On 21 and 22 June, UN Women Tunisia Country Office in partnership with the University of Sousse Higher Institute of Commercial Studies, convened the second International Conference on Gender Studies. This year’s theme “Gender, Innovation and Local Development” highlighted the vital role of innovative approaches in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, and accelerate local development efforts to implement Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals.

To promote cross-regional dialogue, academic representatives from Bahrain and Kuwait shared their countries’ experiences in leveraging gender equality and women’s empowerment as a catalyst for local development.

Insights from Kuwait:

Professor Lubna Al-Kazi, Director the Women’s Research and Studies Centre at Kuwait University, discussed Kuwait’s advancements in the area of women’s economic empowerment. She highlighted the importance of multi-stakeholder partnerships, noting the collaborative efforts of UN Women, UN Development Programme (UNDP), the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development, and the Kuwait University Women’s Research and Studies Centre since 2017.

“Kuwaiti women’s participation in the labour force has increased to 57.9% - the highest level in the Gulf Cooperation Council”, Professor Al-Kazi said. “Women’s leadership rate has increased from 15% in 2017 to 21% in 2024.” She also highlighted the commitment of 45 Kuwaiti private sector Chief Executive Officers to the UN Women – UN Global Compact Women’s Empowerment Principles. Additionally, eight leading private sector entities joined forces to establish the Kuwait Women’s Economic Empowerment Platform to work collaboratively on enhancing women’s participation and leadership in the private sector, supported by the Kuwait University Women’s Research and Studies Centre, GSSCPD, UN Women, UNDP, and the Women Mentor Forum.

Insights from Bahrain:

Dr. Christelle Comair, Head of the Women’s Research Centre of the Royal University for Women in Bahrain, outlined the Forum’s focus on priority areas for gender quality research. "When considering women’s advancement, we must look at three key levels: institutional frameworks, governance, and legal reforms. Bahrain has made significant strides in these areas and is setting a precedent in terms of policies and initiatives to accelerate women's empowerment”. Dr. Comair noted that “integrating women’s needs into innovation and development strategies is crucial, as is fostering collaborative projects between public, private, and academic institutions. Local development is the entry point for all these initiatives."

Speaking to the importance of measuring progress, and the role of academia in multi-stakeholder efforts for gender equality and women’s empowerment, Dr. Comair highlighted that a "critical aspect is the production of data about women and the monitoring of progress through specific indicators. Efforts have been made in this direction, and it is now time to fast-track these efforts through innovative methodologies that focus on women’s needs and build the capacity of researchers to conduct women’s studies."