Regional advocacy platform to strengthen women judges in SEMED region

AMMAN — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Development Law Organisation (IDLO) are promoting gender equality in the southern and eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) by developing a regional advocacy platform to help reduce gender barriers to women in the judiciary and related strategic areas.

In cooperation with the International Association of Women Judges, the Union of Moroccan Women Judges, under the patronage of the Supreme Judicial Council of Morocco, the EBRD and IDLO organised a regional forum last week, the EBRD said in an e-mailed statement to The Jordan Times.

The forum gathered around 50 women judges, academics and representatives of women lawyers’ associations from Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Poland, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, the US, and West Bank and Gaza to discuss women’s experiences, knowledge and opportunities in the justice sector, and formulate the vision, objectives and action items of the first regional women judges’ network.

“The EBRD is committed to promoting gender equality and equality of opportunities in its countries of operations. This initiative contributes to the achievement of goals set out in the EBRD Strategy for the Promotion of Gender Equality. We are working hard with various stakeholders in the region to promote this important agenda,” Marie-Anne Birken, General Counsel at the EBRD, was quoted in the statement as saying.

Irene Khan, director-general at IDLO, said in the statement: “Creating and supporting a fair, equitable and accountable justice system where women and girls are treated equally, where their concerns and situations matter and where they can not only seek justice but actually get justice, is a true manifestation of the rule of law. Women are not only justice seekers, women are also justice providers. Women’s full participation in the justice system is an important benchmark for determining the true work of a justice system.”

Kim O’Sullivan, Senior Counsel at the EBRD’s Office of the General Counsel, is leading this initiative under the EBRD Legal Transition Programme.

“Women judges’ networks play an important role in reducing gender barriers and advancing gender reforms. We hope that the forum will lay the foundations for the establishment of a broader regional women judges’ network in the SEMED region and that the forum will meet annually,” the statement  quoted O’Sullivan as saying.