Despite the many struggles and setbacks women all over the world continue to face in the fight for gender equality, countries in the Maghreb region of North Africa have made significant strides on the path towards a gender equal society. Countries such as Morocco and Tunisia have acted as models for progress in the Arab world, spearheading many significant policy changes that are in support of and protect women’s individual rights. A major factor that sets the Maghreb region apart from many other slowly developing Arab countries is their willingness, “…to reinterpret Islam in modern social contexts…which secure women’s rights without compromising Islamic values. Tradition and modernity are not lived as mutually exclusive.”

The forward thinking taking shape in many regions of Maghreb has produced several important reforms, including the law that Moroccan women now have the right to maintain sole ownership of their property after marriage. While the vast majority of Arab countries have also demonstrated a commitment to ending violence against women through partial membership to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Morocco is one of the first Arab countries to align themselves with the committee’s entire document.

Recent laws protecting women from sexual harassment in the workplace as well as the growing demand for equal educational opportunities for women and girls has resulted in an increase in women’s participation in academic, economic and political fields. By virtue of the many changes supporting women’s rights occurring in Maghreb, a rising number of women have gained both the knowledge and the independence to pursue a wide range of careers. Equally important, if not more so, is women’s growing presence in the political sphere. Women’s active involvement in both national and local government has no doubt been crucial to the enactment as well as the positive results associated with these legislative changes. Non-governmental organizations operating on a grassroots level have also been reported as playing a vital role in furthering the advancements that support gender equality, especially in the Arab world. WCI commends the countries in the Maghreb region for the remarkable strides they have made in the name of women’s rights, and hopes to do our part to strengthen women’s social and political voice worldwide.

For more information on women’s rights in the Maghreb region please click on the following link: http://www.awid.org/eng/Issues-and-Analysis/Issues-and-Analysis/North-African-women-at-forefront-of-legal-reform