Secondary Sources
L. Dupree, Afghanistan, Princeton, N.J. 1980.
N. H. Dupree, Afghan women under the Taliban, in
W. Maley (ed.), Fundamentalism reborn? Afghanistan
and the Taliban, London 1988, 145–66.Arpita BasuroyArab StatesWomen in the Arab world today enjoy the small-
est share of parliamentary seats worldwide. They
occupy only 5.7 percent of all parliamentary seats
in the region, as compared to 15 percent in Sub-
Saharan Africa and 12.9 percent in Latin America
and the Caribbean countries. Women hold 3 out of
128 (2.3 percent) seats in Lebanon; 6 out of 110
(5.4 percent) in the lower house and 7 out of 55
(12.7 percent) in the upper house in Jordan; 11 out
of 454 (2.4 percent) in the lower house in Egypt; 24
out of 389 (6.2 percent) seats of the lower house in
Algeria; 30 out of 325 (9.2 percent) in Morocco;
and 30 out of 250 (12 percent) in Syria. Most of the
Gulf countries do not hold elections, and Kuwait
does not allow women the right to vote.
Some Arab countries have adopted legislation to
increase the representation of women in key posi-
tions, but these laws are sometimes not enforced or
not adequate to ensure women significant represen-
tation. Recently, Arab countries such as Morocco
and Jordan have adopted quotas that guarantee
the representation of women. Both Morocco and
Jordan have reserved parliamentary seats specifi-
cally for women; Morocco has set aside 30 of a
total 325 parliamentary seats and Jordan 6 out of- The number of female politicians elected at
the communal level in Morocco’s 2003 elections
rose from 84 to 127, but this is out of a total of
22,944 elected officials. Lebanese women hold
fewer than 1 percent of all seats at the municipal
level. The King of Morocco has recently appointed
the first female royal counselor, Zoulikha Nasri.
Egypt has instituted different forms of quotas, but
none are currently in effect. At the ministerial lev-
els, Arab states employ a larger concentration of
women in key public offices (these may include
women serving as ministers and vice ministers and
women holding other ministerial positions, includ-
ing parliamentary secretaries). In fact, Lebanon
ranks fourth in the world, while Jordan is eighth.
Egypt employs women as prominent judges in the
Female Shùra Assembly.
Although women are underrepresented in elected
or appointed positions, their employment in key
government offices is on the rise. For instance,
678 public office
women occupy prominent positions in the United
Arab Emirate’s ministry of education. The UAE
ministry of planning reported that there were more
female than male employees in the more than 25
federal ministries; in 2001, 16,223 workers were
women and only 9,518 men (Gulf News 2002).
The limited presence of women in parliament has
raised considerable concern among observers and
policymakers. Egypt’s ≠Amr Mùsa, for instance, has
suggested that women’s status in the Arab world
will improve only when they hold prominent deci-
sion-making positions. In Morocco, women’s par-
liamentary participation hastened the adoption of
the family code provisions of 2004. Yet, a recent
examination of the last four Egyptian parliaments
seems to imply that female presence has had no
direct effect on the levels of gender issues raised in
parliamentary sessions.
Arab women active in political life are not con-
tent with the current status quo. They often find
themselves having to secure the male and female
vote. To secure the male vote female candidates dis-
cuss national issues, and issues regarding gender
become secondary. As a result, and further compli-
cating matters, most women do not see the formal
legislative process as a viable means to improve
their condition. Of Arab women MPs, 68 percent
are dissatisfied with the current level of women’s
political participation and 80 percent of women
active in public life claimed that they could accom-
plish their goals without having to participate in
formal state institutions.
Certain political, material, social, and cultural
conditions continue to stifle women’s ability to
attain their goals. Political parties remain weak and
ineffectual, thereby reducing their impact on policy.
The rule of law, too, is weak in the Arab world, and
though a few laws guaranteeing women’s participa-
tion in the public sphere exist, they need to be
enforced as well. The dearth of legislation promot-
ing women’s presence in parliament also explains
their continued marginalization. Reactionary forces
seek to exclude women from the public and polit-
ical spheres, and many current political regimes
promote these conservative elements. Prior to uni-
fication, half of the judges in South Yemen were
women, but subsequently conservative forces have
reappointed these women to clerical positions. In
fact, the patriarchal political environment does not
favor equal participation in the political sphere.
Other factors, including the lack of political party
support for and backing of female candidates, have
hindered women’s formal participation. A disjunc-
tion between women’s civil organizations and cur-
rent women MPs who are often less concerned with