Arab Parliaments: Publications

1995-2003: Have Women Progressed? Latin American Index of Fulfilled Commitment [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

The report, published by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the Latin American Faculty for Social Sciences - Chile (FLASCO), summarizes the Latin American Index for Fulfilled Commitments (IFC) and includes measurements of the index from 1995 to 2003 in 18 countries in the region. The information presented in the index reveals progress and setbacks regarding gender equality in the region.

30 Years of Democracy: Riding the Wave? Women’s Political Participation in Latin America [ English ]. 2008 [brief description]

Publication by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) examining the progress in women's participation at all levels in Latin America in the past three decades by drawing on data from 18 countries. It provides recommendations for improving participation such as electoral reforms and incorporating gender criteria into regulations on political party financing.

A Gender Responsive Parliament: A Handbook on Gender Mainstreaming in the Legislature [ English ]. 2008 [brief description]

A handbook published by the United Nations Development Programme and the Secretariat General of the Indonesian House of Parliament that provides brief and simple references to gender mainstreaming in legislation processes. The handbook also sheds light on women's political participation in a certain number of countries.

This guidebook jointly produced by NDI-USAID, is designed to help women in dealing and benefiting from media to get media recognition for their cause. the handbook provides useful information on how to plan a media strategy, and how to use the different media options such as printed media, electronic media, audio-visual media as well as how to prepare for interviews, press releases speeches and presentations, and public speaking.

A Training for Trainers Manual. Nominating for Change: Strengthening Women's Position in Political Parties [ English ]. 2003 [brief description]

This manual is based on a Training of Trainers workshop “Nominating for Change: Strengthening Women’s Position in Political Parties” delivered by NDI. It aims at supporting other programs, which promote women’s political participation – through the nomination process or otherwise. It was prepared as a Training of Trainers tool to prepare participants to deliver workshops that help increase women’s skills to get themselves nominated by their political parties.

Advancing Gender Equality – Using CEDAW and UN Security Council Resolution 1325. [ English ]. 2008 [brief description]

The purpose of this training module, prepared by UNIFEM, is to build the capacity and awareness of gender equality advocates in government and civil society in the Southern Caucasus to advocate for and support the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and UN Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security.

This training manual, translated by NDI, was designed to expand opportunities for women’s grassroots leadership. The manual covers leadership topics such as appreciative inquiry, experiential learning, conflict resolution and teambuilding. It also provides training techniques for using interactive, learner-centred methods and designing, implementing and evaluating participatory training. The resource section includes clear descriptions of leadership related concepts, as well as skills, tools, training methods and activities. It could be of interest to adult educators, community organizations, groups working with women, youth and organizations that wish to strengthen in-house training skills.

This presentation, published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI), explains the terms used in gender mainstreaming work such as gender analysis; gender budgeting, gender equality and gender equity. It describes the gaps existing in gender equality and comparative strategies employed by governments to address them. The presentation also includes steps on implementing gender based programming and policy recommendations on overcoming gender disparities.

Assessing Women’s Political Party Programs: Best Practices and Recommendations [ English ]. 2008 [brief description]

Assessment published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) designed to identify effective approaches towards encouraging women's participation and leadership in political parties. The assessment is intended as a roadmap for both individuals and organizations towards achieving that end.

Budgeting for Equity: Gender Budget Initiatives Within a Framework of Performance Oriented Budgeting. [ English ]. 2003 [brief description]

A Handbook published by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) discussing the tools needed to determine the impact of government budgets on both sexes. It provides insight into performance-oriented budgeting from a gender perspective. It also includes a model on the means to attain better gender awareness in budget planning..

This report, published by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, discusses women’s political participation in Iraq, including their role in building sustainable peace in the country and drafting the new constitution. It also includes biographies of some Iraqi women leaders and list of publications related to the new role of women in Iraq.

Building Democracy in Yemen: Women's Political Participation, Political Party Life and Democratic Elections [ English ][ Arabic ]. 2005 [brief description]

A handbook published by the International Republic Institute (IRI) describing a training course for women and youth candidates. It includes aspects ranging from the leadership qualities and attributes of candidates to aspects such as securing campaign funding and finances, membership mobilization, and media relations.

Candidate Training Manual for Women: Training Manual for Civil Society Organizations [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

Training manual published by National Democratic Institute (NDI) designed for trainers of women candidates running for office at the local and national levels. Background information and guidelines are provided on securing party funding, campaign plan and message development, and constituency outreach.

This guide provides a basic introduction to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, and reviews their commonalities, synergies, and potential strategic uses, particularly in the context of conflict and post-conflict reconstruction.

Conditions determining the level of representation of women: The experience of quota system in Latin America [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

Report published by the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women (UN-DAW) exploring the impact of introducing gender quotas in Latin America. It examines three periods, between the 1970s and 1980s, around 1995, and in 2004. It shows that women in Latin America enjoyed relatively high representation in parliament independent of quotas, however, it shows that quotas did lead to in increase despite it being small.

Consolidated Response on How to Promote a Gender Equality Policy Within a Political Party [ English ]. 2008 [brief description]

Constitutional Provisions and Enhancing Participation of Women in Elections [ English ]. 2004 [brief description]

Paper published by the United Nations Office of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women (OSAGI) discussing the participation of women in post-conflict countries. It examines the obstacles they face in their efforts to participate in elections. The paper also describes the legislative measures taken to enhance the participation of women in several countries, however, it also delineates that the difficulties are hardly experienced at the constitutional level as women generally have the right to vote, but rather at the implementation level.

Decentralization, Local Power and Women’s Rights: Global Trends in Participation, Representation and Access to Public Services [ English ]. 2008 [brief description]

Summary report on the outcomes and recommendations of a conference sponsored by the International Development Research Center (IDRC) on women's political participation and access to public services within a decentralization framework. It highlights the impact of decentralization on excluded groups, including women, and offers recommendations on strategies and policies related to decentralization and local government.

