Female activists play an invaluable role in the country that gave rise to the Arab Spring

Despite the recent political chaos in the country, Tunisia cannot be written off as a potentially failed state. Behind the scenes, citizens — especially women — are keeping Ennahdha, the Islamic party ruling in a coalition with two secular parties, from slipping into extremism.

A Tunisian magistrate, Mrs. Monia Ammar, was elected as member of the under-commission of Human Rights as part of the League of Arab States. The news was announced on the occasion of the 23 rd session of the permanent Arab commission of Human Rights, currently held at the League's headquarters in Cairo .
To read the full article, please visit the All Africa's Website.

In an interview to the Tunisian monthly opinion magazine “Roua”, Tunisia’s First Lady, Mrs Leila Ben Ali said that Tunisia’s presidency of the Arab Women Organization (AWO) for the next two years “will follow up on the implementation of the Organization’s mechanisms and programs so as to give Arab women larger opportunities and wider prospects for participation.”

Last week, Sheikh Rachid Ghannouchi and other members of the Islamic al-Nahda Party returned to Tunisia after more than two decades in exile. Ghannouchi’s return—and the warm welcome he received at the Tunis airport—touched off concerns about a resurgence of political Islam in the North African country. No one is more concerned than Tunisia's women, who have enjoyed more than half a century of political, legal and personal freedoms unprecedented in the Arab world.

In a bid to lend support to the process of electoral reform in Tunisia as preparations get under way for the election of a Constituent Assembly on 24 July 2011, the IPU dispatched an expert mission to the country from 22 to 24 March 2011. Following consultations with Tunisian women politicians, members of civil society organizations and representatives of local and international youth movements, the mission met with the subcommittee tasked with writing the draft electoral law.