Wars, armed conflicts and military occupation often lead to the deterioration of health, education, economic and social services, the suspension of development programs and the displacement of large numbers of civilians. Because of gender inequality, women suffer more than men from the effects of those conflicts. The problem is compounded by the lack of attention given to women's issues in the post-conflict phase, as attention is only focused on other issues that political leaders consider more urgent, such as reconstruction, benefit sharing and redistribution of power.

The publication aims to assist national women machineries in achieving gender equality and women's empowerment by leading and monitoring progress related to the performance indicators proposed in this updated version of the technical notes.

This study includes global changes that have led to the emergence of a number of new concepts, including human development and economic, social, political, cultural and civil rights. In addition, this study highlights the necessity to allow the participation of women in the society and to achieve gender equality. It focuses on the role of the civil society as a key actor in the process of change, which could be demonstrated through the role of NGOs.

The Arab region is one of the world's most arid regions. They are subject to significant changes in rainfall rates from year to year, which is clearly reflected in the scarcity of water resources. Scientific research confirmed that the whole region will be exposed to severe climate changes, either from low rainfall or from high temperatures and a clear increase in the frequency of cycles of drought. These factors adversely affect agricultural productivity for rainfed and, to some extent, irrigated crops.