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PRESS RELEASE

New Specialized Website on Women and Politics in Maghreb - Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia

[Santo Domingo, 22 December 2009] New technologies are key to women’s empowerment today. Therefore, UN-INSTRAW and CAWTAR are proud to present a new, innovative project website to promote access to information, the exchange of experiences, ideas and good practices and give visibility to the issue of women’s political participation in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

The project "Strengthening women's leadership and participation in politics and decision-making in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia” is currently being implemented by the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW) and the Center of Arab Women for Training and Research (CAWTAR) and is financed by the government of Spain.

The project’s new website www.womenpoliticalparticipation.org has been created with a participatory vision and is available in Arabic, English and French. The use of new information and communication technologies such as videos, podcasts, key statistics, SMS, and interactive spaces such as quizzes, polls, social networking sites such as Facebook and discussion forums, will promote sharing of information and active participation in updating and expanding website content and in compiling good practices.

Two new publications from the project have been made available on the website. The “Mapping of the situation of women’s participation in politics in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia,” written by Ms. Boutheina Gribaa, analyses the current situation, challenges, obstacles and opportunities for women’s participation in politics and decision-making processes. By presenting good practices and the key actors involved in these processes, the mapping identifies the priority issues raised in the three countries. Access the study here:

http://www.womenpoliticalparticipation.org/upload/publication/publication2.pdf

The “Media coverage of the political participation of women in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia,” coordinated by Ms. Hamida El Bour, contributes to a better understanding of women’s representation in the media in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. This research was conducted through a participatory approach which included graduate students in the area of communications and the National Press Institutes of the three countries. The “Media Exercise” is available in French on the project website:

http://www.womenpoliticalparticipation.org/upload/publication/publication3.pdf

Please visit the website: www.womenpoliticalparticipation.org

Contact person in Tunisia: Giorgia Depaoli, Project Coordinator, gdepaoli@un-instraw.org
Press contact: Tove Silveira, Communications Associate, tsilveira@un-instraw.org

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