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http://www.wilsoncenter.org/topics/pubs/empoweringwomen_4.pdf

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http://www.eldis.org/go/topics/resource-guides/gender&id=33754&type=Document

Strategies for Enhancing Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa

Authors: J. Bennett
Publisher: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars , 2007

Full text of document

There has been an increase in the participation of women in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region governments. The shift from three percent to seven percent across the board is partly due to the case of Iraq’s enforced twenty-five percent quota for women in parliament. The year 2005 saw seventy women elected to the Iraqi parliament (from a total of 275 representatives), with four subsequently nominated to the cabinet, while women in Kuwait won the right to vote after forty years of campaigning. However, there is still a long way to go with regards to women’s rights and women’s empowerment in the region, both at a public level and at an individual level.

This report documents the proceedings of three workshops aimed at enhancing women’s rights and participation in the MENA region. The workshops drew on the experiences of women from across the region and looked at developing strategies for change.

Specifically, the workshops looked at: 

• Exploring how women in the Middle East and North Africa have worked and continue to work for increased rights within existing legal frameworks. Participants provided examples of women’s empowerment throughout the region and discussed methods for influencing legislation within the framework of existing constitutions, personal status laws, civil codes based on shari’a (Islamic law), and international conventions. 
• Reviewing and comparing specific aspects of regional family laws and providing tools with which to approach progressive reforms. Participants explored how reforms to family law can be used as a vehicle for encouraging increased female participation in the legislative process. 
• Looking at conflict resolution terminology and negotiation techniques which can be employed to increased female participation in legislative processes, specifically in Iraq, and enhancing the ability of women leaders to work together across sectarian and regional boundaries.

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