Skip to main content
Support
Blog post

Mentoring Session - Updates from the MENA Region: Challenges and Opportunities for Reform

Many of the delegates who participated in our 2012 Women in Public Service Project (WPSP) Institutes in Washington D.C. (pilot program) and Wellesley College are vitally engaged in transitional justice processes in their countries. On our second mentoring conference call, we were able to learn about their current endeavors.

Many of the delegates who participated in our 2012 Women in Public Service Project (WPSP) Institutes in Washington D.C. (pilot program) and Wellesley College are vitally engaged in transitional justice processes in their countries.  On our second mentoring conference call, we were able to learn about their current endeavors.

Siwar Aouadi, Judge Anware Mnasri, and Ons Boughattas (Tunisia) are participating in Tunisia’s constitutional reform. With elections in June, Siwar has been measuring the involvement of women especially in the rural areas in politics. Judge Anware hopes to include the parity principle in the new constitution.  

Other delegates from the Middle East/North Africa Region are also leading change in their communities. While Nafisa Al-Jaifi (Yemen) is working on a proposal for an independent body on human rights, Sahar Tealab (Egypt) is building advocacy against lowering the minimum age of marriage. Wafa Bugaighis (Libya) led a transitional justice committee that helped to ensure that elected members of parliament were 17 percent women. This marked the first elections in Libya in 60 years in which 33 women entered parliament. Wafa now serves the Education Ministry of Libya and is galvanizing support for a 30 percent quota for women in the next elections.

Hannane Ennadir (Morocco) is working on the national action plan for women, which would increase the participation of women in political decision-making. Najwa Basssil (Lebanon) is engaged also in drafting a National Action Plan for women in Lebanon, and seeks to achieve equality between men and women in the law by working with local NGOs to define priority actions.

See the linked pdf for a more comprehensive overview of the updates from all our participants on the second mentoring call.

 

About the Author

GWLI Staff

Read More

Global Women's Leadership Initiative

The Global Women’s Leadership Initiative has hosted the Women in Public Service Project at the Wilson Center since June, 2012. The Women in Public Service Project will accelerate global progress towards women’s equal participation in policy and political leadership to create more dynamic and inclusive institutions that leverage the full potential of the world’s population to change the way global solutions are forged.  Read more