This report is based on the outcome of a project carried out by International IDEA, in cooperation with the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND), aimed at discussing democratic reform in Egypt, Jordan and Yemen. Some of the main topics discussed are electoral laws and systems, enhancing women’s political participation, political parties, and the challenges and opportunities facing political reform in the Arab world.

Democracy in the Arab World: Challenges, Achievements and Prospects [ English ]. 2000 [brief description]

Based on a roundtable discussion organized by IDEA, this is a review of democracy in the Arab World Region during the nineties looking at the main challenges in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Yemen. It analyses issues such as the role of religion in politics, the participation of women, globalization, elections, democratic institutions and the freedom of association.

Document published by the United Nations Women and Development Unit - ECLAC on democratic governance and gender equality in Latin America and the Caribbean. It tackles numerous dimensions including trends in women participation in the legislature, participation of women in women movements to develop new constitutions, women's participation in state reform, and policies for increasing women participation in representative offices.

Designing an Effective Campaign Plan - Partners in Participation - Women's Campaign Initiative [ Arabic ]. 2003 [brief description]

This handbook, prepared by NDI, aims at identifying the basic pillars for an electoral campaign and the candidate's role in it such as team building, recruiting volunteers, campaign planning, fundraising, communication, and what is to be done on election day.

Designing for Equality: Best-fit, Medium-Fit and Non-Favourable Combinations of Electoral Systems and Gender Quotas [ English ]. 2007 [brief description]

A guidebook published by International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) providing an overview of how electoral systems function with different quotas for women. It assesses how women's representation can be increased under different combinations of electoral systems and quotas.

Does Size Matter? Critical Mass and Women MPs in the New-Zealand House of Representatives [ English ]. 2001 [brief description]

Paper published by the Australian National University focusing on the claim that women will impact politics only when they achieve critical mass in legislative bodies. It highlights the number of complexities that are ignored in critical mass literature by using the case of the New Zealand House of Representatives (parliament).

Drafting Gender-Aware Legislation: How to Promote and Protect Gender Equality in CEE and CIS [ English ]. 2003 [brief description]

A handbook published by the United Nations Development Programme providing a comparative overview on gender-aware legislation and practice in Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth Independent states. The handbook also describes a comprehensive approach to influencing legislation processes and a detailed checklist for the analysis of such processes.

The training guide, published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), focuses on a human rights-based approach to democratic governance as a framework for women's empowerment and the need for development cooperation to ensure gender equality in areas relating to parliament, electoral systems, and public administration.

Engendering Constitutions: Gender Equality Provisions in Selected Constitution [ English ]. 2007 [brief description]

This study provides analysis of global best practices of engendered constitutions using CEDAW as an analytical framework. It also analyzes existing or in some cases, draft constitutional .texts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia according to CEDAW provisions and reviews political party platforms for commitment to gender.

Enhancing the Role of Women: UNDP Yemen Electoral Support Programme [ English ]. 2004 [brief description]

Presentation published by the United Nations Development Programme - Yemen Electoral Support Programme. It focuses on UNDP's efforts to enhance women's politcal participation in Yemen. The presentation outlines the programmes' strategic areas of support in the elections process with a particular focus on voter education.

Enhancing Women's Participation in Electoral Processes in Post-Conflict Countries [ English ]. 2004 [brief description]

The Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI) convened an expert group meeting on "Enhancing women’s participation in electoral processes in post-conflict countries,” jointly organized with the Department of Political Affairs of the United Nations. The group discussed and analyzed electoral processes in post-conflict countries and the obstacles, lessons learned and good practices in enhancing women’s participation in these processes. This report is the outcome of that meeting.

Enhancing Women's Participation in Electoral Processes in Post-Conflict Countries: Report of the Expert Group Meeting Jan. 2004 [ English ]. 2004 [brief description]

Report published by the United Nations Special Office on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI). It includes discussions and recommendations by an expert group from OSAGI in the Department of Social and Economic Affairs (DESA), jointly with the Department of Political Affairs in the United Nations. The discussions mainly centered around electoral processes in post-conflict countries, while the recommendations mainly focused on incorporating gender perspectives into election phases in post-conflict countries.

Equal Participation of Women and Men in Decision-Making Processes, with Particular Emphasis on Political Participation [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

This paper, published by the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, describes issues relevant to women's political participation, representation and leadership. It describes strategies to address the disparity between men and women, gender mainstreaming as a cross-cutting strategy, globalization, and women's mobilization strategies.

Explaining Women’s Representation: The Role of Legislative Recruitment & Electoral Systems [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

Paper published by the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women (UN-DAW). It examines the essential steps involved in being elected to countries' parliaments. It also examines the impact of a certain country's level of development, culture, and electoral system on the representation of women.

Facing Challenges and Pioneering Feminist and Gender Studies: Women in Post-colonial and Today's Maghrib [ English ]. 2008 [brief description]

A paper published by African and Asian Studies revealing the positive role played by Maghribi women (North African) in the overall development of their countries. It focuses on women's activism in the political sphere and civil society, and their contributions to academia. It sheds light on legislation concerning women, and improvements in women's legal rights whereby the family and nationality laws were amended in the post-colonial period.

Fact Sheet on Women in Government as at January 1996. The UN Division for the Advancement of Women has created a statistical database on women in the executive branch of governments. Data for 187 countries was extracted form information published in the 1996 Edition of the Worldwide Government Directory (Worldwide Government Directories, Inc.).

A handbook published by the IRI Women's Democracy Network on fundraising tactics for women. The guide follows logical steps such as planning, research and donor or sponsor identification in the initial phase. It moves onto the methods for formulating a strategic plan in the case of an organization and a tactical plan on an individual basis. Various sources of funding are also highlighted.

Gender and Decentralization: Promoting Women's Participation in Local Councils [ English ]. 2000 [brief description]

Toolkit intended for policy-makers providing a practical introduction on the significance and means of integrating gender issues into security reform. It contains 12 chapters mainly on the reform of defense, justice and penal system, police and border management, and on parliamentary and civil society oversight of the security sector. The toolkit is published by UN-instraw and the Geneva Center for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF).

The Presentation published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) offers recommendations to improve gender sensitivity in electoral processes, outlines legal and institutional frameworks, and lists various means of encouraging political mobilization and participation.

