Achieving Gender Equality in Africa: Where Do We Stand and Where Do We Go?
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Women in Action in Tunisia
ISSUE BRIEF 06.24.20 Women in Action in Tunisia Khedija Arfaoui, Ph.D., Independent Human Rights Researcher Tunisia has long been recognized for its concern is the status of women in state progressive attitude toward women,1 with institutions, including courts, police stations, feminist organizations emerging as early and gendarmeries. Nine years after the as 1936.2 Moroccan author Tahar Ben 2011 uprisings, Tunisian women have not Jelloun suggests that, “[Tunisia] is the most lost any of their rights, but the move for progressive country in the Arab world.”3 equality is far from over and the need to Caroline Perrot asserts that “Tunisia is seen change societal norms remains a core issue. as a forerunner for women's rights in the Discrimination has persisted in Tunisia and it Arab world.”4 Valentine Moghadam shares seems the freedoms granted to women were the same view, stating, “Legal reforms mostly implemented in order to improve made Tunisia the most liberal country in the country’s reputation in the West. This the Arab world.”5 Women have been able brief aims to further an understanding of the to successfully lobby the government to substantive changes, if any, that women in ratify the Commission on the Elimination of Tunisia have experienced. Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)6 and have demanded action against all forms of discrimination and violence.7 Women RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS AND continued to elevate their status after the SETBACKS IN WOMEN’S EQUALITY 2011 uprising using grassroots mobilization Education efforts, leading to support from politicians. Previously, decisions about women’s The government’s will to decrease gender status were made at the government level inequality has allowed women’s access to and women were not consulted. -
1 Institutional Changes in the Maghreb: Toward a Modern Gender
Institutional Changes in the Maghreb: Toward a Modern Gender Regime? Valentine M. Moghadam Professor of Sociology and International Affairs Northeastern University [email protected] DRAFT – December 2016 Abstract The countries of the Maghreb – Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia – are part of the Middle East and North Africa region, which is widely assumed to be resistant to women’s equality and empowerment. And yet, the region has experienced significant changes in women’s legal status, political participation, and social positions, along with continued contention over Muslim family law and women’s equal citizenship. Do the institutional and normative changes signal a shift in the “gender regime” from patriarchal to modern? To what extent have women’s rights organizations contributed to such changes? While mapping the changes that have occurred, and offering some comparisons to Egypt, another North African country that has seen fewer legal and normative changes in the direction of women’s equality, the paper identifies the persistent constraints that prevent both the empowerment of all women and broader socio-political transformation. The paper draws on the author’s research in and on the region since the early 1990s, analysis of patterns and trends since the Arab Spring of 2011, and the relevant secondary sources. Introduction The Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) is widely assumed to be resistant to women’s equality and empowerment. Many scholars have identified conservative social norms, patriarchal cultural practices, and the dominance of Islam as barriers to women’s empowerment and gender equality (Alexander and Welzel 2011; Ciftci 2010; Donno and Russett 2004; Fish 2002; Inglehart and Norris 2003; Rizzo et al 2007). -
The EU's Promotion of Gender Equality in Egypt and Tunisia
