Gender and trade

This report provides a situation analysis of women in Lebanon. Overall, it examines gender, feminism, sexuality, queer, and human rights conditions and challenges. The reading takes place in the context of Lebanon’s severe economic collapse, especially after the Beirut Port Blast and the lockdowns imposed during the pandemic over the past two years. This report was prepared based on two research phases : the first phase includes a desk review that looks at the situation of Lebanese refugees, displaced women, and queer individuals in the context of economic, political, and social conditions related to this collapse; it aims to understand how gender and social identity impact and determine current conditions. The second phase involves interviewing thirty feminist and queer activists in an attempt to map and read different opinions and evidence on how women, feminist, and queer movements are affected by the intersections of the pandemic, the blast, and the economic deterioration in the country. It also reveals how women in Lebanon are impacted by regional and global events.

The document represents a report on the realization of mental health in the Arab region: Challenges and barriers to realizing the right to mental health. The Arab region, which consists of 22 countries, 400 millions Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa, 34 millions migrants, and large numbers of refugees and displaced persons, is diverse and, to our knowledge, there are no projections of the burden of mental illness in the Arab region. Through public opinion surveys, the Arab Center Washington DC2022 estimates that 30% of the region's population reports suffering from depression; the center warns of an imbalance between the growing need for and availability of mental health services over the coming years. Other extensive research has also shown the prevalence of mental health stigma, along with a growing prevalence of psychological distress that has pushed individuals with mental illness into poverty and marginalization due to their condition.

Three factors intersect in the Arab region impacting the status of women’s health: 1) The deterioration of the general health landscape,which affects all members of society;2) The accumulation of various aspects of oppression to which women are subjected, and the fact that they are deprived of most of their rights; and 3) Requiring women, directly or implicitly, to provide care and healthcare, both physically and psychologically, to others while neglecting themselves, in line with a recurring normative social and cultural system. “Gender” or the concept of “social construction” of the roles of individuals is a main factor in determining people’s access to protection and gains; thus, impacting women’s access to their right to health within a human rights system. Gender factors also determine and shape access to health services and information, and their effectiveness and ease, and contribute to paving or obstructing the way for women in need to use and resort to this right . On the other hand, health systems in the Arab region, as in all countries around the world, are “gendered” The degree of ease, effectiveness, and availability with which services are provided differs between men and women, as well as between women of different socioeconomic backgrounds, in terms of the way health services are provided or received. This contributes to the emergence of gender disparities in health services, in a context where aspects of health governance and political agendas are manifested in health services and social protection for all individuals.

This document presents baseline study report on comprehensive needs assessment for hiv services in egypt. The aim of the study is to To assess the needs of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Egypt as well as key populations in terms of available HIV services. The general objective is to assess the needs of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Egypt as well as key populations in terms of available HIV services.

This document presents a repport on Cost-effectiveness of investing in the Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Adolescent Health workforce in Tunisia. The aim of this report is to model the cost-effectiveness of human resources for health (HRH) policies aimed at increasing the effective coverage of essential reproductive, maternal, newborn and adolescent health (SRMNAH) interventions in Tunisia. The objectives are 1) to estimate the baseline (2015) levels of effective coverage of essential SRMNAH interventions in Tunisia, 2) to estimate the incremental cost and incremental effectiveness associated with a number of HRH policy options chosen by the Direction des Soins de Sante de Base (DSSB) at the Ministry of Health for the period 2015-2033, and 3) to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness of these HRH policies with a view to prioritising these options from highest to lowest cost-effectiveness.