COUNTRIES AT THE CROSSROADS GOVERNANCE BLOG

Northern Africa's Plodding Progress on Women's Rights

Photo: Women's rights activist speaking at the 2005 International Conference of the Arab Women's Solidarity Association in Cairo, Egypt; Photo Credit: Flickr user cactusbones

Despite the enormously improved legal provisions for women’s rights in Morocco that resulted from the 2004 Moroccan Family Law, the lag time between passage and implementation has disappointed Moroccan women. In a recent article, the Inter Press Service reported that the law has yet to resolve the country’s difficult environment for women’s rights. A July report from the Moroccan Association for Human Rights noted a strong “perseverance of segregation and violence against women,” especially within the family. When Amnesty International Secretary-General Irene Khan visited Morocco in March, she condemned the persistence of violence, stating, “King Mohamed VI’s government must now consolidate…progress by criminalizing violence against women.” Also troubling is the recent finding that the Family Law has resulted in a rise the number of marriages to minor girls, especially in rural areas. Although the 2004 law raised the legal age for marriage from 15 to 18, a loophole states that a judge can grant an exception to this rule. Family court judges received 39,000 requests for marriages to minors in 2007, 68% of which were approved. The law has also failed to curb polygamy, despite the fact that it imposed strict conditions on the practice.

Many women’s rights activists have argued that the law has been loosely enforced due to family judges’ unwillingness to implement a code that stands to fundamentally challenge the traditional patriarchal structure of Morocco’s Muslim society. Indeed, Rabia Naciri, president of the Democratic Association of Moroccan Women, claims that “Moroccan politicians have argued that the law is not applied because society is not ready for it.” Thus, the widespread view that Morocco has joined Tunisia as a regional exemplar for women’s rights may be premature. Indeed, the law serves as a case study on how deeply ingrained views about an issue—in this case, women’s subordinate role in society—can result in both the persistence of traditional injustices at home and half-hearted implementation of the laws that attempt change.

That said, it is beyond dispute that the new Family Law has expanded women’s rights and rectified several of the injustices formerly present in the Moroccan legal system. The law secured each woman’s right to self-guardianship, divorce, and child custody, and imposed a set of punishments for sexual harassment. In many cases, the formal enshrinement of these rights has served to empower Moroccan women and compel them to exercise their new rights in courts, or at least to make them aware of their right to do so.

In addition to bringing about change within the country, this law has served as an inspiration and model for the women’s rights movement in other North African countries. Indeed, family law reform was soon carried out in several of Morocco’s neighbors. For example, Algeria amended its family code in 2005, in large part due to the advocacy efforts of women’s rights organizations similar to those functioning in Morocco. Notably, the amendments expanded the rights of Algerian women by allowing them to seek divorce and vastly increased the protections afforded them when undergoing this process. The law grants women custody over children in most cases and requires the ex-husband to provide housing for his ex-wife and children. In addition, the law now allows women to transmit citizenship and nationality to her children and spouse.  Furthermore, Egypt granted women the right to a no-contest divorce in 2005. Finally, in Tunisia, which is widely considered to be one of the most progressive Arab countries where women’s rights are concerned, has also adopted a few additional reforms in recent years. For example, in 2008, a new amendment to the country’s already favorable family code granted divorced women with custody the right to be provided housing. These reforms were carried out for the most part due to the increased advocacy efforts of women’s rights organizations.

Nevertheless, as is the case in Morocco, a resilient current against change remains prominent in spite of the promulgation of these laws. Enforcement remains the most serious problem facing the women’s rights movement in North Africa. In some cases, this is due to the fact that both women and men living in rural regions are unaware of the laws’ existence. In other cases, the law is not implemented due to the resistance of judges. This is largely due to the widespread opinion in Islamic fundamentalist circles that Shariah law, and particularly marriage, is being attacked by the women’s rights movement. As a consequence, measurable change has been difficult to achieve. In Algeria, despite the promulgation of the new housing law, divorced women continue to wind up on the streets, or, if they are provided housing, are often forced to live in slums. Men have found ways to circumvent the laws, while judges have often sided with them in court. This situation is predominantly the result of the persistence of traditional societal values and views on women’s role in society. Although women may theoretically have the right to seek a divorce in these countries, for example, the stigma against it remains strong, which deters women, their husbands, and legal officials from implementing the law. As Leila Rhiwi, the women’s rights coordinator for the Maghreb for the UN Development Fund for Women states, “What we have seen is a change in the law, not a change in society.” 

