In the MENA region, gender and work is an important topic that has attracted a great deal of
attention in both research and policy circles in recent years. However high-quality research on
gender and work in the MENA region has been limited, in large part due to the shortage of
well-trained researchers inside the region with a background in relevant literature and
research methodologies. The Population Council aimed to address this deficit through the
Gender and Work in MENA project, an integrated capacity building program for junior
researchers from the MENA region that provided them with training, small research grants,
mentorship and opportunities for publication and dissemination of their work. Through this
combination of activities, the project achieved its objective of building the capacity of young
scholars in MENA to conduct methodologically rigorous research on gender and work, as well
as to disseminate this work to academic and policy audiences. Eleven research papers and six
policy briefs on gender and work in MENA were published as a result of the research project,
considerably expanding the body of peer-reviewed literature on gender and work in the region.