November 12th, 2009 by Zack

In the wake of four suicides by Ethiopian domestic workers, Dalila Mahdawi has put out a call in the Guardian that Lebanon and the region as a whole must begin to protect the rights of migrant workers.  She notes that domestic workers are often overworked and abused by their employers while the states pay little attention.

In Lebanon, The Daily Star is reporting that a women’s rights campaign, “My Nationality:  a Right for Me and My Family,” has demanded that the pending ministerial statement from the newly-formed cabinet should include clear objectives of draft laws concerning equality. They are seeking the right for Lebanese women to be able to pass on their nationality to their children, to implement a quota for municipal elections, and to execute an existing domestic violence law.

The Daily News Egypt has run a story by Fatima Sadiqi singing the praises of reform in North Africa.  She argues that women have made tremendous progress in promoting their rights, including access to justice, economic inclusion, and combating domestic violence.  She also highlights the increase of women’s participation in government and the increasing role of NGOs.  She attributes the Maghreb’s unique advances among the Muslim world because the region “strive[s] to reinterpret Islam in modern social contexts through their revised family codes, which secure women’s rights without compromising Islamic values.”

At the same time, Meris Lutz at Babylon and Beyond writes about the newly released 2009 Global Gender Gap Report. Issued by the World Economic Forum to rank women economic participation, education, health and political empowerment, the report notes that more women than men enroll in higher education in  Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar. In addition, Syria has continued to slip in the rankings, and while Saudi Arabia and Egypt hover at the bottom of the list, they have steadily improved since 2006.  Lutz notes that women still face an uphill battle and that many countries have shown improvement despite slipping in the rankings.

Posted in Bahrain, Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, Reform, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Women |