Beirut-22 December 2025--The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) jointly launched the 2025 annual update of the Gender Justice and the Law Matrix during a virtual meeting held on 18 December, bringing together representatives of national women's machineries, national human rights institutions, and civil society organizations from across the Arab region.
The regional Gender Justice and the Law initiative tracks progress in legislations across 17 countries in the Arab region, assessing alignment with international standards and in collaboration with national stakeholders. It evaluates 73 indicators in six areas of the law, including the general framework of the State, legal capacity and public life, protection from violence against women, employment and economic benefits, family matters and personal status, and sexual and reproductive health and rights.
In 2025, the initiatives tracked the adoption and amendment of 32 legal texts across 12 countries that contributed to the strengthening of women's legal status. The tracking informed the 2025 update of the regional matrix and led to the upgrading of the color coding of 23 indicators across seven countries, signifying higher alignment of these legal amendments with international human rights standards.
During the meeting, participants were presented with the key findings of the annual update, which highlighted tangible legislative progress in several Arab countries, particularly in areas related to protection from violence, non-discrimination in the workplace, equal pay for work of equal value, protection of domestic workers, and reproductive health rights.
The event also featured the presentation of the upgraded Gender Justice and the Law Portal, which introduces significant improvements to content and user experience. These enhancements facilitate access to regional comparisons, country profiles, and the tracking of legal progress across the Arab States.
"Legislative progress towards gender equality is critical for achievement of the 2030 Agenda, especially Goal 5. However, legislation must be accompanied by the implementation of laws and the removal of obstacles, particularly social and economic ones, that hinder access to justice for all women," said Rania Tarazi, UNDP's Gender Team Leader for the Arab States.
The launch further included a panel discussion on the role of national legislation in addressing technology facilitated violence against women, in line with regional priorities and this year's global campaign to end technology-facilitated violence against women.
"We are keen on the sustainability of the Gender Justice and Law initiative as a platform for regional dialogue, an avenue to exchange experiences, and a tool supporting decision makers in reviewing legislations and determining national reform priorities," underscored Nada Darwazeh, Chief of ESCWA Centre for Women.
The meeting concluded with a call to sustain regional cooperation and ensure the continuity of annual updates to the Matrix as a key reference tool for advancing gender justice before the law.
