The book explores how the WPS agenda in the region is imagined, interpreted and implemented.

The Middle East and North Africa exhibit many of the features the WPS agenda seeks to redress, such as historical grievances, discriminatory legal systems, economic and gender inequality, and fragility marked by violence, extremism and protracted displacement. The region is highly militarized by prolonged conflicts, and the enduring occupation of Palestine. These conditions lead to sexual and gender-based violence that disproportionally affect women and their effective and meaningful participation in conflict prevention and resolution.

This volume examines how women’s and feminist groups engage with peace and security issues. It analyses what they have gained from WPS, and how local women’s activism may either clash or overlap with WPS. It also looks at how women in the region understand peace and security beyond the confines of WPS, or if they are confined to women’s issues.