ESCWA is implementing a project on “Institutional and capacity building for Parliaments in selected Arab countries and other stakeholders to implement Security Council Resolution (SCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security”. The project’s goal is to build the capacity of Arab parliaments in seven target countries (Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, Tunisia and Libya) to address gaps in implementation of SCR 1325 in their respective countries. The project also includes the production of a regional study that examines the gaps in legislation for the implementation of SCR 1325. Results of the study will feed into four training manuals for Parliamentarians.

The ESCWA Centre for Women (ECW), in collaboration with the Economic Commission for Africa and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, held an initial Expert Group Meeting for the project in Beirut, on 17-18 December 2013. This meeting gathered input from Member States and experts on the status of the implementation of SCR 1325 and resulted in designing recommendations for the outline and content of the regional study.

A subsequent Expert Group Meeting will be held on the 25 and 26 of June 2014 in order to review the findings of the Regional study and discuss the outline of the training manuals. The completed regional study will be presented for feedback from government representatives and experts from the seven target countries.  Meeting participants will also suggest an outline for the training manuals for Parliamentarians.