The Thin Veil of Change: The EU’s Promotion of Gender Equality in Egypt and Tunisia Sara Canali DEPARTMENT OF EU INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND DIPLOMACY STUDIES EU Diplomacy Paper 02 / 2018 Department of EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies EU Diplomacy Papers 2/2018 The Thin Veil of Change: The EU’s Promotion of Gender Equality in Egypt and Tunisia Sara Canali © Sara Canali Dijver 11 | BE-8000 Bruges, Belgium | Tel. +32 (0)50 477 251 | Fax +32 (0)50 477 250 | E-mail [email protected] | www.coleurope.eu/ird EU Diplomacy Paper 2/2018 About the Author Sara Canali holds an MA in EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges. Previously, she obtained a Master’s in European Studies at the University of Leuven, where she wrote her dissertation on the role of sectarianism in shaping the foreign policy of the European Union towards Syria. This paper is based on her Master’s thesis at the College of Europe in Bruges (Simone Veil Promotion) which was awarded the EEAS prize for the best thesis on EU external relations. Editorial Team: Bram De Botselier, Carsten Gerards, Sieglinde Gstöhl, Sofia López Piqueres, Anahita Sabouri, Simon Schunz, Aleksandra Tor, Oleksandra Zmiyenko Dijver 11 | BE-8000 Bruges, Belgium | Tel. +32 (0)50 477 251 | Fax +32 (0)50 477 250 | E-mail [email protected] | www.coleurope.eu/ird Views expressed in the EU Diplomacy Papers are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect positions of either the series editors or the College of Europe. -
How Women Influence Constitution Making After Conflict and Unrest
JANUARY 2018 RESEARCH REPORT AP Photo / Aimen Zine How Women Influence Constitution Making After Conflict and Unrest BY NANAKO TAMARU AND MARIE O’REILLY RESEARCH REPORT | JANUARY 2018 CONTENTS Executive Summary . 1 Introduction: The Global Context . 3 1 | How Do Women Get Access? . 9 2 | What Impact Do Women Have? . 19 3 | Case Study: Women InfluencingConstitution Reform in Tunisia . 30 4 | Challenges to Women’s Influence . 50 5 | Lessons for Action . 56 Annexes . 61 Acknowledgements . 66 PHOTO ON FRONT COVER | Members of the Tunisian National Constituent Assembly celebrate the adoption of the new constitution in Tunis, January 26, 2014 . How Women Influence Constitution Making t RESEARCH REPORT | JANUARY 2018 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Constitution reform is a frequent feature of peace Despite these hurdles, the cases show that women and transition processes: 75 countries undertook have exerted considerable influence on the decision- constitution reform in the wake of armed conflict, making process, the text of the constitution, and unrest, or negotiated transition from authoritarianism broader prospects for a successful transition to lasting to democracy between 1990 and 2015 . Often peace. Women repeatedly bridged divides in the complementing peace talks, constitutional negotiations negotiating process, contributing to peacebuilding and advance new political settlements, bringing diverse reconciliation in deeply divided societies, while also parties together to agree on how power will be advancing consensus on key issues. They broadened exercised in a country’s future. Increasingly, citizens societal participation and informed policymakers of and international actors alike advocate for participatory citizens’ diverse priorities for the constitution, helping constitution-making processes that include a broader to ensure greater traction for the emerging social cross-section of society—often to address the contract . -
How Women Shape Transitional Justice in Tunisia and Colombia TABLE of CONTENTS
Inclusive Justice INCLUSIVE JUSTICE How Women Shape Transitional Justice in Tunisia and Colombia Authors Roslyn Warren, Anna Applebaum, Briana Mawby, Holly Fuhrman, Rebecca Turkington, and Mayesha Alam Expert Advisers Ambassador Melanne Verveer Dr. Jeni Klugman Acknowledgements The Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) is deeply grateful to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for making this study possible, and, in particular, to Marita Sørheim-Rensvik, whose personal dedication to this mission is indefatigable. In addition, the authors of this report would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their advice and support: Bernard W. Aronson (the US Special Envoy to the Colombian Peace Process), Alma Perez, Amel Bouchamaoui, Djordje Todorovic, Javier Pinzón, Rosa Jiménez Ahumada, Sami Rhili, and Tahar Hamel. We are a small but mighty team. This report would not have been possible without the support of our fellow staff members: Chloé White, Mara D’Amico, Alexander Rohlwing, Andrea Welsh, Andrew Walker, Annabelle Timsit, Haydn Welch, Luis Mancilla, and Sarah Rutherford. We would also like to express our profound gratitude to Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Catherine O’Rourke, Gimena Sánchez- Garzoli, Lucia Hanmer, Sahla Aroussi, and Virginia Bouvier for serving as external reviewers of this report. Design and Layout Upwelling Ltd. Cover top photo: © Chedly Ben Ibrahim / Corbis via Getty Images; Cover bottom photo: © Guillermo Legaria / AFP / Getty Images © Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security 2017 To contact the Institute or the authors of this study, email: [email protected]. INCLUSIVE JUSTICE How Women Shape Transitional Justice in Tunisia and Colombia TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword by Ambassador Melanne Verveer ................................................................................................................................ -
