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APPG on Women, Peace and Security

On Tuesday 16th September 2025, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Women, Peace & Security, together with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Conflict Prevention, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding hosted a roundtable at the House of Lords with Naglaa Elhag, the Regional Director for the MENA Region of Search for Common Ground (SFCG).

Naglaa Elhag was welcomed by by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger, CBE, who chaired the session and was accompanied by Elisabeth Nelson, the UK Director of SFCG. In her role as Regional Director for the MENA region, Naglaa oversees the SFCG work in Yemen, Iraq, Tunis, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine and is based in Amman.

Naglaa highlighted some of the key barriers in the region – political instability, shrinking civic space, and competing global priorities (migration, defence, security). She observed that ongoing destabilisation is marked by human rights violations, widespread gender-based and sexual violence, and severe restrictions on women’s freedom of movement. The concept of “security” remains contested across the region, taking on different and sometimes divisive meanings. After 7 October, security concerns have intensified, often overshadowing women’s needs and perspectives.

Discussing why the Women, Peace and Security agenda is so difficult to implement now, Naglaa emphasised that many donor countries are now focused on migration or have different priorities often centred around defence and security. In this context, the space for women and girls is shrinking.

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