The UN Fund for Gender Equality will be awarding of 1.26 million dollars in grants to five quality programs, which will start implementation in January 2016 in five countries - namely, Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine and Yemen.

Through this new grant-making cycle, UN Women reaffirms its commitment to supporting and strengthening women’s organizations as catalyzers of change and as critical players to achieve gender equality and the sustainable development agenda, according to a UN statement distributed in Cairo Tuesday.

The chosen programs aim to support rural women, politically empower women, improve their chances to obtain jobs, boost their awareness and change the negative stereotypical image of women in the region.

The awards were given to Algeria's Al Ghaith Association, Egypt's Association of the Egyptian Female Lawyers, Lebanon's Family Planning Association for Development and Family Empowerment, Palestine's Mother School Society and Yemen's Youth Leadership Development Foundation.

The Fund for Gender Equality is a UN Women grant-making mechanism dedicated exclusively to the economic and political empowerment of women worldwide.

Since its launch in 2009, the Fund has delivered grants of 64 million dollars to 120 grantee programs in 80 countries.

Each program supports women, especially those who are marginalized, with what they need and require to regain control over their lives, whether they are trying to start a business or initiate a grassroots movement.

Guided by UN Women’s mandate, the Fund supports women-led civil society organizations’ and governments’ proposals based on strategic priorities to advance women’s rights in their countries.

The Fund provides grants on a competitive basis in terms of women's economic and political empowerment.

Economic empowerment programs should help increase women’s access to and control over decision-making, land, technology, credit, livelihoods and other means of production and social protection.

Political empowerment programs should support women in taking on leadership roles and participating more fully in political processes and in all spheres of public life. Young women leaders are also a particular focus.

In just six years of grant-making, the Fund is already demonstrating strong impact and has proven itself to be an efficient and effective mechanism to align global and regional commitments to gender equality with tangible real-world results.