North Africa and Middle East

Across the political spectrum, parties – all led by men – have been scrambling to grab a slice of the female vote.

"Initially political parties were opposed to women, now it's changed," said Alaa Murabit, of Voice of Libyan Women, which campaigns for women in politics. "In the past few weeks we have seen men pay attention. They have suddenly become pro-women. How much is honest I don't know."

Two events have caused this seismic shift in what remains a deeply conservative country, where few women drive and female swimsuits are banned.

The top United Nations envoy in Libya today stressed the importance of the equal participation of women in rebuilding the country, as he commended the number of women who have registered to vote and to stand for election in the upcoming legislative polls.

Some 2.7 million people in the North African nation have registered to vote for members of a new National Congress, which will be tasked with drafting a new constitution for Libya.

There’s been a dramatic change of fate in Egypt: Mohamed Morsi was once a prisoner under President Hosni Mubarak. Now Morsi is president-elect of Egypt, at the very same time Mubarak is serving his sentence in the notorious Tora Prison. Now Egypt’s minorities wait to see how their fates will change – among them, Coptic Christians and women.

Tuesday, Morsi’s policy adviser, Ahmed Deif, told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that to allay minority fears, Morsi will execute a strategy of “inclusiveness, inclusiveness, inclusiveness.”

In accepting the Nobel Peace Prize last year, Yemeni activist Tawakkol Karman thanked women of the Arab world for her medal. Without their struggle to win equal rights, she would not be there, she said.

The greatest challenge in that quest is not religion but the lack of economic and social development and a dearth of perceived security, said a Gallup Poll released Monday.

In the lead-up to the forthcoming National Assembly elections on 7 July, female candidates will have the support of a national campaign entitled ‘My Voice for Her.’

The Libyan Women’s Union and Maan Nabneeha Movement have launched the national campaign under the supervision of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). ‘My Voice for Her’ will encourage and boost over 600 female candidates in the elections. It will also support and encourage women voters.

The President of the United Nations General Assembly, a lawyer and rights advocate from Bahrain, has issued a strong call for addressing the social, educational and other constraints impeding the equality of women in the Middle East.

For more information, please visit the United Nation's Website.