Islam

SARAJEVO – Sending a message of hope to Bosnian Muslim women, a veiled woman was elected to the House of Representatives in October's elections, becoming the first woman to enter the parliament with the Islamic headscarf.

"I think my being elected is a good message for all women, especially for women who wear the headscarf," Kanela Zuko told Anadolu Agency on Thursday, November 13.

The 38-year-old Muslim woman, who was elected last October, is the first to wear hijab among the 22 females MPs in the Balkan country.

Morocco's Islamist-led government on Friday presented a new European Union-funded plan to promote women's rights and equality, but without earlier measures to legalize abortion and support single mothers.

The plan, which is funded with 45 million euros (about $58 million) from the EU, contains 150 measures to improve women's equality in the health and education sectors, and access to government employment, Minister of Women, Family and Social Development Bassima Hakkaoui said.

In the aftermath of the wave of uprisings that took place across the Arab world in 2011, women were placed under the spotlight of post-revolution political discussion. During the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions, the contribution of Arab women to the toppling of the Ben Ali and Mubarak regimes was both undeniable and admired.

 "The main obstacle for post-revolutionary Arab women is a "patriarchal culture" that imposes a false interpretation on Islam."