The challenge of tackling unemployment among rural women and youth gave rise to a unique partnership between IFAD and ILO, also known as the Taqeem Initiative (meaning “evaluation” in Arabic). The jointly supported three-year initiative on “Strengthening gender monitoring and evaluation in rural employment in the Near East and North Africa” aimed to develop the capacity of 14 youth- and women-focused institutions, serving more than 10,000 rural women and youth in the NENA region.

The Close Up event aimed at sharing and discussing results of the project as well as to jointly reflect on what works in promoting women’s empowerment and youth employment in the Near East and North Africa region.