This manual, published by the United Nations Development Fund For Women (UNIFEM), is part of the leading training manuals aimed at building the capacities of the persons working in statistics departments and provides gender indicators in priority areas of concern. Indeed, indicators are an essential means enabling planners and decision-makers to measure gender inequalities. These indicators also provide the necessary information used by gender statistics experts to claim policies that lead to effective gender equality. This manual is intended to train the concerned parties or those who might join working groups commissioned to draw up gender statistics in their countries, introducing statistical saff and users to the various elements constituting gender issues, and training male and female participants to analyze and present gender statistics.

Gender Responsive Budgeting and Women’s Reproductive Rights: A Resource Pack [ English ]. 2006 [brief description]

This resource pack, published by UNIFEM/UNFPA, provides relevant knowledge to facilitate mainstreaming gender-responsive approaches into reproductive health programmes, and the inclusion of specific aspects of gender inequality and disadvantage into national policy frameworks. It focuses primarily on health, particularly reproductive health; on HIV/AIDS; and on violence against women as it relates to health services.

The training manual on gender responsive budgeting (GRB) is intended to build the capacity of UNFPA and UNIFEM staff in applying gender budget analysis tools in their programming around gender equality and women’s rights, it will also assist them in supporting gender budget initiatives wherever they exist. The manual specifically seeks to build understanding of GRB as a tool for promoting gender equity, accountability to women’s rights as well as efficiency and transparency in budget policies and processes.

Research report published by the Electoral Institute of South Africa (EISA) providing insights into electoral laws and regulations regulating parliamentary and presidential elections in Zimbabwe. The research report also delineates to problems faced by women candidates in terms of funding, hostility from men, and quotas.

Genderware – The Council of Europe and the Participation of Women in Political Life [ English ]. 2003 [brief description]

This paper, published by the Council of Europe, provides a historical background on women political participation in Europe, and discusses some major themes such as: gender equality and democracy, equality through law, positive political action, young women political participation, and women's individual voting rights. the paper concludes by highlighting the importance of political parties as necessary vehicles for democracy.

This handbook, jointly produced with the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, offers a comprehensive and educational presentation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which is the most comprehensive international instrument on women's rights, and its Optional Protocol. The handbook presents the background to and content of the Convention and the Optional Protocol and describes the role of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which secures implementation at the national level.

Increasing Women Political Participation: National Survey on Public Perceptions of Women in Politics [ English ]. 2003 [brief description]

This study, published by NDI, explores the numerous factors, which maintain the status quo and/or restrain or assist women as socio-political actors. The results point to the varying socio-cultural dynamics that contribute to the advancement and autonomy of Guyanese women. This report emphasizes that while there has been a considerable achievement to improve the political status of women, the social and economic conditions have not facilitated an enabling environment for women’s full participation.

Overview of the commitments by the South African Development Community (SADC) relating to the inclusion of women in decision making and women's representation in parliament and government. The main commitment consists in attaining a 30% quota for women in parliament in SADC countries as a means to guarantee social justice in society at large.

Issues in Women's Political Empowerment in the Asia-Pacific Region [ English ]. 1999 [brief description]

Paper published by the Center for Asia-Pacific Women in Politics. The paper is divided into three sections: obstacles to women empowerment including institutional barriers, opportunities to women's empowerment including greater interest in advancing democratic governance, and future directions including creating an enabling environment for women's political empowerment.

Jordanian Woman's Participation in Politics: Analytical Study of the Parliamentary conduct in the Fourteenth Parliament Council [ Arabic ]. 2007 [brief description]

This report, published by the United Nations Development Fund For Women (UNIFEM) in collaboration with the National Committee for Women, aims at shedding light on and studying the situation of Jordanian women in terms of political participation and the role of political will in guaranteeing the presence and integration of women in decision-making processes in Jordan. It also deals with the obstacles and challenges facing women in politics, and places emphasis on women political participation in Jordan since the beginning of 2003 when Provisional Law No. 34, dated 2001on Parliamentary Elections, known as the Women Quota Law, was amended. The report contains an anaysis and comparison between the strengths and weaknesses in the law within the national context.

This study stresses on the importance of women access to the legislature with particular emphasis on the experience of Jordanian women in this regard. It also analyzes the reasons behind women's failure and sets out the required measures for strengthening their capacity to access parliament.

Kuwait: Citizens Attitude towards Women Political Participation [ Arabic ]. 2007 [brief description]

This research sheds light on the attitudes of Kuwaiti citizens towards the political participation of women. It mainly aims at exploring the public's vision of women as political actors in the country and of women's participation during past elections, as well as the factors affecting voters' choice during the elections of the Majlis Al-Oumma. The study consisted of seven focus groups of voters aged between 24 and 40, from both sexes and belonging to both the sedentary and nomadic population in Kuwait. In-depth meetings were also held with eight Kuwaiti opinion leaders who are active in the field of the media, education, law, economy and politics.

This Handbook was drafted by the Women’s Learning Partnership For Rights, Development, and Peace (WLP), the Association Démocratique des Femmes du Maroc (ADFM), BOABAB for Women’s Human Rights of and the Staff for Palestinian Women Issues. The Handbook deals with a new form of vertical leadership and democracy which contributes to women empowerment and discusses many important topics, particularly: developing the self for leadership capacities, communicating with other and building learning partnerships.

Article published by a professor of political science at Stockholm University addressing the question of which type of gender quota would lead to greater women representation, that is, legal gender quotas or voluntary party quotas. The article indicates that the answer to this question is contingent on the nature of political systems the quotas are introduced in.

This annex to the 2006 economic and financial report on the gender approach stands as a pioneer step in the Arab world. The report sheds light on the gender approach concept and methodology and on some of the elements of the public policies on gender implemented by the various ministries.

The 2008 Gender Report published by the Ministry of Finance and Privatization aims to review and analyze the impact of the major sectoral programmes to identify some areas of intervention to better take into consideration the gender dimension in the design of public policies.

