The Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD) and UN Women have joined forces in a significant partnership. Their shared goal is to increase women’s employment by 5% by 2030 in the green, care, and science and technology sectors. This collaboration aims to bolster national targets and drive regional economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
This strategic collaboration was formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by Dr. Hiba Ahmed, Director General of ISFD, and Susanne Mikhail Eldhagen, UN Women Regional Director for the Arab States, on behalf of Sima Bahous, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, during the Islamic Development Bank Annual Meetings, outlines a comprehensive plan to bolster women’s economic opportunities, by creating jobs, supporting enterprises and reducing barriers to women entering and leading in the world of work.
The MoU will establish a collaborative framework at the country level, supporting existing programs focused on women’s economic empowerment and job creation in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, and Tunisia.
Women’s economic participation in the Arab region is amongst the lowest in the world and the gaps between men and women remain large. Regionally a 575-billion annual loss is recorded due to the low levels of women employment. Representation and retention of women are essential for the science and digital technology sectors to be more creative, innovative, and profitable, reflecting issues that matter to women.
Science, technology, and innovation continue to radically and rapidly transform how people live, socialize, pay their bills, order food, study, and work. For women and girls worldwide, these changes have brought new freedoms, new forms of access to information, new opportunities for creativity, and new risks to their safety, representation, and share of decent employment.
The Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD) has announced a new partnership with UN Women to increase women’s employment by 5% by 2030 in the green, care, and science and technology sectors. This initiative seeks to support national targets and drive regional economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
This collaboration was formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by Dr. Hiba Ahmed, Director General of ISFD, and Susanne Mikhail Eldhagen, UN Women Regional Director for the Arab States, on behalf of Sima Bahous, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, during the Islamic Development Bank Annual Meetings. The MoU outlines a comprehensive plan to enhance women’s economic opportunities by creating jobs, supporting enterprises, and reducing barriers to women entering and leading in the world of work.
The MoU will establish a collaborative framework at the country level, supporting existing programs focused on women’s economic empowerment and job creation in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, and Tunisia.
Women’s economic participation in the Arab region is among the lowest in the world, and there are significant gaps between men and women. The region records a $575 billion annual loss due to low levels of women’s employment. Better representation and retention of women in the science and digital technology sectors is crucial to driving creativity, innovation, and profitability, focusing on issues that matter to women.
Science, technology, and innovation continue transforming how people live, socialize, pay their bills, order food, study, and work. These changes have brought new freedoms, access to information, and opportunities for creativity for women and girls globally, along with new risks to their safety, representation, and access to decent employment.
