CNN Arabic and the UN Women in the Arab States announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)to renew their partnership, which began in 2022, to support the acceleration of gender balance, financial inclusion and female employment throughout the Arab States. This renewal builds on the strengths of UN Women’s technical expertise and CNN Arabic’s unique position as a powerful media house with widespread reach to reinforce their ongoing commitment to these crucial issues.
"A powerful two year partnership between CNN Arabic and UN Women is today celebrated, extended and expanded,” said Susanne Mikhail Eldhagen, Regional Director of UN Women in the Arab States. “Together, both entities commit to supporting a media landscape promoting women’s rights, with a focus on women’s employment. To jointly fight polarization based on misconceptions, women have long played a critical role in promoting bridge-building initiatives in their societies and beyond."
Over the past two years, this partnership has made a significant impact by adopting an evidence-based strategy and creating compelling editorial stories and videos, including an impactful commemoration of the ’16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence’, which calls for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls, and amplifies the voices of domestic violence survivors and supported activists and women’s organizations globally.
"Providing a platform where every voice can be heard and every story can be told is fundamental to the ethos of CNN Arabic. This partnership with UN Women in the Arab States exemplifies our commitment to this principle," added Caroline Faraj, Vice President of Arabic Services. "The initial two years of this partnership have seen consistently high levels of engagement in the stories and projects we have undertaken together, which underlines the power, relevance and importance of our collaborative efforts. These have not only resulted in impactful storytelling but have also built and strengthened new and important bridges across our communities. We are excited to continue this work and amplify even more voices across the region."
For the next two years, CNN Arabic and UN Women in the Arab States will continue tofocus on developing and sharing high-quality, data-driven content and engage in various strategic events and campaigns that underscore the importance of women’s economic empowerment and their integral involvement in peace and security matters.
The collaboration will also include capacity development and training initiatives for internal and external stakeholders, including UN Women’s staff and women journalists in the region, joint activity and knowledge-sharing products that aim to further enhance the visibility and influence of gender equality narratives across the Arab States.