Women's Rights: Tunisian Women in the Workplace
Journal of International Women's Studies Volume 12 Issue 3 Arab Women and Their Struggles for Socio- Article 12 economic and Political Rights Mar-2011 Women’s Rights: Tunisian Women in the Workplace Sangeeta Sinha Follow this and additional works at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws Part of the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Sinha, Sangeeta (2011). Women’s Rights: Tunisian Women in the Workplace. Journal of International Women's Studies, 12(3), 185-200. Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol12/iss3/12 This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. This journal and its contents may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. ©2011 Journal of International Women’s Studies. Women’s rights: Tunisian Women in the Workplace By Sangeeta Sinha1 Abstract Tunisia is unique among Arab nations, due to the fact that women have been granted equal rights by the Constitution. Tunisia obtained its independence from France in 1956. During the colonial period, women were marginalized, and they little access to education. Economic activity was largely confined to the household, while wearing of the veil was widespread. Since 1956 Tunisian women have made great strides toward achieving greater rights, but has it been enough. This study describes the current status of women in Tunisia given the changing socio-political scene. Have women’s rights progressed or has they been hampered by cultural and religious forces in the region? The study finds that while women’s rights have not regressed, women have not made much inroads in the workplace. -
PROGRAM OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES Winter 2012
MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES WINTER 2012 MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM WINTER OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES 2012 Introduction 1 Are Women Losers in the Arab Spring? 5 Enhancing the Primacy of the Constitution, the Rule of Law, and Equality before the Law in the Arab Region 6 Spring Blossoms 8 Toward Women Working for Community 11 Women after the Arab Awakening Syrian Women’s Role in the Post-Assad Phase – An Introduction harassment in the streets, and previously-resolved Unpredictable Future 13 issues affecting women and their rights are being Are Women Mona Youssef and Kendra Heideman, revisited by the new regimes. Marginalized after the Arab Program Assistants, Middle East Program The present marginalization of women in the Awakening? 17 Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is now well documented in the mainstream and My Body vs. His Beard 21 Amidst the ongoing revolutionary fervor in the social media. The Middle East Program convened Middle East, an undercurrent of frustration and a series of meetings to examine the post-revolu- Women after the Arab fear runs deep among women. Across the region, tionary status of women in the region. The first Awakening 24 women actively participated alongside their male one, held in May 2012, brought together expe- counterparts in protests and demonstrations, No Spring without Flowers, and, eventually, years of dictatorial rule began to rienced women leaders from around the region No Arab Spring without crumble from Tunisia to Yemen and in between. to discuss the implications for women’s rights Women: The Essential Their participation was encouraged and wel- under the emerging Islamist regimes. -
Middle East Briefs: Available on the Crown Center Website
