Political Feminism Program in the Middle East and North Africa region

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The icon shows the internationally recognised symbol for feminism and the women’s rights movement, which combines the female gender symbol with a raised fist. — Creator: FES

Political Feminism

There is no social justice without gender justice and there is no gender justice without socioeconomic and political reforms. How can feminists in the MENA region drive these reforms, or at the very least, how can feminist perspectives be better integrated into them?

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, women have been on the frontline of protests calling for social justice, with their participation proving crucial during the different waves of the Arab Spring. Yet, the mainstream public discourse around tackling the mounting social, economic, and political crises, and eradicating the injustices associated with the current situation and the anticipated changes, often overlooks women’s voices and feminist perspectives.

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Blog

The Worker Behind the Icon: Platform Delivery and the Politics of Invisibility — Creator: Christina Atik

Blog

Friday, 30.10.2026

The Worker Behind the Icon: Platform Delivery and the Politics of Invisibility

Delivery drivers have become an integral part of everyday life in Lebanon. Yet they remain largely unprotected, heavily surveilled by their platforms’ algorithms, and - in many instances - dehumanized and hidden behind the...

Scrolling Past Slavery: How Social Media revamped the Kafala system — Creator: Christina Atik

Blog

Monday, 24.08.2026

Scrolling Past Slavery: How Social Media revamped the Kafala system

Lebanon’s digital economy sells soap – and migrant women. The Kafala system goes online, and slavery scrolls by unnoticed.

Digital Labor and the Politics of Unionizing: Women Workers in Lebanon and Egypt — Creator: Christina Atik

Blog

Monday, 03.08.2026

Digital Labor and the Politics of Unionizing: Women Workers in Lebanon and Egypt

In Lebanon and Egypt, digital work draws women in with the promise of flexibility, then extracts their labor, shifts its costs onto them, and scatters them into a workforce that cannot organize. The right to unionize exists...

Is the solution to Egyptian women’s plight more work? — Creator: Christina Atik

Blog

Tuesday, 21.07.2026

Is the solution to Egyptian women’s plight more work?

The gig economy is hailed as a tool of “empowerment” for women. But does it actually improve their well-being and socioeconomic standing? This article unpacks the contradictory roles of women in undervalued, unpaid home care...

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Topics

Feminist Economics

Feminist economists around the world have repeatedly highlighted the failure to take the social consequences of economic policies into account.

The illustration shows a stylised graphic on the theme of political opinion-forming, the law and social discourse. — Creator: FES PolFem

Repoliticising Feminism

How are feminists in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region reestablishing their revolutionary and highly political stance against patriarchal structures?

Stylised vector illustration: an office chair and a tablet displaying a diagram next to a cloud with rain over a landscape. In the background, a purple network with a cloud design. — Creator: FES PolFem

The Future of Work

Globally, discussions around the future of work have resulted in the creation of a range of scenarios.

The illustration shows four people, viewed from above, placing their hands together in the centre on an equals sign (=), surrounded by various gender symbols. — Creator: FES PolFem

Gender Justice

Social justice—a fundamental value of social democracy and a central field of action for the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in the region is inextricably linked with gender justice.

The manosphere in Arabic

Kaddoura, Sarah | Beirut : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Regional Political Feminism Projects, September 2025

mapping subcultures, narratives, and impacts across arabic-speaking online spaces

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Transformative Arabic language guide

Elia, Samantha ; Fares, Assil | Beirut : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung - Regional Political Feminism Project, June 2025

Towards language that supports social and gender transformation

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Testimonies of migrant women community organizers in Lebanon

[Beirut] : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, November 2023

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Brave and bold

Rodgers, Cory (Hrsg.) ; Elia, Samantha (Hrsg.) | Beirut : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Regional Political Feminism and Gender Office, [2023]

stories of Arab feminists who made history

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Podcast

You can listen to all the podcast episodes here.

The illustration shows a graphic depiction of two people taking part in a demonstration or protest in support of women’s rights and equality — Creator: FES PolFem

Media

Check our campaigns and videos.

Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung

Gender and Feminism Office

+961 1 202491

feminism.mena(at)fes.de

Team and Contact

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Influential Feminists Campaign

History is full of extraordinary women, but their stories are seldomly told. In the MENA region, as elsewhere, the influential names of political and social struggles that are talked about in school or media are overwhelmingly male.

FES MENA

The promotion of social democratic values is at the heart of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) activities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.