Upcoming Event at American University on Afghan Women
April 22nd, 2011 by Anna
Next Friday, April 29, America Abroad Media (a non-profit organization in Washington, DC that produces a monthly, hour-long documentary radio program on foreign affairs for broadcast on NPR stations across the country) is hosting a “town hall” event at American University’s Katzen Center from 7:30-9am. They will be connecting DC’s local WAMU radio station with a radio station in Kabul to facilitate a discussion on women’s rights in Afghanistan.
The flyer for the event is available here.
Posted in Afghanistan, Events, Women | Comment »
U.S.-Netherlands Commit to Supporting Women’s Empowerment in MENA
April 21st, 2011 by Naureen
Following a bilateral meeting, Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued the a statement declaring support for women’s political participation in emerging democracies in the Middle East. “The Netherlands and the United States share the view that the participation of women in political and economic processes is particularly urgent in the MENA region in these times of transition and reconciliation. We intend to work together to promote women’s empowerment in the region.” They hope to draw from local expertise and networks and leverage resources to address women’s participation in the reform processes in the region. Key areas for collaboration include: ensuring women’s human rights, fostering women leaders and political leadership training, technical and capacity building assistance to women-led and women-focused NGOs, and engaging in civic education initiatives to raise awareness about “women’s participation as key to a stable and prosperous society.”
Posted in Civil Society, Democracy Promotion, Freedom, Human Rights, Protests, Reform, US foreign policy, Women, Women's Rights | Comment »
Yemen Update: Weekend Protests, Women Deride Saleh
April 18th, 2011 by Ali
On Saturday, thousands of Yemeni women protested in Sana’a. Many of them wearing niqabs and boasting affiliation with the Islamist opposition, they derided comments by President Ali Abdullah Saleh who called their mixing with men in the street protests “haram.” Juan Cole writes that Saleh’s comments were part of an attempt to drive a wedge between women and Islamists. It also demonstrates the limits of his “state feminism,” which while raising women’s literacy, education, and employment opportunities is still “patronizing and partriarchal.”
Posted in Political Islam, Protests, Women, Women's Rights, Yemen | Comment »
Ambassador Verveer To Travel to Egypt, Israel, West Bank
April 14th, 2011 by Naureen
Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanie Verveer will travel to Egypt, Israel and the West Bank from April 15th through April 22nd. During her visit, the ambassador will meet with government officials, political party representatives, civil society leaders and the media to discuss the need for inclusion of women in the political process and their role as peace builders. She will also meet with business leaders, youth organizations and women’s NGOs to highlight their women’s empowerment initiatives.
Posted in Civil Society, Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Freedom, Israel, Mideast Peace Plan, NGOs, Palestine, Protests, Women, Women's Rights | Comment »
Tunisia: Commission Orders Gender Parity for Party Lists
April 14th, 2011 by Alec
The Tunisian transitional commission organizing upcoming July 24th elections for the Constituent Assembly issued a decree this week requiring gender parity between men and women on party lists. The decree has been welcomed by all members of the commission including representatives from the Ennahda Islamist movement. The decree also bans former member of the now defunct RCP and people previously serving in the Ben Ali regime during the past 10 years. The commission has also set up an independent electoral commission to consist of 12 members. The measure has yet to be approved by the interim government.
Posted in Elections, Reform, Tunisia, Women, Women's Rights | Comment »
Iran: Prominent Human Rights Activist Faces New Charges
April 13th, 2011 by Alec
Zhila Baniyaghoub, a prominent Iranian human rights activist and journalist, is facing new charges related to statements written on her blog. Baniyaghoub was arrested, along with her husband Bahman Ahmadi Amouyi, in June 2009 during the popular protests over disputed presidential elections. She was released but her husband is serving a five year prison term. Last month she wrote to Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi to protest against restrictions barring her from visiting her husband in prison and claimed that judicial officials advised her to beg them for an exception. Although she was charged in June 2010 with “spreading propaganda against the regime” and “insulting the president” and sentenced to one year in prison accompanied by a 30-year ban on journalistic activity, she has not yet served any prison time. Baniyaghoub runs the website Focus on Iranian Women and her personal blog We Are Journalists (Persian). She also won Reporters Without Borders’ Freedom of Expression award in 2010.
