from: field researchers,
educators of human
rights and gender issues, public health
professionals, research centers (governmental or
non-governmental),
NGOs, regional organizations, advocacy groups, artists,
media,
women’s associations,
practitioners or any of those
affiliated to
related fields.
-
Interested candidates should complete the attached
subscription form and submit no later no later than 15th of March,
2006 and to send with copy of curriculum vitae (CV).
-
Subscription forms will be screened and
selected
candidates will be asked to submit the first draft of the
empirical
case study (no longer than 30 pages) by the 30th of April
2006 and
the final draft is
expected by 30th of June 2006.
-
Please indicate in all submitted documents the
competition reference number provided above.
F. Results
- The Selection of four sub-regional and 15 national
empirical cases
studies will be undertaken by a Jury Panel and CAWTAR.
- The
selected empirical case studies will be presented in a
Regional Workshop which will take place in 2007 in
- The final drafts of case studies will be
published on this
project’s special website which will be hosted at
CAWTAR’s.
- Each of
selected cases-studies will be awarded US$ 4000.
- Social
change practical tools extracted from empirical case
studies will be adapted in a workbook to support programs
or projects
of other specialized groups in the sphere of gender
equity and social
practices and beliefs.
- Final
drafts of these cases studies will be made available to
candidates upon request.
Please send or address queries to Adila Abusharaf,
Project Coordinator
The
P.O
Cite El Khadra 1003
7 Impasse n 1 Rue 8840 (vers le Rue Mohamed Ali
Ageed)-North Urban
City
Tel (216) 71 773 511
Fax (216) 71 773 611
Email: adila.abusharaf@cawtar.org, or cawtar@planet.tn
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