Our Impact

Over the years, Karama and its partners have made significant progress in their mission to end violence against women through supporting local action plans, participating in and hosting regional and international meetings, and publishing and disseminating reports on the status and conditions of women. This work has impacted women at the local level, where women's organizations in Syria published a Survey on the Personal Status Laws as the first step in a campaign to petition discriminatory laws; at the regional level, where experts and activists came together to discuss VAW terminology and define more clearly the standards of shelter-based services; and at the international level, where Karama staff and delegates have raised the profile of Arab women and the issues they face.

The Karama network creates impact in response to the following strategic results:

1) Karama partners' creation of national networks to stop violence against women, in at least 9 countries in the Arab region

2) Karama partners' creation of regional initiatives to stop violence against women, and representation in increasing numbers in public roles at UN or international events

3) Media coverage and public awareness in the Arab region and the West of the efforts and campaigns by Karama and its partners

4) Improved legal rights and services, and implementation of instruments benefiting women such as CEDAW in Arab countries

5) Building Karama's human infrastructure, increasing personal capacity in the Arab region and personnel in Karama's coordination and Cairo and Amman teams

Karama's activities have produced tangible results in key program areas:

Enforcing CEDAW

• After Karama members submitted a Supplementary CEDAW Shadow Report on the rights of refugee and stateless women in Lebanon, the UN CEDAW committee instructed the Lebanese government for the first time to pursue and report results to improve the status and conditions of refugee women and girls as a measure of compliance with CEDAW.

• After Karama partners in Jordan submitted a CEDAW Shadow Report to the UN and met with Jordanian authorities, the Jordanian Parliament backed a domestic violence law, now awaiting approval in the Senate, and the government withdrew a law that would have restricted NGO funding, the right to gather and the right to participate in international conferences.

Stirring Public Will

• When Karama members in Syria published the first ever national survey on reform of the personal status laws which are prejudicial to women, it demonstrated that 92% to 98% of Syrian women and 72% to 94% of Syrian men support amending legislation to expand women's rights

Recognizing Arab Women's Leadership

• When Karama delegates from Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon,  Palestine, and Sudan attended the UN Commission on the Status of Women, we  revived and led the Middle East NGO Caucus and won the opportunity to deliver the Caucus’ oral statements before the United Nations assembly.
• When Karama helped The Arab Women's Fund launch as a new means of support in the region, together we created 'Mahfoutha', the Sindiyanat al-Karama Award, a prize given every November 25 to a courageous woman who stands up as a defender of dignity and a public foe to violence

Photo credit: Shawn Baldwin for Karama