Arab Spring

In a life spanning colonial rule, war, autocracy and revolution, Tunis resident Halima never saw a reason to vote.

A chance meeting in a souk earlier this month gave her one. She was introduced to Kalthoum Kannou, who has three children, a long marriage to a doctor, a 25-year career as a judge and an ambition to be the first female president of Tunisia.

Tunisia, despite being the most advanced Arab nation in terms of women's rights, is still fare from adhering fully to the principles enshrined in the January 2014 Constitution and from abiding by the ratification of international treaties in daily life. Though 47% of candidates for Tunisia's parliamentary elections scheduled for Sunday are women, only 12% of them are on top of the electoral lists of candidates. This is a slight improvement on the previous elections, when the figure was 7%, but still shows a lack of equal opportunities for women. 

One of the UN's most senior leaders has warned against Western intervention in Syria, drawing on her experience as prime minister of New Zealand when she decided not to take the country to war with Iraq.

Helen Clark, who was a Labour prime minister of New Zealand for nine years, said she had never regretted her decision not to join the Allies in the toppling of Sadaam Hussein.

Director of Appropriate Communication Techniques for Development (ACT) in Cairo, since 1990 Kamel has prepared Egyptian women to run for political office while advocating laws that uphold women's rights and criminalize domestic violence.