National Seminar on The Process of Engendering a New Constitution for Rwanda [ English ][ French ]. 2002 [brief description]

Report on a seminar, organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), within the framework of the elaboration of a new gender-sensitive constitution for Rwanda. Participants included Rwandan MPs, women associations, Rwandan delegations from the President's office, government, and the supreme court, in addition to parliamentary delegations from other African countries The report is in English and French.

Nigeria: Political Transition and the Complexities of Gender Empowerment [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

Paper published by United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women (UN-DAW) on the transition from the marginalization of gender concerns in the political sphere to the integration of women into constitutional politics in Nigeria. It shows how women's representation is steadily, albeit modestly, growing due to overcoming patriarchal structures that restricted the involvement of women in politics.

Nominating for Change: Strengthening Women's Position in Political Parties. A Training of Trainers Manual [ English ]. 2003 [brief description]

This manual is based on a workshop organized by NDI Indonesia Women’s Program support for the Indonesian Political Women’s Caucus, a cross-party national organization that NDI has been working with since its inception. Both the upcoming national election in 2004 and the legislative push to have a 30% quota of women nominated by their respective parties presented opportunities for women to increase their political presence with parties.

The Panorama, published by IPU, offers a revealing snapshot of the major electoral events of the preceding year. It provides an eight-page overview of the year's direct parliamentary elections, illustrated by graphics on the situation of parliaments in the world, voter turnout, power shifts and women 's representation. The brochure also presents key statistics from the IPU's database on national parliaments, accompanied by brief thematic narratives.

This report, published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), argues that women in parliament can have a positive impact on the political process and strongly advocates for gender equality in parliament. It also includes a brief case study of women legislators in Rwanda.

This handbook, published by the World Bank Institute in collaboration with the Parliamentary Centre, is designed to assist parliamentarians in carrying out their oversight role on gender. It discusses the definition of gender, identifies some of the topical gender issues for clarification, provides an overview of microfinance, and focuses on some security issues that directly affect women. It also addresses the question of poverty, focuses on the budget as a mechanism for allocating resources in society, and establishes the link between gender issues and the role of parliamentarians. Finally, it examines the origins of attitudes towards gender, and discusses reasons for change and how such change can be achieved.

A toolkit published by United Nations instraw and the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF). It provides a thorough explanation of the significance of gender in parliamentary oversight of the security sector. Includes sections on gender equality in decision making and on women's representation in parliament and parliamentary security decision making.

Subtitled "An assessment of developments in national parliaments, political parties, government and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, five years after the Fourth World Conference on Women", the study published by IPU analyses answers received from parliaments and political parties to the surveys undertaken since October 1998 on follow-up to Beijing.

The Passport to Equality is a publication that presents, explains and reproduces CEDAW in the form of a personal passport. The purpose of the Passport is to make women and men all over the world aware of the existence of the Convention.

Performance Based Budgeting from a Gender Perspective- Egypt [ Arabic ]. 2004 [brief description]

The following resource book, produced by the Public Administration Research and Consultation Centre (PARC) of Cairo University in collaboration with the Egyptian National Council for women, explains performance based budgeting and ways of integrating gender into those budgets. The book also provides a number of examples and practical tools.

Performances of Resistance: Women's Struggle for Political Power in Cambodia [ English ]. 2006 [brief description]

Paper published by UN-INSTRAW exploring strategies employed by Cambodian women to resist male domination within the political sphere. It investigates ways of eliminating gender hierarchies and altering gender stereotypes and roles. To that end, it addresses two main processes which are networking and mobilization, and the formation on new identities by Cambodian women.

Political Empowerment of Egyptian Women, is Quota the Solution ?!! [ Arabic ]. 2009 [brief description]

This study is an overview of the political participation of women in Egypt. The study enumerates the rights gained by women after the July revolution, notably the right of nomination and election. It also monitors the constraints which stand in the face of the political empowerment of women in International Law and the Egyptian Constitution. The study discusses the quota in the international conventions, as well as the presence of women in the legislative, executive and judicial branch.

Political Parties and Democracy in Theoretical and Practical Perspectives: Developments in Party Communications [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

The paper published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) considers possible approaches to create more effective and inclusive political parties. It focuses on communication channels that parties may use to strengthen relationships with citizens and promote fair elections. It also describes communication channels that can be adopted by governments to promote fair and free elections.

Paper published by the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women (UN-DAW).The paper analyses the interaction of gender issues with political parties and the relationship between the two in order to assess under which circumstances political parties incorporate gender demands, and the tendency of political parties to be more or less committed to the advancement of gender policies. The paper focuses on the countries of Latin America but may also be applied beyond the continent and to a broader context.

Political Party Quotas in the Croatian Social Democratic Party [ English ]. 2004 [brief description]

A paper published by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA). It examines gender quotas and the participation of women in Croatia after the collapse of the Berlin wall in 1989. It mainly examines how the quota system was adopted by the Croatian Social Democratic Party in a transitional period from a state-run economy to a free-market economy.

This Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) study analyzes the political experience of some 200 women from all over the world. It highlights women's specific contribution to the political process and the changes to which their presence on the political scene has led to in the prevailing political culture and environment, as well as in parties, parliaments and governments. It reports on their successes, their difficulties and their expectations. Statistics and records of personal experience enliven the text and sharpen its focus.

Preparing for Success: Tools, Methods and Strategies for Electoral Campaigns [ English ]. 2003 [brief description]

Training manual published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) offering guidelines for the planning of campaign building workshops intended for women candidates. It provides a description of aspects to be articulated in such workshops ranging from initial preparations and research, building a campaign team, to working with the media.

This paper explores some of most common questions on gender, recalls basic obligations for UNDP staff, and develops a human rights-based approach to practical tools for democratic governance practitioners in terms of gender programming per cluster.

Progress of the World's Women 2008/2009: Who Answers to Women? [ English ]. 2008 [brief description]

Report published by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) providing an analysis on the non-achievement of gender equality commitments endorsed in the MDGs and suggests that the phenomenon is the result of lack of accountability to women. The report stresses that women must be legitimate members of any oversight or accountability process as their involvement would result in more positive outcomes.

