While legal empowerment approaches have gained traction and support in many countries, in the WANA region the concept remains broadly misunderstood and there is little comprehensive data on the legal empowerment environment in individual countries.

The extent to which such approaches can be value-adding and what supporting measures or sequencing needs to be set in place requires further analysis. Until such questions are answered, legal empowerment represents a missed opportunity for addressing specific challenges confronting the region, including fostering equitable economic growth, facilitating responsive political reform, poverty alleviation and promoting conflict resilience.

Theme: Regional Cooperation
Location: Kempinsky Hotel, Amman, Jordan

The 1st annual WANA Forum aimed to assess regional challenges and concerns, as well as identify opportunities for regional cooperation. There were three reoccurring themes throughout the Forum: regional cooperation; prioritizing human security; and the interdependence of social, environmental, economic concerns.

The Forum considered the main issues for which regional cooperation is most needed and can be most feasibly initiated. The issues identified as being the most responsive to regional cooperation included political Islam, corruption, governance, extremism, economic challenges, unemployment, education and environmental challenges.