Crown Family Director Professor of the Practice in Politics Gary Samore Director for Research Charles (Corky) Goodman Professor Why Did Women’s Rights Expand in Post- of Middle East History Naghmeh Sohrabi Revolutionary Tunisia? Associate Director Kristina Cherniahivsky Hind Ahmed Zaki Associate Director for Research David Siddhartha Patel n September 2017, a radical amendment to the Myra and Robert Kraft Professor of Arab Politics IPersonal Status Code (PSC) made it legal for Tunisian Eva Bellin Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men.1 The new Founding Director Professor of Politics law was issued after President Beji Caid Essebsi pushed Shai Feldman for the lifting of a 1973 marriage restriction decree. Henry J. Leir Professor of the The reasoning of the Tunisian state in annulling the Economics of the Middle East Nader Habibi restriction was straightforward: It violated Tunisia’s 2014 Constitution, which explicitly provides for equality between Renée and Lester Crown Professor of Modern Middle East Studies the sexes. Following the ousting of Tunisian President Zine Pascal Menoret el-Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011, there was some fear Founding Senior Fellows among secular Tunisians that many of the country’s “pro- Abdel Monem Said Aly Khalil Shikaki women” policies, often hailed as the most progressive in Sabbatical Fellows the region, would be reversed. These policies were closely Arash Davari Gökçe Günel associated with the vilified old regime, and the Islamic party Ennahda was gaining political and electoral power. Harold Grinspoon -
Arab Spring': Major Victories Or Failures for Human Rights? Hayat Alvi
Journal of International Women's Studies Volume 16 | Issue 3 Article 19 Jul-2015 Women's Rights Movements in the 'Arab Spring': Major Victories or Failures for Human Rights? Hayat Alvi Follow this and additional works at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws Part of the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Alvi, Hayat (2015). Women's Rights Movements in the 'Arab Spring': Major Victories or Failures for Human Rights?. Journal of International Women's Studies, 16(3), 294-318. Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol16/iss3/19 This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. This journal and its contents may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. ©2015 Journal of International Women’s Studies. Women’s Rights Movements in the ‘Arab Spring’: Major Victories or Failures for Human Rights? By Hayat Alvi1 Abstract With the 2011 “Arab Spring”, the issue of women’s empowerment has emerged as a parallel movement in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). What are the implications of the women’s empowerment movements in the MENA for improved political representation and rights? Do these developments contribute to long-term socio-political, legal, judicial, and economic reforms that would improve overall human rights, and especially women’s rights in the MENA? This paper is a comparative survey of women’s empowerment and rights, especially in terms of general human rights principles, as well as in terms of political representation in post- revolution Tunisia and Egypt. -
Barcelona Paper Tripp
Why Do Authoritarian Regimes Adopt Quotas: Lessons from African Cases Aili Mari Tripp Professor of Political Science and Gender & Women’s Studies University of Wisconsin-Madison [email protected] ABSTRACT Since the mid-1970s, but especially since the mid-1990s, international and internal domestic pressures have mounted to improve women’s political representation. This study asks why non- democratic countries in Africa have adopted quotas to promote women’s representation in legislatures when they are not especially interested in promoting other civil, political and human rights? It explains the adoption of quotas primarily in terms of changing international norms, donor and domestic women’s movement pressures, conflicts with Islamists in some countries, as well as postconflict impacts. Regime type does not impact level of representation in Africa, however, it does impact what women can do once in parliament. This paper briefly explores what difference women parliamentarians have made in non-democratic countries like Rwanda and Sudan and Tunisia under Ben Ali and contrasts them with hybrid regimes like Uganda under Yoweri Museveni. Introduction Women’s political representation, particularly in legislatures, has been one important arena for advancing women’s status. Since the mid-1990s, international and internal domestic pressures have mounted to increase women’s political representation through the use of legislative gender quotas, leading to increases in representation throughout the globe and to a situation where one finds non-democratic countries like Rwanda, with the highest rate of legislative representation of women in the world. This study asks why do non-democratic states adopt gender quotas and other female friendly policies when they are not especially interested in promoting other civil, political and human rights? It also situates the adoption of quotas alongside other measures to promote women’s rights in order to gauge the depth of commitment to a women’s rights agenda. -
