Gender Equity in Cities of the MENA Region - Towards Women`s Urban Agenda

The Series is an initiative to raise the awareness of gender equity in the MENA cities. Women who contribute effectively in the urban workforce, with a high percentage of mobility, must be respected and made feel safe. In conservative societies such as the MENA, gender equality faces many challenges due to customs and traditions the authors aimed to foster women’s rights to the city and emphasize the notion of cities’ gender friendliness. The authors addressed women’s rights to the city within different subjects & related domains that go beyond the three parameters of the United Nations’ Gender Inequality Index (GII) health, empowerment, and labor market. The discussions looked deep at the causes of the limited performance of MENA cities according to the GII and posed a number of related questions. Are women’s rights respected within the design of the new cities? Are women’s rights taken into consideration while developing/ eradicating informal settlements? Is the female perspective regarded in public spaces? Do women have adequate transportation choices that enable them to actively engage in the labor market? All these issues were discussed among various stakeholders from multidisciplinary backgrounds. This provided timely input in the current quest for inclusive urban development and addressing both the SDGs and the New Urban Agenda.
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