Mission

Karama's mission is to strengthen the capacity and influence of women civil society leaders, organisations and networks to end all forms of violence against women and girls in the Middle East and North Africa and achieve their full and equal participation in all political processes, including peace processes, resulting in gender equality, peace, and security.

Vision

Multigenerational movements for women’s rights in the Middle East and North Africa localise, accelerate, and institutionalise implementation of the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda. In doing so, they create gender equality, safety, stability, and security, and freedom from gender-based violence through shaping social norms, laws, policies, and peace processes as leaders at the grassroots and in the highest levels of national, regional, and international governing bodies.

Formalised by UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and nine subsequent resolutions*, the WPS agenda saw governments across the world recognise that women and girls are disproportionately impacted by conflict, and committed themselves to address the causes and consequences of this. The WPS agenda defines four pillars which act as a framework to address the impact of conflict on women and girls, the pillars are:

  • Protection

  • Prevention

  • Participation

  • Relief and recovery

*The nine subsequent UN Security Council resolutions are: 1820 (2008), 1888 (2008), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013), 2122 (2013), 2242 (2015), 2467 (2019), and 2493 (2019).