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Arab States

Women in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region face many of the same challenges as women around the world, including unequal citizenship and a lack of basic resources such as time and money. Exacerbating such challenges is the conservative nature of the region, making it particularly difficult for women to make the decision to openly participate in formal politics and to obtain the necessary public support to win.

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Political Finance Database

The International IDEA political finance database contains information on political finance control provisions in more than 175 countries around the world. That makes it the largest collection of such information.

The information in this database shows the use of different types of regulations in individual countries, but it can also be used to compare the prevalence of various provisions between countries and regions. It is our hope that this database can be used by all who are interested in how the role of money in politics is regulated, be they legislators, regulators, political party officials, civil society activists, journalists or concerned citizens.

Please note that this database deals exclusively with regulations of political finance, not with how such regulations are respected or enforced. As with many areas, the passing of a law does not automatically bring compliance. The world over, scandals concerning money and politics illustrate that laws are breached and loopholes utilized. In other situations, governments may abuse regulations to further their own goals. These facts do not negate the value of collecting the global political finance regulations, it simply means that we cannot assume that these provisions are adhered to or enforced in a manner we might anticipate. Without regulations, there is however nothing to adhere to or enforce; meaning that these provisions present the natural starting point for any study of money in politics.

The database answers 43 questions on political finance within four broad categories:

1. Bans and limits on private income

2. Public funding

3. Regulations of spending

4. Reporting, oversight and sanctions

For more information please visit International IDEA.

Women and political participation: Resolution adopted by the General Assembly

The General Assembly,

Reaffirming  the  obligations  of  all  States  to  promote  and  protect  human  rights and fundamental freedoms as stated in the Charter of the United Nations, and guided by the purposes and principles of human rights instruments,  

Reaffirming  also  the  Universal  Declaration  of  Human  Rights, which  states that  everyone  has  the  right  to  take  part  in  the  Government  of  his  or  her  country directly,  or  through  freely  chosen  representatives,  and  the  right  of  equal  access  to public service, 

Yes I Can: Leadership for Teens

Women’s Learning Partnership’s Yes I Can: Leadership for Teens, the first publication ofthe Young Women’s Learning Partnership (YWLP) by WLP Bahrain/Be-Free Center, is a leadership training manual designed for youth ages 13-17. The manual includes interactive workshop sessions that emphasize creativity, knowledge-sharing, and building partnerships, to help young girls develop greater self-confidence, learn how to communicate effectively, build leadership skills, and identify areas where they can exercise leadership. Yes I Can is available in English and Arabic here.

Leading to Choices: A Leadership Training Handbook for Women

 

Women’s Learning Partnership’s Leading to Choices: A Leadership Training Handbook for Women is based on a conceptualization of leadership as horizontal, inclusive, and participatory. In this model, leadership is viewed as a process that leads to greater choices for all by fostering communication among individuals who learn from each other, create a shared vision, and reach a common goal forged by consensus. The handbook responds to the need for leaders who aspire to create egalitarian, democratic, and pluralistic societies based on collaborative decision-making, coalition-building, and gender equality. Leading to Choices is available in 20 languages, all available here.

Women in Parliament 2011: The year in perspective

2011 has been hailed as a year of democratic transformation: a year in which calls for stronger democratic institutions were made loud and clear, and in which women played a vital part. Women not only entered parliaments in increasing numbers, but stronger efforts were made to ensure that they took their rightful place within these democratic institutions. Also in 2011, a new country was born – South Sudan – and its transitional constituent assembly was comprised of 26.5% of women; a healthy start for this newcomer to democracy.
 
