AWID interviews Leila Hessini from the meeting's Advisory Committee, and Hadil El-Khouly - a young feminist who attended the meeting.

AWID: What was the MENA strategy meeting all about?

Leila Hessini (LH): The objective of this meeting was to engender dialogue across donors and women's rights organisations, and between different women's rights and social justice groups in the MENA region around the issue of resource mobilisation.
This was accomplished through an analysis of the geopolitical and resource- mobilisation challenges that women's rights groups face and by identifying potential strategies for addressing these challenges in ways that strengthen women's movements.

Resource mobilisation is a deeply political issue in the region as funds are used to support certain agendas, perspectives, and strategies over others. While literally hundreds of millions of dollars are being poured into certain countries – through the E.U.'s Mediterranean Partnership program, the U.S. Millennium Challenge Account and other bilateral and foundational support - hardly any of this is going to support women's rights organisations in the MENA region.

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