The European Commission and UN Women launched a €25 million initiative aimed at supporting the creation of 500,000 additional jobs for women across the Middle East and North Africa.
The Surging Women's Employment Initiative includes a €10 million EU contribution and aims to increase women's employment in the region by five per cent by 2030, after labour-market participation remained around 20 per cent on average for more than two decades.
The programme will focus on skills, entrepreneurship and private-sector job creation, with target sectors including the care economy, green industries, science and technology.
More than 900 companies have signed the Women's Empowerment Principles, while UN Women and partners have contributed to reforms of 20 laws in Arab States supporting women's economic participation.