By the end of 2011, thirty single or lower house chambers, up from 25 in 2010, had 30% or more women in Parliament, with seven surpassing 40% and two 50%. New to the list in 2011, further to general elections, were Nicaragua, the Seychelles and Slovenia. In addition, 19 upper houses (up from 17 in 2010) surpassed the 30% mark by the end of 2011, five of which now record more than 40% women. These historically high levels of women’s representation are in parliaments across the globe: 20 chambers in Europe (including all five of the unicameral parliaments of the Nordic countries); 13 chambers in Sub-Saharan Africa; 13 chambers in the Americas; and four chambers in the Asia-Pacific region. The one region where women still have not reached this high level of political participation remains the Arab region. At the other end of the spectrum, women represent 10% or less of members in 61 chambers, including 13 upper houses. Little progress was made with respect to the number of chambers with no women, which decreased during 2011 to seven, down from 10 the previous year.
 
Find comparative data by country here. Find a map with country information here.

She and elections

Nazra for Feminist Studies (Nazra) released a report about mentoring* women candidates in the 2011-12 People’s Assembly Elections based on its observations of the electoral process and the experience of several women candidates.

Nazra reached these findings by supporting (16) women candidates for the People’s Assembly, either nominated on political party  lists or running as individual candidates, in eight governorates in Upper and Lower Egypt.

Nazra’s report, “She and Elections”, presents an overview of the general electoral climate and documents the experience of candidates in various phases of the elections, as well as the difficulties and challenges posed by the legal and political contexts.

Nazra for Feminist Studies will issue the final report after the conclusion of parliamentary elections, including elections for the Shura Council (Upper House of Parliament), which is still underway. Nazra will host a roundtable with successful women candidates, where they will discuss the challenges they faced and how they overcame them. The event will also witness the  screening of the documentary, “She and Elections,” which presents the women candidtes’  experiences of the elections.

Women, Revolution, Politics and Power

During the Arab uprisings, an unprecedented number of women took to the streets, paving the way for a more important role in politics. However, in the transitional period that follows, they now have to fight against their exclusion from the political arena.

The extent of their participation in the new political process, the author argues, will depend on three main factors: their contribution to the democratic culture established, the nature and role of political Islam, as well as gender representation in the news media. As her research in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya and Syria suggests, the fight to carry the women‘s newly found political status through the transitional period will blur the conflict lines between the „traditional-religious“ and the „urban-modern-non-religious“ blocs. Arab women are finding new forms of political participation, distinct from the Western models.

Gender and ICT

This e-Primer looks at information and communications technology (ICT) for development through a gender lens. It provides a gender perspectives to issues of ICT policies; access and control; education, training and skill development; and content development, and introduces a framework to integrate gender in ICT for development and empower women.

Empowering Women for Stronger Political Parties

How women participate in political parties – and how those parties encourage and nurture women’s involvement and incorporate gender-equality issues – are key determinants of women’s political empowerment. They are also key to ensuring gender-equality issues are addressed in the wider society. If strategies to promote women’s involvement in the political process are to be effective, they should be linked to steps parties can take across the specific phases of the electoral cycle – the preelectoral, electoral and post-electoral phases – and to the organization and financing of the parties themselves. 
 
The most effective strategies to increase women’s participation in political parties combine reforms to political institutions with targeted support to women party activists within and outside party structures, women candidates and elected officials. These strategies require the cooperation of a variety of actors and political parties from across the political spectrum.
 
The Guide identifies targeted interventions that political parties can take to empower women. It is structured according to four phases, following an electoral cycle approach.

The Arab Quota Report: Selected Case Studies

Debates on women’s issues and gender relations in the Arab region have been going on for some time now. Such matters are often the most difficult to resolve and, in this age of economic and cultural globalization, they continue to create the same paradoxical situations as they did during the colonial era more than a century ago. To complicate things further, these debates frequently lead to accusations and counteraccusations about cultural authenticity and the degree to which attempts to improve the status of women are indigenous or foreign. Within this environment, Arab women, sometimes assisted by their governments and leaderships, have been trying to pave the way for their political participation.

This paper first summarizes the socio-political and economic situation in the region. It then moves on to a discussion of the political status of Arab women, highlighting their representation in legislatures. The third section looks at the key challenges that confront Arab women who wish to enter the political domain, and the final section focuses on some of the opportunities on offer and the mechanisms that have been employed successfully to enhance women’s political participation.