Arab Parliaments: Research and 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 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]

This report describes the best practices of building successful political coalitions and examines issues that political parties and other organizations should consider when attempting to build a new coalition or strengthen an existing one. It covers topics such as coalition building, maintenance, structure, communication, targeting and outreach, resource management, and electoral strategy.

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: The Rise of Women in Parliaments in Sub-Saharan Africa [ English ]. 2008 [brief description]

Consolidated response discussing the factors that have lead to women's advancement in Sub-Saharan Africa. Such factors include the introduction of women quotas, national women movements, and recent widespread democratic values throughout the continent.

The handbook is intended for parliamentarians in Malawi to assist them in working more effectively with their constituents. It includes methods for constituency outreach and contact information of individuals and organizations in Malawi.

Constituency Relations: A Two-Way Street, A Workshop for Members of the Palestinian Legislative Council [ English ][ Arabic ]. 1997 [brief description]

This document is a report of the workshop held by NDI in Palestine in 1996 titled "Constituency Relations: A Two - Way Street". The goal of the workshop was to discuss the different methods and tactics available to develop effective relations with the public despite shortages in resources.

Consultations with Moroccan Political Parties and Civic Organizations: Trip Report [ English ]. 1997 [brief description]

This Report covers the series of consultations conducted by NDI, with political leaders and representatives from Moroccan NGOs. The consultations aimed at providing political actors with information on election monitoring and assessing opportunities for future democratic institution building

This handbook, published by the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption, is a guide to parliamentarians around the world interested in good governance and combating corruption. It discusses the relation between the parliament and good governance, the causes and consequences of corruption, controlling corruption, parliaments and coalition building tools and tasks, and building parliamentary networks.

This guide, published by ARPAC, deals with the challenges of governance in the Arab countries and the role of parliaments in promoting accountability, transparency and participation. It introduces the notion of corruption and enumerates the five main elements to fight corruption: political accountability, institutional regulations on political power, a competitive private sector, public sector governance and civil society participation. It places emphasis on the main role of parliaments which consists in calling for reforms to fight corruption and realizing these reforms by building parliamentary networks and alliances. This guide is supplemented with annexes, namely the United Nations Convention against Corruption, articles from the bill on the fight against corruption in Algiers, as well as case studies from Lebanon, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Palestine and Jordan.

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.

This policy paper is aimed at the Iraqi political and social leadership representing different and conflicting visions, but is also relevant to those sectors of the international community called to provide technical, financial and political support to the transition process in Iraq. This policy paper addresses three discrete areas: constitution building processes, electoral system design and political parties in divided societies. It is based on a comparative global analysis undertaken by IDEA. It is meant to offer practical options on how to strengthen democratic institutions and processes.

Developing a Parliamentary Research Service, the Experience of Egypt [ English ]. 1999 [brief description]

Draft International Law for Youth: Arab Countries and Legislations Related to Youth Rights and Duties. Second Study [ Arabic ]. 2007 [brief description]

This study was prepared by the Arab Scout Parliamentary Union, and the Parliamentary Program at Cairo University, with the support of UNDP. The study aims at observing the best practices in Arab legislation (focus of this study), as well as modern international legislation (the focus of the first study “Draft International Law for Youth: Survey of International Youth Related Legislation”) as it is a legislative and institutional mechanism for Arab youth empowerment.

Draft International Law for Youth: Survey of International Youth Related Legislation. First Study [ Arabic ]. 2007 [brief description]

This study was prepared by the Arab Scout Parliamentary Union, the Parliamentary Program at Cairo University, with the support of UNDP. The study aims at observing the best practices in modern international legislation (the focus of this study) as well as Arab legislation (focus of the second study “Draft International Law for Youth: Arab Countries and Legislations Related to Youth Rights and Duties”), as it is a legislative and institutional mechanism for Arab youth empowerment.

Executive, Legislative and Judicial Powers, Checks and Balances and Judicial Independence: A Paper Prepared for the UN Project on Constitution Making in Iraq [ Arabic ]. 2005 [brief description]

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.

Government Institutions Strengthening Component Local Government and Parliament Project Report [ English ]. 2004 [brief description]

This report highlights the achievements of the Center for Legislative Development of the State University of New York at Albany (SUNY/CLD) since 1993, in providing technical and administrative assistance to the Government of Lebanon through the Lebanon Relief and Redevelopment Project

The booklet contains the complete text of the guidelines as well as the accompanying IPU Council resolution which was unanimously adopted in May 2000 in Amman. The booklet is addressed primarily to Webmasters, information technology experts and all those working in the field of parliamentary information and involved in planning and realization of parliamentary Web sites. The Guidelines should be of particular interest to those parliaments that are currently embarking on Web-related projects.

