Within the framework of SESRIC’s Social Development Capacity Building Programme (SD-CaB) and the UN-OIC Cooperation Matrix 2022-2024, SESRIC, in collaboration with the Women Development Organization (WDO), organised a Webinar on “Advocating Women's Rights within Family Laws: Best Practices in the OIC Member Countries” on 6-7 December 2023 through an online video conferencing platform.

The webinar was provided by competent academicians and experts for the benefit of participants from ministries and relevant national institutions in charge of family and social development in the OIC Countries.

The main objective of the webinar was to shed light on cases of analyses of the existing legal frameworks related to women's rights in OIC countries and explore opportunities for improvement based on successful practices from other member countries. The webinar also aimed to share successful models and best practices from the OIC Countries that have made significant strides in safeguarding women's rights in family laws. Over the two days of the webinar, the following topics were covered:

• The State of Women and Family in OIC Countries
• The Evolution of Women's Rights in Family Laws: A Comparative Analysis
• Equality in Treatment within Family Laws: Case Studies from OIC Countries
• Role and Contributions of International Organisations (IOs) in Advancing Women's Rights, by the Arab Women Organization (AWO)

Representatives from Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia presented their countries' success stories in advancing women's rights, detailing the various stages of this process, as well as the strategies and policies developed. They also explored the challenges and potential opportunities for further enhancement of women's rights within their legal frameworks.

SESRIC developed its Social Development Capacity Building Programme (SD-CaB) in 2021 with the aim of supporting and contributing to the efforts of the OIC Countries towards enhancing the institutional and human resources capacities of their national institutions working in the field of social development. The programme facilitates transferring, sharing and exchanging of knowledge, experiences and best practices among the member countries in this important domain through various modalities such as training courses, training workshops and technical study visits. For more details about SESRIC’s SD-CaB and its activities, please visit: https://www.sesric.org/sd-cab.php

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