In the midst of an anti-rights backlash, there are voices that are increasingly under threat, especially in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region where civic spaces are increasingly restrained and closed.  At this critical moment, specific approaches to research and knowledge generation are essential tools in advancing rights of feminist and LGBTQI2+ movements and eliminating existing profound gender inequalities in society that prevent equal access to all resources.

We must focus on seeking tangible improvements for everyone, especially women and vulnerable groups that are denied their rightful place in civic life. Vulnerable people and communities must benefit from more inclusive, accountable and transparent governance so they can be better able to shape the policies and practices that affect their lives by exercising their democratic rights and freedoms, including in contexts of democratic transition and displacement.

These goals are constantly challenged by persistent inequalities, including gender inequalities, which are quite pronounced in the context of this region. We need to move the needle on these complex issues, And we all realize that this is part of a long journey, building blocks for which are being established one project and one initiative at a time. This will happen on a number of fronts:

Research ethics attuned to the case of feminist and LGBTQI2+ movements should not be a box ticking exercise. The DO NO HARM principle carries a special weight in this case when people are actually being killed for being who they are, when they are harassed, imprisoned, when they are forced to go into exile. Ethical considerations become a critical tool to ensure the safety of these communities. Methodologies for research on these issues must be designed in such a way to create communities of practice, involving multiple stakeholders. This is about the creation of ecosytems of knowledge that use different capacities of its components to achieve greater impact. There is a growing realization that to be effective in changing realities and policies, strategic alliances and a systems approach for knowledge generation are much needed. They must be homegrown in design and application without donor interference. Such strategic alliances must take place across the MENA region, but also across regions globally.

Another essential component is the need for more solidarity between and among rights organizations, working at multiple levels, and across themes and regions. This is not evident in the MENA region. Civil society, although vibrant in many countries in the MENA region, is still siloed and divided. It self-censors as a safety protection mechanism from resilient authoritarianism in the region. Expressions of solidarity are important and if regular and sustained and more importantly collective, they may have an impact in terms of changing state behavior.

We know civil society is not homogenous, and we must begin to think of different ways to categorize and define civil society. But in MENA, there certainly is an Islamist/religious and secular divide, that is more and more polarizing of views, and its impact is greatly felt when talking about gender inequalities. But solidarity should seek to bridge those divides. I always found it remarkable how temporary alliances between secular and Islamist civil society were formed over the years in North Africa to fight for example against the jailing of Islamists. And once the task is done, such alliances would dissolve. Such strategies may not change mindsets and a system of beliefs immediately, or at all, but can certainly create a precedent in terms of working together.

The focus on understanding the nature of the anti-rights backlash is a new one and important one for MENA civil society. It is critical to understand the trajectory of these revived anti-rights movements, be they in some elements of civil society or within state institutions or more structural within what some term the deep state. Such an understanding will shed light on such issues as terminology used, the actions taken for greater repression, their timing in national and broader contexts political and economic contexts, and their strategies to instrumentalize these gender issues politically to rally more socially conservative forces in society.

As a final point, it is important to ask how many times have many researchers heard that fighting for feminist and LGBTIQ2+ rights is not a priority? That this is a western agenda? That there are priorities in the region, such as a deteriorating economy, failed health and education systems, acute poverty, even famine, and protracted conflicts in such places as Gaza, Sudan and Palestine. Rights should be indivisible. There is no hierarchy of rights, be they economic, political, cultural, social or other. Those who fight for human rights are fighting against systems that grant them little space for expression, and for future systems that respect the rule of law and treat all equally with safety and dignity.

Not everyone needs to work on LGBTIQ2+, feminist and gender rights. But our common fight as human rights defenders, though inclusive knowledge production processes, is one about the following: a system where the rule of law prevails, where everyone regardless of their class, religion, sexual and gender identify have a say in how policies are made and have equal access to the market and to resources. If you believe in such system, you cannot exclude certain segments of society, be they LGBTIQ2+ or other.

This initiative at the Asfari Institute will work hard to connect gender inequality struggles to all struggles for human rights in the region, and to a vision where systemic change happens -from terminology, to training and mentoring to strategic alliances to outreach and dissemination strategies.

I miss the feeling of hope and excitement following the Arab Spring revolts which saw all kinds of people fighting for all kinds of rights together. Despite the many setbacks the region is witnessing, it is important for civil society to continue to work together, reclaim its own narrative and follow a trajectory that continues to fight for indivisible human rights. That is the challenge for civil society 10 years on, fighting in the context of growing polarization within societies in MENA but also globally.

Roula El-Rifai

Senior Program Specialist with the Democratic and Inclusive Governance Division at Canada’s International Development Research Centre – IDRC. Her work supports civil society actors in the Arab world advocating for reform with a focus on forced displacement and youth civic engagement. She has an MA in International Relations from the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK, and an MSc in Rural Planning and Development from the University of Guelph, Canada.