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.

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.

Legislative-Executive Relations: Governing in Partnership, A Workshop for Members of the Palestinian Legislative Council [ English ]. 1997 [brief description]

This is a report of the workshop organized by NDI in collaboration with Associates in Rural Development and the Center for Palestine Research and Studies, titled “Legislative – Executive Relations: Governing in Partnership”.

Manual on Legislative Drafting for the Iraqi Council of Representatives [ Arabic ]. 2008 [brief description]

This manual was prepared by Mr. Mahmoud Sabra, one of the Arab region’s leading experts in legislative drafting, and was published by UNDP-POGAR as part of the project entitled “Strengthening the Capacities of the Iraqi Council of Representatives”. This manual is designed specifically for the Iraqi Council of Representatives, and contains guidelines on how to read, analyze, and draft a bill. The purpose of the Manual is to help members of the Iraqi Council of Representatives and legal councilors perform their duties as efficiently and effectively as possible.

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.

Moving Towards a Partisan Policy? The Islamic Constitutional Movement in Kuwait [ Arabic ]. 2007 [brief description]

This paper, prepared by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, sheds light on the Islamic constitutional movement in Kuwaiti politics. It discusses the rise of this movement, its efforts to gain an Islamic and constitutional dimension and its capacity to use and strengthen parliamentarian tools, as well as the possibility for an opposition coalition to undertake political reforms in Kuwait.

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.

Official Structures in the Service of Research and Information in the Egyptian Parliament [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

The Egyptian Parliament offers technical and administrative assistance to its members through different organs, with the main objective of empowering MPs to carry out their legislative and control tasks and in this study an attempt is made to describe and evaluate the official institutional structures that offer information and research services in Parliament.

Organization of the Parliamentary Session: Balancing Democracy and Efficiency [ English ][ Arabic ]. 1997 [brief description]

This document is a report of the workshop held by NDI in Palestine in 1997 titled "Organization of the Parliamentary Session: Balancing Democracy and Efficiency". The goal of the workshop was to discuss methods of increasing the efficiency of the plenary procedures, organizing the plenary in the absence of party mechanisms.

Parallel Structures for Parliamentary Research and Studies in Egypt [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

This report reviews the parallel information structures of the Egyptian People’s Assembly. It seeks to place these structures within a theoretical framework that facilitates a comparison with other cases in the area of performance evaluation and raising alternatives to enhance information efficiency in parliamentary debates.

This book combines the proceedings of the 2nd annual conference of the Parliamentary Program of the Faculty of Economics & Political Science- Cairo University that has been held in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Egypt. The topic of the conference was parliamentary reform, various papers were presented on related issues.

Party Finance Reform in Africa, Lessons Learned from Four Countries: Ghana, Kenya, Senegal & South Africa [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

Report published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) on awareness raising efforts on transparent and accountable party financing based on the second component of the African Political Party Finance Initiative. It considers the cases of Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, and South Africa.

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.

The International Republican Institute (IRI) has conducted a survey of the development of popular governmental participation and the Majlis Ash'Shura (Consultative Assembly) in the Sultanate of Oman, one of the world's last remaining monarchies. This report provides an examination of these Omani political reforms and offers insight into their future.

Political Parties in Asia: Promoting Reform And Combating Corruption In Eight Countries [ English ]. 2004 [brief description]

The report, published by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the Council for Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD), presents research findings on strategies to combact corruption and mechanisms put in place by Asian political parties to limit opportunities for corruption. It focuses on Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.

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 handbook, prepared by NDI, explains the concept importance and mechanism of pollwatching. It highlights the importance of the role political parties play in poll watching, and outlines a strategy that political parties can use on election day.

Report of the National Council for Human Rights on the Parliamentary Elections, 2005 [ Arabic ]. 2005 [brief description]

Report of the National Council for Human Rights on the Presidential Elections [ Arabic ]. 2005 [brief description]

This report on the presidential elections in Egypt focuses on the following subjects: the preparation phase ahead of the monitoring process, the monitoring process, international attention and the Council’s observations.

