North Africa and Middle East

After gaining the right to vote and participate in elections in 1952, one would assume that more female politicians would be taking part in Lebanon’s administrative scene. Women won the right to participate in politics 19 years before those in Switzerland, a neutral European country. But what have they done with this?

Yemeni women are some of the fiercest women I have ever met. Through conflicts and famine, many have had to struggle for the survival of their families. The abject poverty afflicts Yemeni women in particularly harsh ways, yet they carry on and persevere.  Still, their pride in their culture and love for their beautiful country always shines through.

Wafa Bani Mustafa had already won a seat in Jordan’s parliament. But as she prepared to run for reelection, she wanted to learn more about fundraising techniques, which are not widely used in the region. So last December, ahead of her campaign, she participated in an NDI training program on advanced campaign skills for experienced politicians from 11 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Since early 2011, Maryam Ben Salem and Giorgia Depaoli from the Center of Arab Woman for Training and Research (CAWTAR) have been documenting how young women are engaging in Tunisia’s political life. Part of a cohort of 14 initiatives across Africa, South Asia, and Latin America, this work examines the nature of women’s participation and gender equality in political spaces. In particular, this research team is collaborating with similar teams in Egypt and Sudan.