Furthermore, although recent laws and amendments have advanced women’s rights, further legal reform will be essential in order to fully address the trials and tribulations women in the region continue to face. In all of the cases noted above, family law codes continue to contain discriminatory provisions, while recent reforms have themselves sometimes contained questionable caveats. For example, as the 2009 Freedom in the World Report on Algeria notes, women still suffer from unequal rights in marriage, divorce, and inheritance. Egypt’s 2005 law granting the right to a no-contest divorce also states that women may lose their dowry if they choose to exercise this right. Unfortunately, the resistance to change is not only prevalent on a micro-level, but often plays itself out at the upper echelons of government. While Moroccan King Mohamed VI has repeatedly demonstrated his willingness to promote women’s rights, most notably through spearheading the movement to reform the family code, this strong political will is absent in some of the country’s neighbors. Alarmingly, following the passage of the 2005 family code amendments, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika told women’s rights activists, “You have obtained vested rights today. Do not demand more.”

The recent strides to advance women’s rights in Northern Africa through legal reform should certainly be applauded. As Leila Rhiwi notes, “changes in law allow for changes to occur in society.” In all of the above cases, it will take several years to convince the countries’ traditional Muslim societies of the compatibility of women’s rights with Shariah law, and consequently to bring about real change. The Tunisian case is illustrative. Since the 1956 personal status code was promulgated, the country has been engaged in a difficult battle to ensure that women are entitled to equal treatment.  Encouragingly, however, the country’s quest has yielded successful results. In fact, a 2007 World Economic Forum index ranked women’s status in Tunisia as the second highest in the Arab world. Thus, while the road to comprehensive women’s rights reform in Northern Africa will be long, it is not likely to meet a dead end as long as both local and international activists keep the movement on track.

Nicaragua's Ortega Brings No Revolution to Women's Rights

Photo Credit: Flickr user svengaarn

In May, the UN Committee against Torture called for Nicaragua to reconsider its absolute ban on abortion. The Committee ruled that the ban, which has been in effect since 2006, infringed on the rights of women and girls by prohibiting abortion in cases in which pregnancy threatened the mother’s life as well as in cases of rape. Moreover, as Amnesty International argues, the ban on abortion violates the right of women not to be subject to “torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.” The UN Committee against torture is not the first UN body to admonish Nicaragua for this law; as of today, the UN Human Rights Committee, the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, and the UN Committee on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women have all rebuked Nicaragua for its blanket abortion law and have reminded the country of its obligation to uphold human rights.

The persistence of this particular violation of women’s rights should come as no surprise. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's authoritarian tendencies have presented themselves with increasing frequency since the Contra War of the 1980s. In previous posts, we explored the president’s most recent authoritarian behavior, citing Ortega’s vigorous impingements on press freedom, flagrant manipulation of electoral laws, and wanton disregard for the democratic electoral process. On June 11, the Millennium Challenge Corporation directly punished Nicaragua for its deplorable governance trend by canceling the final $60 million of a $175 million aid agreement. In addition, his malign approach to women's rights is nothing new. While Ortega once supported abortion, he displayed his preference for political expediency by changing his position to ally himself with the Catholic Church during the run up to the 2006 presidential election. Most notorious, however, is Ortega's possible involvement in a sexual abuse scandal involving his stepdaughter. While his stepdaughter ultimately withdrew her case from consideration, she has not withdrawn her accusations. In addition to committing the above transgressions, Ortega has more recently trampled on women's rights by ignoring requests to rescind the absolute ban on abortion, aggressively harassing feminist activists, and largely turning a deaf ear to issues such as discrimination.