Promoting Gender Equality in New Aid Modalities and Partnerships [ English ]. 2006 [brief description]

The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness calls for donors to increase aid and to adopt concrete actions that can be monitored while aid delivery and management is reformed. This discussion paper identifies an initial set of considerations to ensure that gender equality is central to the aid effectiveness agenda. It highlights gender responsive budgets as one of the important tools in this realm. It is intended for policy-makers currently adjusting to the new aid modalities.

An article published by Routledge providing an overview of the increase in the number of women candidates standing for elections in Ghana as a result of certain government policies and campaign building skills programmes. It reveals how the efforts of government institutions, development organizations, and local NGOs have resulted in the increase of women standing as candidates between 1998 and 2002. It also exhibits how allocating a 30% quota for women in district assemblies constituted a crucial factor in enhancing women's representation.

Promoting Partnership between Men and Women in Parliament: The Experience of the Inter-Parliamentary Union [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

Case study presented by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) related to the promotion of the participation of women in parliament which is divided into three sections. The first section consists in a brief analysis of progress or setbacks women parliamentarians have experienced over the past 10 years. The second section examines best practices established by the IPU for parliaments to facilitate the participation of women. The third and final section reflects on a number of capacity building efforts in national parliaments.

Promoting Women's Political Participation: Women Representatives Training (WRT) Program Trainer's Manual [ English ]. 1997 [brief description]

Training manual including a detailed description of a training session for women leaders in Nepal. The manual was published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and covers topics relating to women's empowerment and their advancement within political parties, in addition to community needs identification and the functions of local government.

Putting Gender Back on the Policy Agenda: Gender Equality and Political Participation in the Russian Federation [ English ]. 2007 [brief description]

Article published in Russian Profile (Magazine and Website) discussing the implications of unequal political representation and participation of women in the Russian Federation and the challenges they face within that context in post-soviet Russia. It also explains the necessity of articulating gender issues in the Russian policy agenda to achieve genuine democracy.

This report, published by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, describes women’s role in influencing legislation in the Middle East and North Africa region. It includes case studies about advancing women’s political participation in the region, reforming family laws, and strengthening women’s negotiation skills.

Report on the Status of Women in Yemen Five Years After Beijing 1995 [ English ]. 2002 [brief description]

The report published by The United Nations Development Fund for Women - Arab States evaluates the status of women in Yemen five years after the signing of the Beijing Platform for Action. It reviews women's involvement in a number of areas including their involvement in decision-making processes.

Roundtable Discussion On Analyzing Legislation With A Gender Perspective [ English ]. 2007 [brief description]

A training manual published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) focusing on four main components: gender in lawmaking, gender in committees, gender oversight, and gender and representation. It sheds light on legislation and oversight of gender-sensitive laws. It highlights how a gender perspective would ultimately enable women to play a greater role in decision making in parliament.

Securing the Peace: Guiding the International Community towards Women's Effective Participation throughout Peace Processes [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

This publication provides concrete recommendations to support women's effective participation at all stages of a peace process, promote gender-sensitive peace negotiations and agreements, and encourage the mainstreaming of a gender perspective throughout the implementation of peace accords.

Seethings and Seatings: Strategies for Women’s Political Participation in Asia Pacific [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

Book published by Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law, and Development. It aims at assisting women in the Asia Pacific region to challenge existing structures, especially social structures, hindering their participation in the political process. The book presents six case studies on women leaders from the region.

Stewards of Peace. The Role of Women and Youth in Post-Conflict Sudan: Report on a Series of Workshops with Sudanese Women and Youth [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

This report covers the findings of the series of workshops facilitated by NDI that was designed to strengthen the capacity of Sudanese women and youth to play a full and active role in the future of their country. It focused on three areas: identifying and developing skills necessary to increase participation; providing a platform for cross-cultural dialogue; and creating an agenda for advocacy.

Strengthening Democracy Through Women's Political Participation [ English ]. 2000 [brief description]

Seminar organized and published by The Asia Foundation which took place after the economic crisis in numerous Asian countries in the late 1990s. The objective of the seminar was to formulate strategies for democratic development, economic progress, and stable international relations in the Asia Pacific. The cornerstones it focuses on to achieve such results include human rights and legal reform, the participation of women in politics and other sectors, governance reforms, and security issues.

Strengthening Governance: The Role of Women in Rwanda's Transition, A Summary [ English ]. 2004 [brief description]

Report published by the United Nations Office of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women (OSAGI). It examines and illustrates how women came to play a crucial role in governance and reconciliation in post-genocide Rwanda, and occupy 49% of seats in parliament. It sheds light on the change in women's self perception and their contributions towards gender progressive policies within the administration, in additions to challenges they face.

Strengthening Internal Political Party Democracy: Candidate Recruitment from a Gender Perspective [ English ]. 2008 [brief description]

Paper published by the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA). The paper is based on the premise that political parties can not claim to be democratic unless they are inclusive of all sectors of society they represent whereas the reality is that parliaments remain male dominated. In this regard the paper discusses the candidate selection process within political parties and highlights particular obstacles women face.

Strengthening the Role of Women Parliamentarians in the Arab Region: Challenges and Options [ English ]. 1999 [brief description]

Report published by International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) on debates and discussions that resulted from IDEA's gender activities in Indonesia in 2002. The discussions and debates revolved around women's political participation and representation, in addition to adopting of 30% quota for women by political parties.

International IDEA has convened a series of regional workshops to examine the Asian, Latin American, African, and European experiences with quotas. The fifth and final workshop was held in Cairo, Egypt, in 2004, and reviewed the experiences of quotas in the Arab world. The workshop was organized and held jointly with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Cairo, United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) Arab States, and the National Council for Women in Egypt. This publication is a selection of the case studies presented at the Arab region workshop. They include comparative experiences with quotas, address the cultural challenges to women’s representation in the Arab world, and point to the opportunities that could be seized in order to meet those challenges.

