Source: AllAfrica
Female leaders from seven countries given skills to conceptualise and plan work on political participation and rights.

IWPR has joined forces with Hivos, Oxfam Novib and Price Waterhouse Coopers to partner with 20 organisations that promote women's rights and political participation.

Women on the Frontline is an innovative programme funded by the Netherlands government to strengthen women's institutions in the Middle East and North Africa.

Most of the participating organisations, based in seven countries across the region, were founded after the Arab Spring uprisings. They are now pushing for equality, civil rights and inclusion in the political process at a critical time when the aspirational aims set out in 2011 are in jeopardy in some countries and have been reversed in others.

Since October, IWPR has held a series of strategic planning sessions with groups from Iraq, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Syria, and Libya. More than 100 female leaders attended each of the three-day events. IWPR's network of trainers and mentors will support these organisations to further define their missions and long-term planning, and will provide each of them with training designed to meet their specific needs.