Report of The Workshop on Coalition Building Among Political Parties in the Moroccan Legislature [ English ]. 1998 [brief description]

This document is a report of a workshop held by NDI in Morocco in 1998 titled “Workshop on Coalition Building Among Political Parties in the Moroccan Legislature”. It examined methods of building coalitions, and ways of maintaining them as well as the importance of information sharing within coalitions.

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.

Republic of Macedonia Code of Conduct Of Political Parties For Free and Fair Parliamentary Elections [ English ]. 2003 [brief description]

Role of Arab Parliaments in the Fight against Corruption: Realities and experiences from the Arab World [ Arabic ]. 2005 [brief description]

This paper, prepared by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, analyzes the situation of secular parties in four Arab countries (Morocco, Egypt, Yemen and Kuwait). It presents the background of these parties and undertakes a thorough analysis of their future.

Status of Jordanian Women: Demography, Economic Participation, Political Participation and Violence [ English ][ Arabic ]. 2004 [brief description]

The report was prepared in collaboration with the national Department of Statistics and the Jordanian National Commission for Women, and includes in-depth analysis of gender gaps and disparities. The report is intended to be a tool for policy-makers and practitioners to report on CEDAW and progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, as well as facilitate better planning and equitable resource allocation in national budgeting.

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 Parliaments in Conflict/Post-conflict Situations: Case Study on Yemen [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

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

The Convention Against Corruption in the Middle East and North Africa Region: The Role of Civil Society in Ensuring the Success of International Conventions [ Arabic ]. [brief description]

This manual focuses on the United Nations Convention against Corruption, as well as on civil society's role in ensuring its success in the MENA region. The manual explains the purpose of the Convention, describes the means to encourage the process of national ratification and the mechanism of such ratification, dissociates implementation from monitoring between governments, and discusses the ways for civil society to handle the monitoring process.

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 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.

This report published by NDI is an assessment of the Palestinian Legislative Council. It provides a snapshot of the PLC in its early weeks. Some of the issues covered are: the role of parties and factions in the PLC, the formal powers of the Palestinian council and constraints on it and its members, organization of the Council and its meetings. it also covered the Council structure, the legislative process, and the legislative executive relations.

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.

The Independent Elections Committee: a Comparative Study and Proposed Framework [ Arabic ]. 2006 [brief description]

This study focuses on a number of issues dealing with the electoral process and how to enhance the performance of electoral management bodies. It attempts to clarify the process by analyzing the work of independent electoral commissions in several other countries.

The Internal Regulations of the House of Representatives: Commented Study [ Arabic ]. 2008 [brief description]

English abstract of the monograph "The 1992-1996 Lebanese Parliament" published originally in Arabic by the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies. The research focused on the performance of the Lebanese Parliament as the legislative branch of the government.

The Parliament Press in Egypt 2000 – 2003: A Mechanism for increasing Awareness of the Legislative Institution [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

This study raises a number of questions that seek to give depth to the debate on the role of the parliamentary press. The analysis in this paper focused on a period from 2000 to 2003, which includes a national parliamentary election round in 2000. This election has seen some new phenomena that have left their mark on parliamentary life thereafter.

The Public Sector in Palestine: Duties and Powers of the Palestinian National Authority Institutions [ Arabic ]. 2006 [brief description]

This publication produced by Aman-Palestine introduces the legal framework governing public sector institutions in Palestine by reviewing the legislations by virtue of which these institutions operate, be it the ones implemented by the concerned institutions or the administrative legislations organizing their activity. The study identifies the weaknesses and strengths in the legal situation of public sector institutions in Palestine, as well as the problems faced by these institutions and the obstacles preventing them from discharging their .duties in an efficient way, and suggests practical measures aimed at improving the efficiency of these institutions.

The Role of Parliaments in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations: Comparative Study of Five Arab Countries [ English ]. 2005 [brief description]

The present study aims at assessing the role of parliament in preventing, managing and resolving conflict. The assessment builds on field research conducted in four selected countries: Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan and Yemen.

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.

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.

Speech to a lecture series sponsored by Trinidad and Tobago's Ministry of Community, Culture, and Gender Affairs and the United Nations Development Programme. Its main focus is on women's representation as it constitutes one of three indicators on gender equality and women's empowerment, a Millennium Development Goal (MDG) that has been unfulfilled on the assigned year, 2005.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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 Under Attack: Occupation, Constitution and Fundamentalisms [ English ]. 2006 [brief description]

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, 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.