For more than 15 years, the MENA-OECD Competitiveness Programme has championed women’s economic empowerment in the MENA region. Empowering women economically is not just a moral imperative but a strategic driver for sustainable, inclusive growth, and a catalyst for peace, stability, and social cohesion. 

The Programme supports MENA countries at both the regional and national levels, seeking to address the needs and development priorities of the MENA region while taking into account its diversity, supporting countries in: 

• Ensuring better conditions for women’s access to employment, particularly in the formal private sector, including entrepreneurship, as a powerful vehicle for promoting inclusive growth and stability in the region.
• Promoting adherence to OECD standards on gender equality, including the 2013 OECD Recommendation on Gender Equality in Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship;
• Changing laws and mindsets that concern gender equality to ensure that legal reforms are implemented, enforced and have a positive impact on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment;
• Collecting better gender data to better inform policy-making;
• Enhancing gender mainstreaming in critical policy areas.

The MENA-OECD Competitiveness Programme supports MENA countries at both the regional and national levels, seeking to address the needs and development priorities of the MENA region while taking into account its diversity, supporting countries in: 

• Ensuring better conditions for women’s access to employment, particularly in the formal private sector, including entrepreneurship, as a powerful vehicle for promoting inclusive growth and stability in the region.
• Promoting adherence to OECD standards on gender equality, including the 2013 OECD Recommendation on Gender Equality in Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship;
• Changing laws and mindsets that concern gender equality to ensure that legal reforms are implemented, enforced and have a positive impact on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment;
• Collecting better gender data to better inform policy-making;
• Enhancing gender mainstreaming in critical policy areas.

EU-OECD Regional Action for Women's Economic Empowerment in the Southern Mediterranean: Enhancing Women Entrepreneurs' Financial Inclusion and Access to Finance in the Digital Age

This EU-funded regional project aims to boost women’s economic empowerment by improving financial inclusion and access to finance in eight MENA economies (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestinan Authority, Tunisia), by promoting an enabling policy and regulatory framework for women’s financial inclusion and access to finance, notably for women entrepreneurs.

To achieve this outcome, the project aims at enhancing awareness and engagement of policy makers and financial institutions towards women entrepreneurs’ financial inclusion, and at promoting policy recommendations and guidance for implementation. The Regional multi-level stakeholder policy dialogues between policymakers, financial institutions, and women entrepreneurs’ networks, as well as capacity-building workshops, peer-learning and sharing of good practices will be key to achieving the projects’ objective. 

The MENA-OECD Women’s Economic Empowerment Forum (WEEF) is a specialized working group of the MENA-OECD Competitiveness Programme, serving as a platform for multi-stakeholder dialogue for over 15 years. It facilitates regional cooperation to enhance women's access to economic opportunities by fostering partnerships between government and non-government representatives from MENA and OECD economies.

The WEEF’s main objectives include providing a regional network for discussions on women’s economic empowerment, monitoring policy actions and regulatory developments, promoting adherence to international gender equality standards, and ensuring gender mainstreaming in critical policy areas like investment, trade, and entrepreneurship. WEEF operates at both regional and country levels, tailoring initiatives to specific contexts while promoting regional collaboration.

Upcoming events:

13-14 November 2024, Cairo:

• Launch of EU-OECD Regional Action for Women's Economic Empowerment in the Southern Mediterranean
• Annual meeting of the MENA-OECD Women’s Economic Empowerment Forum 2024

Past events:

23 February 2024, OECD Headquarters: MENA-OECD Women’s Economic Empowerment Forum (WEEF) Event: “Women’s Economic Empowerment in the MENA region: Insights and perspectives from key stakeholders” -