Regional Office of Arab States

The UN Women Regional Office for Arab States (ROAS) located in Cairo, supports programmes broadening the scope of women’s citizenship, leadership and political participation, especially in transition countries. This is essential to ensuring that transitions are both fully inclusive and democratic, and respond to the needs and priorities of women and girls. Additionally and as part of broader momentum for reform across the Arab states, and towards institutionalizing gender in governance, ROAS assists efforts to make national plans and budgets fully supportive of gender equality commitments. Economic empowerment is another critical concern, therefore, ROAS engages with regional partners and civil society to advance policies and programmes that bolster women’s opportunities in this arena. Ending violence against women is another critical component of UN Women ROAS by supporting the adoption of national policy frameworks, reforming laws discriminating against women, establishing comprehensive prevention and protection services, and raising awareness of strategies to combat violence.