WOMENA: Identifying Opportunities to Improve the Lived Experience and Health of Working Women in the MENA

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WOMENA: Identifying Opportunities to Improve the Lived Experience and Health of Working Women in the MENA - From COVID to Recovery

Page Content
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
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The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is a world outlier for low female labor force participation despite women's high educational attainment. Furthermore, the region also has one of the largest gender gaps in unemployment and low rates of investment in early childhood development. Scholars point to constraints to both the demand and supply of female labor, yet gendered experiences within the workplace are critical.
The COVID-19 pandemic was a direct shock that affected disproportionately women's work, with the region bearing the largest loss of female employment due to COVID-19 globally. In a region with the world's highest pre-pandemic gender disparities in unpaid care work, COVID-19 has shifted that burden further towards women. The consequences pose additional health costs to women who are under-researched. To address the underlying issue, four work packages were run in parallel:
- Work-package 1 Desk review on women’s work and health before, during and after the pandemic in the MENA region and policy situation analysis.
- Work-package 2 Secondary analysis of regional data sources on sex-disaggregated labor force participation and health-related outcomes.
- Work-package 3 Analysis of gender inequalities in work and health in Lebanon through a national telephone survey reaching 4,725 Lebanese residents.
- Work-package 4 Exploring the lived experiences of women who left the education and health work force during the COVID-19 pandemic through semi-structured in-depth interviews.
Research Timeline: 2023-2024
STAKEHOLDERS
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Stakeholder meetings are held regularly to incorporate diverse perspectives into the project activities. Learn more here.

CONFERENCES
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Dr. Stephen McCall joined the WOMEN RISE regional meeting at Monash University Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, where team members from across Asia came together to engage with colleagues, sharing projects' progress and fostering collaboration.

Ms. Myriam Dagher presented a research poster on the interplay between gender, employment attrition, and food insecurity from the Work Package 3 telephone survey conducted. Learn more here.

TEAM
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Research Team
- Jocelyn DeJong (PI, work-package 1 lead), Professor at the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, FHS and Associate Provost, AUB
- Serena Canaan (co-PI, work-package 2 co-lead), Assistant Professor of Economics at the Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University (SFU)
- Pamela Zhgeib (Decision-maker PI), Head of Mother and Child Health Unit at Ministry of Public Health
- Nisreen Salti (Work-package 2 co-lead), Associate Professor in the Department of Economics, FAS, AUB
- Stephen McCall (Work-package 3 lead), Assistant Professor of Practice and Acting Director of CRPH, AUB
- Ali Abboud (co-I), Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics, FAS, AUB
- Hala Ghattas, Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina
- Sasha Fahme (Work package 4 lead), Assistant Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine
- Ghada Saad, Instructor of Public Health Practice, CRPH, AUB
- Rita Itani, Project Coordinator, CRPH, AUB
- Myriam Dagher, Research Coordinator, CRPH, AUB
Funder
- International Development Research Centre (IDRC)

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American University of Beirut

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Work-package 1 Desk review on women’s work and health before, during and after the pandemic in the MENA region and policy situation analysis.

Work-package 2 Secondary analysis of regional data sources on sex-disaggregated labor force participation and health-related outcomes.

Work-package 3 Analysis of gender inequalities in work and health in Lebanon through a national telephone survey reaching 4,725 Lebanese residents.

Work-package 4​ Exploring the lived experiences of women who left the education and health work force during the COVID-19 pandemic through semi-structured in-depth interviews.

STAKEHOLDERS

​​Stakeholder meetings are held regularly to incorporate diverse perspectives into the project activities.​ Learn more here​. ​

CONFERENCES

Dr. Stephen McCall​ joined the WOMEN RISE regional meeting at Monash University Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, where team members from across Asia came together to engage with colleagues, sharing projects' progress and fostering collaboration.

Ms. Myriam Dagher​ presented a research poster on the interplay between gender, employment attrition, and food insecurity from the Work Package 3 telephone survey conducted.​ Learn more here​.

TEAM

Research Team

Funder​

International Development Research Centre (IDRC)

Contact Us

Privacy Statement

Copyright and Disclaimer

Title IX, Non-Discrimination, and Anti-Discriminatory Harassment

Work-package 4 Exploring the lived experiences of women who left the education and health work force during the COVID-19 pandemic through semi-structured in-depth interviews.

Stakeholder meetings are held regularly to incorporate diverse perspectives into the project activities. Learn more here.

Dr. Stephen McCall joined the WOMEN RISE regional meeting at Monash University Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, where team members from across Asia came together to engage with colleagues, sharing projects' progress and fostering collaboration.

Ms. Myriam Dagher presented a research poster on the interplay between gender, employment attrition, and food insecurity from the Work Package 3 telephone survey conducted. Learn more here.

Funder