Posted in Human Rights, Iran, Journalism, Women | Comment »
Senators Introduce Resolution on Women’s Rights in Middle East and North Africa
March 29th, 2011 by Naureen
On Monday, Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME), along with 16 female senators, introduced a resolution honoring and supporting women for their involvement in the democratic uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa and calling on leaders in the region “to include women when it comes to making decisions that will affect their lives.” The resolution comes following reports that women involved in the revolutions are “increasingly being sidelined from the formation of new governments.”
In response, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed her support for the resolution and reaffirmed the State Department’s commitment to promoting women’s empowerment in the region: “This resolution underscores our current efforts to build capacity for good governance, allow all citizens to participate, and ensure that the human rights of all, including those of women, are respected. The U.S. State Department will continue to work with Congress as we together stand in support of the women in the region who are demanding that their voices be heard.”
Posted in Congress, Democracy Promotion, Freedom, Human Rights, Protests, Reform, Women, Women's Rights | Comment »
Clinton Discusses Women’s Empowerment in the Middle East
March 9th, 2011 by Naureen
Speaking on NPR, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discussed the need to ensure women’s participation in the political sphere in Egypt and the broader Middle East. “I think it’s our role to support Egyptian women who are speaking up for themselves. And we certainly try to ensure that their concerns are heard by the new Egyptian government,” she said. She stated that this is an issue that she has raised with the region’s foreign ministers as “we don’t want to see Egypt or Tunisia or anyplace eliminate half the population when they think about the future. That would make no sense at all.” Clinton also lauded the role the internet has played in empowering women in the Middle East and across the world.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Protests, Reform, Tunisia, Women | Comment »
Syria: Teenage Blogger Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison
February 14th, 2011 by Alec
Syrian blogger, Tal al-Mallouhi, a 19 year old female high school student, has been sentenced to 5 years in prison by a state security court on charges of spying for the U.S. Embassy in Egypt. She was first detained in December 2009 and had been held since then without charge. The UK – based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights released a statement (in Arabic) acknowledging al-Mallouhi’s sentencing. P.J. Crowley, State Department spokesman, also released a statementcondemning the sentencing and “secret trial” of al-Mallouhi, called for her immediate release, and denied all charges that she is an American spy.
Posted in Human Rights, Journalism, Syria, Technology, Women | Comment »
“Party Building in the Middle East”
December 22nd, 2010 by Jason
The National Democratic Institute (NDI) has released a new article titled “Party Building in the Middle East.” Written by Les Campbell, NDI’s senior associate and regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, the article seeks to “enumerate some of the key achievements of democracy assistance in the Arab world over the past decade; describe the strategies democracy assistance practitioners employ in their work; and explain, through four case studies and the voices of recipients, how specific interventions have contributed to the advancement of democracy in the Middle East and north Africa.” The case studies include Yemen, Morocco, the West Bank and Gaza, and Egypt.
Posted in Civil Society, Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Elections, Foreign Aid, Morocco, NGOs, Palestine, US foreign policy, Women, Yemen | Comment »
Iran: Sit-in for Sotoudeh at the UN
December 21st, 2010 by Jason
Freedom House released a statement yesterday expressing “solidarity and support for Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi and other women’s rights activists,” who began a sit-in Monday at the United Nations in Geneva in support of imprisoned human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh. Paula Schriefer, Director of Advocacy at Freedom House, said in the statement that the “human rights abuses inflicted on its people by the Iranian government, particularly on women, are in direct violation of international human rights treaties to which Iran is a state party.” Gissou Nia, a researcher and analyst at the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, writes at CNN that Sotoudeh was arrested for “a range of ‘security’ offenses, including her legal representation of Ebadi,” and that the human rights lawyer has been denied “the ultimate legal right: a fair trial.” Nia goes on to describe the role lawyers have in protecting human rights in Iran and calls on the international community to “commit itself to protecting lawyers in Iran from arrest and imprisonment.”