The Economic Advancement of Women in Jordan: A Country Gender Assessment [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

This study prepared by the World Bank, discusses the women economic advancement in Jordan. It sheds light on the gender issues in human development, and highlights the legal, policy, and institutional frameworks for women's economic advancement and political participation.

The Enhancement of Women’s Participation in Electoral Processes in Post-Conflict Countries: The Case of Rwanda [ English ]. 2004 [brief description]

Paper published by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the United Nations, and the permanent mission of Norway. It analyzes the progress achieved after Rwanda adopted a new constitution, while also describing Rwanda's political commitment to aspects such as enhancing women participation, the role of women organizations in that regard, in addition to challenges woman face in the electoral process.

The First Democratic Forum of Arab Women: The Political Empowerment of Women is the First Step towards Political Reform in the Arab World [ Arabic ]. 2005 [brief description]

This publication, prepared by the Montada Al Shaqeq Al Arabi for Human Rights, contains 18 working papers from various Arab States that were submitted during the first democratic forum of Arab women held in Yemen in 2004. These working papers deal with the political participation of Arab women in the various Arab countries by addressing the prevalent political regime, feminist movements, the extent to which women are represented in power and decision-making positions, the mechanism used in order to support the political participation of women, the .obstacles preventing women’s effective and efficient participation in politics, as well as the solutions proposed in order to overcome these obstacles.

The First Democratic Gathering: Women and Yemeni Political Parties [ Arabic ]. 2005 [brief description]

This publication, prepared by the Montada Al Shaqeq Al Arabi for Human Rights, discusses the issue of women and political parties in Yemen and sheds light on the general context in which political parties emerged. It also includes a field study aimed at taking stock of women’s experience with political parties, as well as of the expressed roles, expertise, obstacles and ambition, in addition to personal testimonies from women belonging to different political parties who talk about their experience within their respective parties.

The Fourth Democratic Gathering: Women in Yemeni Local Councils [ Arabic ]. 2005 [brief description]

This study reviews the experience of Yemeni women in local councils in general and focuses on the experience of women during the elections and the mandate of local councils in order to assess the actual performance and identify problems and achievements. The publication also highlights the personal experience of some of the local councils members during elections, and the problems they are faced in the course of their activity as local councils’ members, and includes a legal review and comments on the law on local councils.

This IDEA report examines women’s political representation on the African continent, and shows how quotas have contributed to increasing women’s access to political power. It illustrates the different quota types that are being implemented in different political contexts. The report includes 17 regional and country case studies.

This IDEA report is the first in a series of reports on regional experiences with quota implementation. It addresses key issues such as the type of quotas in use in some parts of Asia (including legislated and political party quotas); when, where and how quotas have worked; the challenges of implementation and enforcement; and the consequences of the use of quotas. It provides information about the use of gender quotas as an instrument to increase women’s political representation in Asia, and to show that they can and are being applied successfully.

This IDEA report examines women’s political representation in Europe, through studying the effect off applying quota systems. There are 11 country case studies included in the report: Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Serbia and Montenegro and Slovenia.

The Participation of Women and Men in Decision-Making: The Parliamentary Dimension [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

This paper has been prepared for the United Nations Expert Group Meeting (EGM) entitled the “Equal participation of women and men in decision-making processes, with particular emphasis on political participation and leadership”. It focuses on the quantitative aspect of women’s participation in parliaments, primarily in the past ten years. It provides an overview of the gains relating to women’s access to parliaments and executive bodies, and highlights some of the factors that influence women’s access to decision-making positions

The Participation of Women in South Africa's First Democratic Election [ English ]. 1999 [brief description]

Paper published by the Electoral Institute of South Africa (EISA) providing an overview on the participation of women in South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994. It deals with aspects such as the intimidation of women voters, role of voter education, attitudes of various political parties towards women, and election results in terms of women's representation in parliament. The paper concludes with a series of useful recommendations for the inclusion of women's needs into the electoral process.

The Role of Female Parliamentarians in Strenghtening Democratic Institutions [ English ]. 2007 [brief description]

Article published by Africa in Democracy and Good Governance (magazine) which tackles the issue of strengthening democracy through parliaments as they constitute one of the three main democratic institutions, the other two being the executive and judiciary. The main emphasis is on the participation of women in parliaments and the democratization process. The article highlights the way forward in terms of women parliamentarians forming networks within each country and between parliaments.

The Second and Third Democratic Gatherings: Women and Politics- Religious Insight- Problems and Solutions [ Arabic ]. 2005 [brief description]

Within the scope of the women political empowerment project implemented by the Montada Al Shaqeq Al Arabi for Human Rights, three national democratic gatherings and an Arab regional forum were organized which discussed the issue of women political participation and empowerment from different perspectives. This publication includes the studies and researches that were discussed during the second and third gatherings. The second gathering aimed at clarifying the vision of Islam regarding the issue of women political participation in an attempt to fight the ideas claiming that Islam opposes women participation in public life and in public decision-making. The third gathering reviewed all of the studies that were discussed during the first and second gatherings, as well as a series of studies that tackled the issue of women political participation in the international law, in all the stages of the national fight against colonialism, and in the social fabric. It also provided visions and mechanism aimed at strengthening women’s role and overcoming the obstacles they come across.

Publication published by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It focuses on legislation to protect women's legal rights and enhancing the justice sector's capacity to enforce women's legal rights. The publication focuses on several countries mainly from Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Women's Movement in Egypt with Selected References to Turkey [ English ]. 2002 [brief description]

This report ,published by UNRISD, discusses the historical backgrounds and contemporary contexts of women’s movements in Egypt and Turkey. It describes the potential of women’s movements to become a force for democratization in the contemporary Middle East and a champion of women’s rights.

Towards Achieving the MDGs in Sudan: Centrality of Women’s Leadership and Gender Equality [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

This publication examines the relationship between women leadership and gender equality. It sheds light on promoting effective participation of Sudanese women in the peace process, and draws conclusions and recommendations on the centrality of women's leadership and gender equality to the MDG's in Sudan.