The fact that the country’s respect for women’s rights has begun to backslide is particularly disheartening considering the lamentable state of gender equality even before Ortega assumed the presidency in 2007. As the Countries at the Crossroads Report on Nicaragua noted, as of 2006 women were inadequately protected against sexual abuse and were not supported by any notable state commitment to reverse rampant discrimination. In cases of abuse, women were frequently referred to civil society organizations for further help after lodging complaints with the national police. Although constitutional safeguards exist, high levels of both discrimination and harassment against women in the workplace have persisted since this time. More recently, the State Department’s 2008 Human Rights Report on Nicaragua stated that while laws criminalizing rape and domestic violence exist, the laws against domestic violence were selectively enforced. Both the country’s Special Prosecutor for Women and the national police reported that violence against women increased in 2008. As is the case in other Latin American countries, a strong “machista” culture is firmly ingrained in Nicaraguan society, which fuels and exacerbates the aforementioned problems.

One of the most alarming examples of the government’s deficient attitude towards women’s rights is its belligerent conduct towards women’s rights organizations. Since 2006, the government has aggressively attacked women’s rights advocates. As Human Rights Watch notes, women’s rights organizations protesting the ban on abortion have been investigated and intimidated by the government, which ramped up its campaign against these organizations in 2008. Last year, 9 women’s rights advocates were criminally investigated, while the offices of the organizations they represented were raided due to questionable allegations regarding funding sources. Reporters without Borders also claimed that Sofia Montenegro, the director of the Autonomous Women’s Movement, had been the victim of a government smear campaign. Despite the looming threat of government persecution, women’s organizations have remained dedicated to their quest to revoke the law. In late May of this year, 500 women protested the abortion law outside of the Nicaraguan Supreme Court. 

 The excessive harassment of feminist activists and NGOs is part of a larger government campaign against freedom of association. Due to the fact that Nicaraguan women often rely on NGO support in cases of domestic abuse and rape, the government’s quest to suppress the activities of these organizations has especially regrettable consequences.

Ortega’s war against feminist organizations provides additional evidence that the Sandinista revolution’s dedication to social change is extremely subordinate to his desire to accrue and maintain power.  On a superficial level, the Sandinista government has in some ways upheld its commitment to the empowerment of women by launching healthcare, anti-poverty, and literacy programs. A recent article lauded the strides made by the Nicaraguan government to address the country’s pronounced gender inequality through its literacy campaign. Nicaraguan women, who make up somewhere between 15 and 52 percent of the country’s illiterate population, have garnered notable benefits from this program. However, as the article notes, seemingly positive government policies such as this one are being carried out against a backdrop of increased violence against Nicaraguan women and could even be considered a veil for the government’s abusive actions.

Due to the restrictive, oppressive climate being generated by the Ortega regime, any sustained progress on women’s rights seems highly unlikely at this time. Ortega has firmly locked Nicaragua in a downward spiral on governance matters. As Ortega continues to wage war against his adversaries, feminist activists and women’s rights organizations will number among his victims, and the comprehensive change Nicaragua needs will remain far from realization. 

Turkey's Slow Road Toward EU Rights Standards

In March, Turkey’s state-run Islamic body announced that it would translate the Koran into Kurdish. Kurds, who comprise at least 12 million of Turkey’s 70 million people, are not a recognized minority in the country. Officially, they are not distinct from the Turkish majority, and expressions of cultural uniqueness are banned. They are discriminated against economically, subject to violence, and may even be jailed for using their language in large groups or on paper. The Koran translation step is thus a positive step, but a small one compared with the changes that will be necessary to bring Kurdish rights to acceptable levels.

Since Turkey began EU accession talks began ten years ago, the EU has published convergence requirements that Turkey must meet, and thus far the country has demonstrated at least some efforts to comply. The requirements include measures for the equality and economic inclusion of Kurds, the defense and education of women, drastically reduced persecution and abuse of the press, and significant reductions in violence perpetrated by the security forces. A look at these issues reveals that in each case the reform record is mixed.