Posted in Freedom, Human Rights, Iran, Judiciary, United Nations, Women | Comment »
POMED Notes: “Corruption Challenges in Yemen”
December 10th, 2010 by Jason
On Friday the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) joined with the Embassy of Yemen to present “Corruption Challenges in Yemen,” a presentation by Dr. Bilkis Abouosbaa, Vice-Chairperson of the Supreme National Authority for Combating Corruption (SNACC). A portion of the documentary film “Destructive Beast: Corruption in Yemen” was also shown.
(To read full notes, continue below the fold or click here for pdf.)
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Civil Society, DC Event Notes, Foreign Aid, NGOs, Reform, Women, Yemen | Comment »
Saudi Arabia: Human Rights First Society Report
December 9th, 2010 by Jason
The Human Rights First Society-Saudi Arabia has released a report titled “Unholy Trespass: How the Saudi Legal Code Violates International Human Rights Law.” The report seeks to “serve as a roadmap for the Saudi officials, so that they will know where the Saudi laws are either in violation of international conventions or treaties,” according to the group’s president, Ibrahim Almugaiteeb. While the report acknowledges that “[g]overnment and societal tolerance for the public discussion of human rights and civil liberties in Saudi Arabia has increased substantially in the last decade,” Saudi Arabia’s human rights record remains troubling.
Posted in Civil Society, Freedom, Human Rights, Judiciary, Saudi Arabia, Unions, Women | Comment »
Egypt: Reports on Vote Counting Procedures
December 1st, 2010 by Jason
The Egyptian Association for Supporting Democratic Development (EASD) and Nazra Association for Feminist Studies have released reports evaluating the vote counting procedures following Egypt’s parliamentary elections. The report from Nazra focuses on the process involved in counting votes for the women quota seats, which are a new feature of this years parliament, while the report from EASD quantifies the number of illegal incidents witnessed during and after the elections.
From the EASD report: “Out of 5,000 EASD observers, 903 (18.06%) were denied access to polling stations. Meanwhile, 348 observers (8.49% of those allowed to enter polling stations) were expelled from polling stations. [...] Other violations included: 115 incidents of voter intimidation, 196 instances of vote buying and electoral bribes, 31 incidents of police blocking roads leading to polling stations, 181 incidents of ballot stuffing, 19 instances of stealing or destroying electoral material, 145 instances of closing polling stations during the day or before 7 p.m., 101 incidents of expelling observers, 233 incidents of electoral violence, 20 polling stations which never opened, and 225 instances of group voting.”
Posted in Civil Society, Egypt, Elections, Women | Comment »
Egypt: Nazra Releases Report on Female Participation
November 29th, 2010 by Jason
The Nazra Association for Feminist Studies, a member of the Independent Coalition for Election Observation, has released a report titled “The Gender Perspective in the 2010 Parliamentary Elections.” The report’s findings include “Female candidates, particularly those of the NDP, are guilty of the same violations (violence, fraudulent ballot cards) as male candidates,” and “The majority of women supported male candidates. The majority of those who supported female candidates were Muslim Brotherhood members.”
