North Africa and Middle East

“In the Arab region, women represent just nine per cent of parliamentarians. Though this figure is relatively low, it nevertheless represents a great step forward. Six years ago, the average was only four per cent,” pointed out IPU Secretary-General Anders B. Johansson.
To read the full article, please visit the Khaleej Times' Website.

Speaking at the Arab International Women's Forum (AIWF) in Dubai, professor Aicha Belarbi told delegates that due to this Arab nations continue to lag behind the rest of the world in terms of female representation in the workforce and government.
To read the full article, please visit the Arabia Business' Website.

More than 75 young people from Bahrain, Oman and Qatar are taking part in a three-day leadership conference which opened at the Royal Society for Women in East Riffa yesterday. The first Association for International Students in Science, Economics and Commerce (AIESEC) Gulf conference combines lectures on global issues with workshops that aim to build leadership, social and professional skills.
To read the full article, please visit Gulf Daily News .

A regional seminar on "Gender and Local Governance" held on March 14 in the Tunisian capital highlighted the close link between "economic and domestic development and women’s participation in local politics". Forum attendees from Tunisia, Algeria, Lebanon, Egypt, Yemen, Morocco and Bahrain also recommended organising an awareness-raising campaign for men concerning women’s right to play a significant role in local political affairs.

On April 20-22, AWID, together with the Global Fund for Women, convened a feminist strategy meeting in Marrakech, Morocco, to discuss feminist resource mobilisation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

The media’s handling of women’s issues has always generated heated debates in different communities around the world, and the Arab region is no exception. This week, a pan-Arab panel of media practitioners and experts convened in Abu Dhabi under the auspices of Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, the head of the General Women’s Union and of the Family Development Foundation, as well as chairwoman of the Arab Women’s Organisation, to exchange views on how to enhance women’s representation and professional presence in the media industries.

Dubai A first of its kind independent study assessing the role of women in politics in the UAE was released on Monday at the Dubai School of Government. Co-authored by the Dubai School of Government's Gender and Public Policy programme and the Ministry of State for Federal National Council Affairs (MSFNCA), the study includes interviews of every sitting member of the Federal National Council (FNC) as well as candidates who did not win any seats in 2006.
To read the full article, please visit Gulf News.

Middle Eastern countries have performed dismally in a recent international report on gender equality in property rights. The Gender Equality in Property Rights index, released by the Property Rights Alliance, measures women's free possession, enjoyment and disposal of property globally. While Kuwait, Israel, Mauritania and Egypt received more favorable ratings than other Middle Eastern states, all of the region's nations were in the bottom half of the 90 countries surveyed.

Women, regarded as second-class citizens in Iran, have been noticeably front and center of the massive demonstrations that have unfolded since the presidential election a week ago.
To read the full story, please visit CNN's Website.