North Africa

Our work in North Africa

The 2011 uprisings in North Africa brought down authoritarian regimes in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia; however, the region has experienced tumultuous years since. While Libya has been ripped apart by armed conflict since 2014, countries such as Egypt and Tunisia have also experienced complex political violence. Restrictions on social movements and civil society activity have returned, starkly challenging the achievements of the Arab uprisings and putting into question hopes for peacefully addressing political divisions.

North African women played a major role in the 2011 uprisings and the mobilisations that followed. But they still face considerable challenges to their involvement in public and political events. With limited access to the public sphere and the threat of gender-based violence, women have to fight daily to make their voices heard.

Our work

In our advocacy on alternative peacebuilding responses to counter-terrorism and migration, Saferworld worked with Egyptian, Libyan and Tunisian organisations to research responses to security challenges, examining how international approaches to stabilisation have often failed to support sustainable peace.

From 2011 to 2015, Saferworld worked with partners in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia to support civil society’s efforts to create safe societies where people have a voice. In Egypt, we provided technical expertise on policing to civil society groups advocating for police reform, and in Tunisia we conducted research to better understand civil society’s role in questions of security as well as their potential for enhancing it as Tunisia’s democratisation process deepens.

In Egypt, we supported civil society groups with technical expertise on gender-sensitive policing to promote women’s rights in the security sector. Our research into the work of Egypt's Violence Against Women (VAW) Unit made recommendations for ways to improve Egypt’s policing response to violence against women. In Libya, we supported women’s participation in debates about security and highlighted the barriers that women face when taking part in political life. Our report It's dangerous to be the first documents security barriers to women's public participation in Egypt, Libya and Yemen.