Tunisia

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. 

The new Constitution of Tunisia was adopted by an overwhelming majority of the country’s National Constituent Assembly on Sunday evening, January 26 2014, and signed and promulgated in a ceremony at the Assembly on January 27 2014. It is a historic moment for Tunisia; the country’s first democratic constitution, and a particularly significant event for Tunisian women.

Tunisia's new constitution could usher in momentous change for women, following the adoption of a clause which guarantees gender equality in legislative assemblies and for steps to be taken to protect women against violence, a first in the Arab world.