The Center of Arab Women for Training and Research (CAWTAR) sees this report on “Arab Adolescent Girls: Realities and Prospects” as a preliminary, exploratory study that will lead to further studies in a field that is still not report, sufficiently investigated in the Arab region. The main aim of this report, particularly the field study included in it, is to look into the future of the Arab women and draw the attention of decision-makers and those working to extend women’s participation in the development process, to the possibility of positively affecting this future, particularly the possibility of raising the level of women’s participation in decision making. This is to be achieved by identifying handicapping factors and dealing with them Accordingly, and in cooperation with the work team, the Center of Arab Women for Training and Research planned the project and the report so as to realistically meet the research and practical needs of the field of adolescence in Arab societies. Qualitative dimensions therefore acquired much importance in the study of the situation of female and male adolescents, because they allowed for their voices to be heard as clearly as possible, without ever excluding other dimensions expressed by quantifiable indicators. The first part of the report includes a general introduction; the second part includes a field study involving seven Arab countries, namely: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia. The qualitative study is based on interviews with female and male adolescents, in which different aspects of their lives were presented and analyzed. The interviews were analyzed according to the following six themes : Identity and self-image Puberty, reproduction health and love Family relations School and work Adolescent culture and behavior Attitudes and values Part three contains conclusions and recommendations. The last part of the report includes an analysis of statistics and human development indicators in Arab countries, with an attempt to extract from these indicators whatever is relevant to the subject of adolescence, in addition to statistical tables.

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