This study covers three major topics: first, women and international instruments of human rights; second, Jordan’s position in respect of these instruments; and third, how women’s legal status has been affected by these instruments. The report also identifies areas if legal concern relevant to the legal status of Jordanian women. The report also examines the status of women in Jordan in other areas including education, health, economic empowerment and the family. The report recognizes that considerable achievements have been made in terms of improvements in women’s status, but nevertheless highlights areas of particular concern in respect of women’s health and economic stats.

Women’s representation rate in parliament is one of the most important gender indicators signifying level of women’s political participation, which is still low at the international level 13.4% and also in the Arab World 4.6%. During the past three decades, women’s status in Syria has faced radical changes in the area of strengthening women’s capacity in education, work and her general participation. This study is an attempt to examine the political system in Syria and identify obstacles and challenges facing women’s political empowerment.

Urban Governance - Why Gender Matters (Gender Development Monograph Series) [ English ]. 1996 [brief description]

Paper published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) exploring gender issues as they relate to the areas of urban governance and government responsibility. The paper mainly advocates the promotion of gender awareness and competence among both men and women in the political sphere.

Win With Women - Strengthen Political Parties: Global Action Plan [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

A report published by National Democratic Institute (NDI) discussing the Global Action Plan developed by the Win with Women initiative. Includes recommendations on increasing the participation of women in politics on the parliamentary, provincial, local, and political party level, in addition to advocating for legislation that embeds full equality for women and men.

Report published by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars including findings and recommendations discussed at the Winning the Peace: women's role in rebuilding Iraq conference. It describes Iraqi women's role in reconstructing post-conflict Iraq and their participation in governance, legislature, and civil society.

Women & Elections: Guide to Promoting the Participation of Women in Elections [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

This handbook, published by the United Nations Department of Public Information, is intended to provide a quick reference guide to assist different actors working to promote greater participation of women in electoral processes in post conflict countries. Some of the topics discussed are the political participation, voter registration, voter and civil education, election administration and observation.

This case study, published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), examines experience of countries in the Gulf region that have tried to integrate women into chambers of commerce and industry. It also explores some examples of innovative projects and initiatives that have been undertaken to encourage women to participate more effectively in their national economies.

Women and Elections: Guide to Promoting the Participation of Women in Elections [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

The current handbook is intended to provide a quick reference guide to assist headquarters- and field-based actors from the United Nations, Governments and civil society working to promote greater participation of women in electoral processes in post-conflict countries.

Women and Political Participation in the United Arab Emirates [ English ]. 2007 [brief description]

This study is an attempt to examine the political system in the United Arab Emirates and identify obstacles and challenges facing women’s political empowerment including the degree of prejudice of Emirati society towards women political empowerment.

Women and Political Participation in the United Arab Emirates: Political Participation of Women From the Perspective of the Educated Members of the Bahraini Society [ English ][ Arabic ]. 2007 [brief description]

This study, published by the United Nations Development Fund For Women (UNIFEM) and the Supreme Council for Women, is an attempt to examine the political system in Bahrain and identify obstacles and challenges facing women’s political empowerment including the degree of prejudice of Bahraini society towards women political empowerment.

Women and Politics in Indonesia: A General Overview of Strengthening Women's Political Participation [ English ]. [brief description]

Article published by the international Republican Institute (IRI) Women's Democracy Network, discussing the role of the Indonesian State Ministry for Empowerment of Women in strengthening women's political participation in Indonesia. Indonesian women thus far have been marginalized socially, culturally, economically, and politically although they constitute the majority demographically. The article discusses networking and lobbying practices to strengthen women's participation on the local and national levels and to introduce gender quotas.

Women are Citizens Too: The Laws of the States, the Lives of Women [ English ]. [brief description]

Paper published by the UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States discussing gender equality within the broader context of citizenship. It provides an analysis and understanding of the tremendous challenges and resistance faced concerning gender equality in the Arab region. The main areas of focus are related to the family, social security, and nationality laws.

This book tells many inspiring stories of women who have actively negotiated peace amidst their countries' conflicts. "Women at the Peace Table" describes the obstacles faced by women who wanted to get involved in peace negotiations and the strategies they adopted to make a pos itive impact on peace negotiations.

Report published by Hansard Society on women's political representation in the United Kingdom which examines the integration of women's perspectives into British political life. It also identifies the under-representation of women in British elected institutions.

Resource Kit published by the United Nations Development Programme and Asian-Pacific Gender Equality Network-APGEN providing tools for increasing knowledge on issues surrounding the campaign for gender balance in government and politics in general.The resource kit includes strategies to attain gender balance on issues concerning quota systems, campaign finance reform, proportional representation, and political leadership training and support services.

Women’s political rights, previously nonexistent in the conservative Arab Gulf states, have undergone extraordinary growth in recent years. The author ponders the question of how much progress has actually been achieved, considering that women's representations in the Gulf States are even poorer than those in other Arab countries, and how much influence can the US have on this process?

Through interviews and conversations with women belonging to Lebanon’s Hizballah, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, and other Islamist organizations across numerous Arab nations, the authors found an energetic debate among women activists on their newfound role as political actors.

The annual brochure provides an overview and analysis of progress made and setbacks encountered by women in parliament further to elections and renewals held over a year. Produced by IPU, it presents data on women in national parliaments, regional and world trends, information on women presiding officers and women candidates. It also analyses mechanisms aimed at supporting women's access to parliament.

Written by parliamentarians and researchers, this IDEA publication examines the obstacles women face in getting into parliament, how to overcome such barriers and ways in which they can make a greater impact once they enter parliament. It examines topics such as quotas and electoral systems and includes case studies from Costa Rica, Egypt, India, Jordan, Lebanon, Norway, Russia and South Africa.

This new and updated edition of Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers Handbook, published by IDEA, covers the ground of women’s access to the legislature in three steps: It looks into the obstacles women confront when entering Parliament – be they political, socio-economic or ideological and psychological. It presents solutions to overcome these obstacles, such as changing electoral systems and introducing quotas, and it details strategies for women to influence politics once they are elected to parliament, an institution which is traditionally male dominated.