Posted in Civil Society, Egypt, Elections, Women | Comment »
“Islamic Feminism and Beyond”
November 15th, 2010 by Jason
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Middle East Program released a new paper (pdf) today, titled “Islamic Feminism and Beyond: The New Frontier.” The introduction is written by Haleh Esfandiari and Margot Badran, and the paper includes six sections covering a range of topics and countries. The articles include “Feminist Activism for Change in Family Laws and Practices: Lessons from the Egyptian Past for the Global Present” by Margot Badran, “Recent Amendments in the Turkish Civil and Criminal Codes and the Role of Feminist NGOs” by Binnaz Toprak, “Women and the Politics of Reform in Morocco” by Souad Eddouada, “Beyond Islamic Feminism: Women and Representation in Iran’s Democracy Movement” by Nayereh Tohidi, “The Personal Status Code and Women’s Celibacy in Tunisia” by Lilia Labidi, and “Analyzing Reform Successes and Failures: The Personal Status Regime in the Arab World” by Amaney Jamal.
Posted in Civil Society, Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Human Rights, Iran, Morocco, Reform, Tunisia, Turkey, Women | Comment »
Egypt: Quota for Women Increases Participation but Problems Remain
November 11th, 2010 by Evan
The Los Angeles Times’ Babylon and Beyond reports that the recently announced 32-seat parliamentary quota for women has energized female candidates. “‘For years, male members of parliament have objected to the presence of female MPs and women were not allowed any space in parliament. That’s why the quota is a huge step forward,’” Rabha Fathi, head of the Association for Egyptian Female Lawyers (AEFL) told Babylon and Beyond. Not all Egyptian women’s organizations shared Fathi’s enthusiasm. The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR) recently published a report detailing a list of complaints from potential female candidates, including accusations that women vying for National Democratic Party nominations were forced to pay bribes.
Posted in Egypt, Elections, Women | Comment »
POMED Notes: “Paradise Beneath Her Feet: How Women Are Transforming the Middle East”
October 28th, 2010 by Evan
On Wednesday Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, presented her new book “Paradise Beneath Her Feet: How Women are Transforming the Middle East” at an event sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Middle East and Environmental Change and Security Programs. Haleh Esfandiari, Director of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Middle East Program, moderated the event.
(To read the full notes, continue below or click here for the pdf.)
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in DC Event Notes, Women | Comment »
Jordan: An Interview With Jordan’s First Woman M.P.
October 27th, 2010 by Jason
Toujan Faisal, the first woman elected to Jordan’s Parliament, was recently interviewed by the Arab Reform Initiative. When asked about her understanding of reform, Faisal answered, “I think that the adoption of the constitution in Jordan in 1952 (i.e. without the amendments subsequently made to it) is the basis of such reform.” She added, “I now think that there is something better: the proportional representation list, and the establishment of an interim government without the power to take major financial decisions, until such time a government with real legitimacy can be formed in the presence of a real parliament.” Faisal was also asked about her views on quotas for female candidates. “I am opposed to all forms of quota, because quotas are in conflict with full equality between citizens [...] Women are essentially citizens, and the sole criterion for progress is competence. When society as a whole progresses the situation of women automatically improves.”
Posted in Civil Society, Elections, Freedom, Human Rights, Jordan, Reform, Women | Comment »
Bahrain: Few Women Candidates for Parliament
September 15th, 2010 by Anna
Habib Toumi reported in Gulf News yesterday on concerns about low turnout among women candidates for the quadrennial elections for Bahrain’s lower chamber, which are scheduled to take place on October 23. In spite of hopes by women’s rights activists that more women would seek office this year, only six have registered to run since the registration period opened two days ago. The 2002 and 2006 elections witnessed similarly low turnout from women candidates – in 2002, none of the women candidates in parliamentary and municipal elections won; in 2006, one woman won after running unopposed. Bahrain’s largest political organization, Wa’ad, has nominated Muneera Fakhro, who narrowly lost in a 2006 race. The other three main politico-religious societies – Al Wefaq, Al Asala and the Islamic Menbar – declined to endorse any women. Some party leaders expressed concern that they would face “a negative reaction from conservative constituents” if they ran female candidates. Latifa Al Gaood – the only sitting woman in parliament – has publicly encouraged women to get involved in politics.
Posted in Bahrain, Elections, Political Parties, Women | Comment »
