Women Leading Change: Gender-Responsive Leadership in Mediterranean Universities and Municipalities
Context and objectives
Universities play a key role not only in shaping future generations, but also in influencing social norms, leadership models and public policy. Strengthening gender-sensitive leadership in higher education has a transformative impact within institutions and beyond, particularly when universities actively cooperate with municipalities as key actors of local development and governance.
This regional project aims to strengthen gender-responsive leadership, institutional reform and collaboration between universities and municipalities, creating sustainable models for inclusive governance and social change in the Southern Mediterranean.
This project places strong emphasis on university–municipality cooperation. Universities are therefore required to involve a municipality willing to engage actively in the project. Municipal representatives will be invited to participate in selected trainings, events and advocacy activities, ensuring alignment between higher education reform and local governance.
Women Leading Change is a capacity-building initiative led by a consortium of mentors coordinated by the Lebanese University. The consortium includes Aix-Marseille University (France), Antonine University (Lebanon), Tunis El Manar University (Tunisia), the University of Sousse (Tunisia), and the Autonomous University of Madrid (Spain). The team is further supported by external experts from Sapienza University of Rome and RESUFF.
Location
Key figures
Duration:
12 months
Countries:
3
Total cost:
Fully funded
Promoter
Key partners
From Lebanon:
Arab Open University
Holy Spirit University of Kaslik
Lebanese International University
Notre Dame University – Louaize
From Morocco:
Abdelmalek Essaâdi University – Tétouan / Tangier
Euromed University of Fes
Hassan II University of Casablanca
Mohammed V University in Rabat
University Mohamed VI Polytechnic
Mohammed Premier University – Oujda
Cadi Ayyad University – Marrakech
From Syria:
University of Damascus
University of Manara
Beneficiaries
A total of 13 universities will be selected across the three countries and special attention will be given to universities that demonstrate a strong institutional commitment to gender equality and leadership reform, as well as existing, planned or desired cooperation with their municipality.
Key actions
Participation in high-level regional and national events, including a launch event, advocacy activities and a final conference with strong political visibility
Tailored technical assistance to develop, update or implement gender equality and gender-sensitive leadership plans
Access to specialized training on gender and leadership, including training-of-trainers opportunities
Mentoring and peer learning with universities and experts from across the Mediterranean region
Joint activities with municipalities, including shared trainings, advocacy events and awareness-raising tools
Integration into a regional community of practice facilitated by the Union for the Mediterranean, with opportunities for future cooperation and scaling up
Expected results
Demonstrating high-level institutional support, including active involvement of the university leadership
Appointing dedicated focal points with sufficient time to coordinate participation and implementation of reforms
Actively engaging in project activities (trainings, meetings, events, mentoring)
Developing, updating or implementing institutional reforms related to gender equality and gender-sensitive leadership
Cooperating closely with their municipality throughout the project, including joint participation in activities and advocacy efforts
Contributing to knowledge sharing, visibility and dissemination of project results at local and national level