The handbook -with updated sections in 2002- focuses on the problems women face in getting into parliament and the mechanisms they have used to overcome these obstacles. The handbook provides also strategies and ideas of how women MP can have an impact on the political process and uses case studies from a wide range of countries, with cases from Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan.

This information kit, published by IPU, is composed of six data sheets on women's participation in politics over the past 60 years: historical table on the institutional and legal evolution of states and the presence of women in national parliaments; progress and setbacks of women in national parliaments between 01.07.1995 and 01.01.2005; women in the two parliamentary regional assemblies elected by direct suffrage: The Central American Parliament and the European Parliament; a chronology of women heads of state or government: 1945 - 02.2005; an overview of women in the executive and legislative branches; ten years in review: trends of women in parliament worldwide.

The poster is a "snapshot" of the presence of women in the Executive and Legislative branches of Government, in January 2005. It is published by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women. The poster provides information on the percentage of women in ministerial ranks, women in parliaments, women in the highest decision-making bodies (women Presidents of States or Governments, women Presiding Officers of parliamentary bodies), as well as information on the ministerial portfolios held by women throughout the world.

This information kit, Published by IPU, is composed of six data sheets on women's participation in politics over the past 60 years: Historical table on the institutional and legal evolution of States and the presence of women in national parliaments; Progress and Setbacks of Women in National Parliaments between 01.07.1995 and 01.02.2006; Women in the two parliamentary regional assemblies elected by direct suffrage: The Central American Parliament and the European Parliament; A Chronology of Women Heads of State or Government: 1945 - 02.2006; An Overview of Women in Parliament: 1945-2006; The Participation of Women and Men in Decision-Making: The parliamentary dimension.

Research paper published by the United Nations Development Programme-Turkey attempting to determine the Turkish general public's opinion and perception towards the participation of women in politics, gender quotas, and the role of political parties in the advancement of women's participation in politics.

Report published by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) examining actions and strategies taken to advance women's participation in power and decision making within parliament structures in seven states in the Caribbean region. Attention is given to the challenges and limitations encountered in efforts to move this issue forward. An overview of institutional changes that have taken place in the region is also provided.

Recommendations and highlights from the women parliamentary conference published by the Center for Asia-Pacific Women in Politics. It provides guidelines for women parliamentarians to construct peaceful societies and for the removal of major causes of potential conflicts. It highlights a human security approach whereby security concerns are shifted from that of states to security of people.

Set of nationwide focus groups conducted in Morocco to gain a deeper understanding of popular attitudes towards women's economic, social, political, and legal rights. It aims to facilitate and support national and international efforts to empower women in the Middle East and North Africa.

Case study published by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) focusing on Latin America. It reveals women's share in power, public attitude to women leaders, political opportunities open to women based on their involvement in structured or unstructured political parties. It also explores extent of women's representation based on electoral systems, presidential or multi-party systems, in addition to gender quotas.

Article published by MONFEMNET on efforts to introduce a 30% quota for women in Mongolia and Mongolian women's struggles towards adopting the required legislation in that regard. The article provides a space to women's voice expressing their own analysis of parliamentary actions and to propose future steps concerning women rights.

Women’s Experience with Elections: The National Consultative Meeting with Female Candidates to the Parliamentary Elections in Yemen [ Arabic ]. 2005 [brief description]

This publication, prepared by the Montada Al Shaqeq Al Arabi for Human Rights, sheds light on the political participation of Yemeni women by conducting a gender-based political, cultural and historical analysis of the electoral programs of political parties and organizations. It also refers to the experience of seven women who stood for the legislative elections in 2003 and who talked objectively of the obstacles preventing women’s participation in the electoral process in Yemen.

Women’s Political Participation: Meeting on Women and Political Participation - 21st Century Challenges [ English ]. 1999 [brief description]

Women’s Rights in Theory and Practice: Employment, Violence and Poverty [ English ]. 2002 [brief description]

Report published by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars providing a description on the current status of gender equality laws across the United States and lessons learned in the last three decades of the previous century concerning these laws.

Women’s Rights Under Attack: Occupation, Constitution and Fundamentalisms [ English ]. 2006 [brief description]

This report highlights the findings of the Women's Involvement in Local Leadership (WILL) research program examining how elements of program design and implementation contribute to the cultivation of women's leadership and enhance the democratic process in conflict-affected communities in Iraq, Colombia and Serbia. It discusses educational and economic independence, programs to promote women’s leadership, traditional family and social structures, value of women’s contributions, and perception of democracy and politics in the context of the three countries.

Women's Political Participation and Good Governance: 21st Century Challenges [ English ]. 2000 [brief description]

The present report focuses on a number of issues including progress made in women’s political participation since Beijing, the Indian experiment with constitutional amendments mandating the reservation of one third of local government-elected representation to women, and the wider connection between gender, poverty and governance.

This report presents the findings of a study on public attitudes towards women's rights in Egypt. It discusses the status of women's political, educational, economic, and legal rights, as well as the role of the media and information technology in expanding the information available to women on news, politics, and local affairs. The study finds that progress for women is hindered by gaps in public knowledge about basic rights, as well as by institutional weaknesses in Egypt’s government.

This report presents the findings of a study on public attitudes towards women's rights in Kuwait. It examines public sentiment on Kuwaiti women's right to vote, women as political candidates, and Kuwait's political system. It also explores Islam's role in debates on women's rights and the resistance to outside efforts to advance women's political rights in Kuwait.

This report, published by Freedom House, presents the findings of a study on public attitudes towards women's rights in Morocco. These findings reveal a general sense of women's progress in Morocco, broad support for women's educational and political rights, changing views in support of women's right to work, and divided views on women's social and family rights. The report also determines that Moroccans’ understanding of Islam strongly informs their views on women’s freedom.

Women's Rights in the New Constitution of Iraq: Perspectives from the Afghan Constitutional Experience [ Arabic ]. 2003 [brief description]

This study published by NDI, discusses women's rights in the new Iraqi constitution. The study takes women's rights in the new Afghani constitution as a case study, and sheds light on women's right in different constitutions as well. It concludes with recommendations on how to embed women's right in the new constitution.