On the first issue, although Kurds and other minorities are still not recognized by the government, the government has created a Kurdish-language channel on state television, along with other programming in languages spoken by unrecognized minorities. Establishing a TV network or enabling the translation of religious texts in Kurdish can be done with a wave of a pen from Ankara. Dismantling systemic de facto and de jure discriminations against Kurds cannot. In the early 1920s, as Turkey took the place of the Ottoman Empire, the principal of national unity was the dominating concern, and no linguistic or cultural differentiation was permitted between the country’s Muslim populations. Since then the government has echoed Brazil’s stance: “What racism? There are no races – we are all the same.” In Turkey, a strongly complicating factor has been the existence of a terrorist separatist movement, the PKK, which has been at war with the government for decades. The group’s activity has provided the government with a rationale for its discrimination. In the name of unity, use of the Kurdish language in official communications or political speeches can result in imprisonment, as can public or printed expressions of support – or even sympathy – for the PKK.

Excessive violence and lengthy prison terms are routine facets of Kurdish affairs in Turkey. In December, a journalist was sentenced to fifteen months in prison for writing that the PKK should not be considered a terrorist organization. While this may be morally objectionable – and groups as diverse as NATO and Human Rights Watch feel the same about the PKK – doing so makes for a questionable criminal offense. Also that month, a court decided that making pro-PKK speeches was functionally equivalent to membership, and convicted an MP of being part of a terrorist organization, for which he will serve ten years in prison. Even more shocking was the government’s violent response to last year’s illegal Kurdish New Year celebrations, which left three people dead and others severely beaten. As remains all too typical of police brutality in Turkey, no investigation was ever carried out. The law also permits children as young as 15 to be tried as adults, and in 2006-2007 almost 200 children under 18 were convicted. Despite the efforts of Ankara’s EU accession ministry, the government’s encouragement and condoning of abuses remains well-documented.

With respect to women’s rights, the European Commission’s enlargement commissioner praised a new women’s rights bill, but said it had yet to be implemented in any meaningful way. Women’s rights in Turkey have been subject to similar lip-service improvements, although conditions have improved somewhat. The EC concedes that the legal framework for protecting women’s rights represents real progress. Ankara has had difficulty convincing the rest of the country to follow the law, however. Especially in poorer, rural, religious areas tradition has tended to triumph over law. The ban on “honor killings” – where a woman or girl is killed by her brother or father to cleanse the family after she has been raped or has refused to marry – has resulted in a dramatic increase in so-called suicides, which run from family coercion to murder concealed with the help of local authorities. This is not to say that no progress at all has been made – the existence of these laws is certainly an improvement over their absence, and the gender gap in education has narrowed to 2.3%. Nonetheless, the country has far to travel by both EU and international human rights standards.

As far as media freedom, violence and politically-motivated charges and detentions against journalists and civilians actually increased markedly in 2008. In December, Turkey opened the negotiation chapter with the EU on “information society and media.” This has always been a sensitive topic in Turkey, whose laws on insulting Turkey, Turkishness, the government, or Ataturk have been used to imprison and intimidate countless journalists, authors, and other public figures. According to BIA Media Monitoring, International PEN, and Reporters Without Borders, 2008 saw a marked increase in censorship and charges against writers. The sincerity of Turkey’s commitment to European standards of freedom of speech is thus particularly questionable. Even more disturbing is a fine of nearly $500 million levied by the government on Dogan Media. It is hard not to connect the penalty to Prime Minister Erdogan’s months of verbal attacks on the company, which published detailed accusations of corruption against the PM and his AK party.

As many analysts have noted, Turkey’s hopes of joining the EU anytime in the medium-term seem rather implausible for reasons unrelated to internal rights, including the status of Turkish-controlled Cyprus and the fear of admitting a majority-Muslim state to the EU. However, the Turkish government would certainly help its cause, while at the same time moving toward compliance with international human rights treaties to which it is a party, by continuing the reform process. Some of the aforementioned progress in Ankara is unprecedented – the government has never before guaranteed women’s rights or promoted use of the Kurdish language. Yet they remain superficial. Thus, those concerned with tolerance and pluralism in Turkey must hope that where ethical-moral calls for change have failed, geopolitical interest will be successful.

Weekly Governance Links: Middle East and North Africa (with Turkey bonus)

With regard to region-wide analytical tools, the World Bank has issued two recent reports on governance challenges in the MENA region. One is related to education and emphasizes the need to change the behavior of educators and policymakers. The other analyzes the prospects for increasing women's entrepreneurship in the region. Meanwhile, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has created a highly useful website that allows users to quickly access information about the basic status of politics and reform efforts in countries throughout the region.

