Women in Public Life
Gender, Law and Policy in the Middle East and North Africa
Public institutions play a critical role in promoting gender-sensitive policies and
gender equality more broadly, in the MENA region and around the world. Advancing gender
balance in public institutions and public life more generally, including the judiciary,
parliaments, and the political executive constitutes a major step towards gender-responsive
policies and non-discrimination and serves as a key milestone in promoting gender
equality. This report provides a comparative overview of the policies affecting women’s
participation in public life across the MENA region. It examines the existing barriers
to women’s access to public decision-making positions, and provides a cross-country
assessment of current instruments and institutions to advance women’s empowerment
in the MENA region. The report undertakes an analysis of the existing legal barriers
for gender equality in public life, including with regard to political and economic
rights, freedom of movement, labour law, family law, access to justice and gender-based
violence and provides focused policy-recommendations to close legal and institutional
gaps. The report has been prepared by the OECD, in partnership with Centre for Arab
Women Training and Research (CAWTAR) and with the support of the Arab Administrative
Development Organisation (ARADO) and covers the following countries: Algeria, Egypt,
Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates
and Yemen.
Published on November 27, 2014