The Benefits of Banking on Women in Tunisia
BANKING ON WOMEN IN TUNISIA Innovations in the Banking Industry Workshop Report IN PARTNERSHIP WITH: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IFC would like to extend its thanks to the following banks and associations that contributed to roundtable discussions titled "Innovations in the Banking Industry" held on May 22, 2017 in Tunis, including: Association Professionnelle Tunisienne des Banques et des Etablissements Financiers (APTBEF), Banque Centrale de Tunisie (BCT), Banque Internationale Arabe de Tunisie, Attijari Bank, Union Bancaire pour le Commerce et l’Industrie, Union Internationale de Banques, Banque de Tunisie, Société Tunisienne de Banque, Banque Nationale Agricole, Banque de l’Habitat, AlBaraka Bank, Amen Bank, Arab Tunisian Bank, Banque Tuniso-Koweitienne, Banque Tunisienne de Solidarité, and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of the government of Switzerland (SECO). Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 4 The Tunisian Context 4 The Market Opportunity 4 Increased Economic Participation of Women 4 Rising Education Levels of Women 5 Women’s Decision Making and Spending Potential 5 Unmet Demand for Financial Services 5 Room for Growth in Levels of Financial Penetration 6 A Profitable Market Segment 7 CURRENT CONSTRAINTS TO LEVERAGING THE MARKET POTENTIAL OF BANKING FOR WOMEN IN TUNISIA 8 Legal and Cultural Barriers 8 Informal Business Environment 11 Data Availability and Awareness of the Business Case 11 Lack of Mutual Trust and Understanding Between Banks and Customers 11 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTION 12 Recommendations at the Financial Ecosystem Level 12 Recommendations at the Bank Level 13 Annex 1: Case Study 14 Annex 2: EmpowerHer Hackathons Initiative 16 Annex 3: IFC Banking on Women Program 18 BANKING ON WOMEN IN TUNISIA | 3 INTRODUCTION THE TUNISIAN CONTEXT “Women entrepreneurs are changing the Women in Tunisia participate in the ownership of 18-23 landscape of the global economy, creating 1 percent of the country’s formally registered firms. -
The Developments of Trafficking in Women in Post-Revolution Tunisia
JOURNAL of MODERN SLAVERY A Multidisciplinary Exploration of Human Trafficking Solutions Volume 4, Issue 1 Summer 2018 The Developments of Trafficking in Women in Post-Revolution Tunisia Racha Haffar, M.A. Founder and President of ‘Not 4 Trade’, the first anti-human trafficking NGO in Tunisia. Fulbright Alumna at the University of Kentucky. Double Masters’ degrees in International Relations and International Development and Cooperation from the Universities of Tunis and Palermo. JOURNAL OF MODERN SLAVERY A Multidisciplinary Exploration of Human Trafficking Solutions Volume 4, Issue 1 Summer 2018 Editor-in-Chief Jodi L. Henderson Digital Editor Peter F. Zimowski Web Design Peter F. Zimowski / David Perry Intern Kayla Elkin Advisory Board Editorial Board Dr. Kevin Bales Dr. Aidan McQuade Tina Davis Benjamin Thomas Greer Dr. Mohamed Y. Mattar Dr. Zoe Trodd Cory Smith Dr. Carter F. Smith Stephen M. Apatow Dr. Monti Narayan Datta Helen Burrows Geraldine Bjällerstedt Roger-Claude Liwanga Marcel van der Watt Publisher: SlaveFree Today http://slavefreetoday.org http://journalofmodernslavery.org ISSN: 2574-9897 The Developments of Trafficking in Women in Post-Revolution Tunisia. Haffar. The Developments of Trafficking in Women in Post-Revolution Tunisia Racha Haffar, M.A. Founder and President of ‘Not 4 Trade’, the first anti-human trafficking NGO in Tunisia. Fulbright Alumna at the University of Kentucky. Double Masters’ degrees in International Relations and International Development and Cooperation from the Universities of Tunis and Palermo. Abstract The Tunisian Uprising of 2011 played as a catalyst in relation to the development of trafficking in women into reaching today's notions, categories and numbers of victims.