Several recent country-specific reports have emerged as well. The Carnegie Endowment has published a report on Algeria under President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, is submitting reports to the UN Human Rights Council as part of the universal periodic review for several countries in the region, including Bahrain, Morocco, and Tunisia.

Many of the recent developments in Egypt were covered in this post last week. One other story worth mentioning in the context of increasing popular dissatisfaction is the government's recent ban on demonstrations around holy sites such as mosques, which has been greeted with anger. Separately, a good resource for Egypt information is the Arabist blog.

Given the lack of political ferment within Syria, the country's troubled foreign relations generally receive most press attention. The Institute for War and Peace Reporting has now established a Syria program; both its Syria News Briefings and Syria Press Monitor pages provide information relevant to governance issues inside the country.

The big story in Turkey recently has been the battle between secular elites and the ruling AK Party, which has Islamist roots but has by most accounts followed moderate domestic social policies. Headscarves are the impetus for the confrontation, which is analyzed in this IPS article and contextualized somewhat further in this Financial Times article.

Finally, Iran is a country that fascinates foreign observers and receives consistently interesting journalistic and analytical treatment. The Carnegie Endowment published a report that takes a close look at Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, while the FT examines advances and continued shortcomings in women's rights. On a semi-positive note, the LA Times describes moderate reforms in the government's attitude toward treating its large number of opiate addicts, while Amnesty International notes that a prominent trade unionist was released from prison last week.

Weekly Governance Links: Recent Reports on Latin America

Although often neglected in the international press, Latin American governance is extremely well-studied. With its long history of both democratic and authoritarian political models as well as economies ranging from highly protected to relatively open, the region has served as a laboratory of sorts for a wide variety of different governing methods. The following are links to reports on the region from recent months. They are in general fairly extensive, most are policy-oriented, and a few have technical elements, but all shed light on recent thinking on governance in the region.

When people are asked what Latin America’s major economic problems are, the first answer is invariably either “inequality” or “poverty.” The World Bank recently issued a new study of regional inequality that seeks to both describe trends and identify solutions. With respect to poverty, it is generally agreed that sustained economic growth is the single most critical factor in lifting standards of living. The Center for Global Development and the Inter-American Dialogue released a report in January specifically related to pro-poor economic growth. Many of the themes, such as eliminating corruption and establishing the rule of law, will be familiar to Countries at the Crossroads readers. Relatedly, one of the most frequently discussed social problems in the region is exclusion. The Inter-American Development Bank recently issued its 2008 Economic and Social Progress Report, which this year focuses on exclusion.

Several recent documents also address slightly more specific topics. An Inter-American Dialogue report discusses education, a sector where the region suffers from profound shortcomings. On a more micro level, a World Bank study looks at the relationship between formal registration and profit levels for Bolivian firms. This is important as many policy observers note that the region’s high rate of informality is holding back economic growth (the same observers also usually note that the incentives provided by the state to register and pay taxes are generally lacking).

Another specific topic that is all too familiar to anyone familiar with the region or who's ever watched a movie with a Latin America plotline is the issue of crime. Crime rates continue to grow in many countries, often undermining institutions. The Washington Office on Latin America released a report in January on organized crime and the threat it poses both to institutions and the human rights of citizens. Similarly, the International Crisis Group has released two new reports that discuss one of the primary drivers of crime in the region: the drug trade. One discusses the failure of the war against drugs in its current incarnation, while another analyzes possible ways to improve policy. Finally, another WOLA report looks at a specific instance of failure: the damage done by aerial fumigation in Colombia.

For many Latin Americans, one of the central obstacles to better policymaking has been the policymakers themselves. This goes far in accounting for the oft-discussed “left turn” in the region in recent years. An excellent report from the Wilson Center provides some of the context often missing in analyses of the left turn. Another hope for new blood in politics comes from the gradually increasing role of women in national politics. A report from the Inter-American Dialogue provides analysis of the region’s progress in this regard.

The rise of China has led to much hand-wringing in recent years about the lack of conditionality in Chinese aid and investment and how that will affect governance. While Asia and Africa have been the focal points of this analysis, a recent joint SAIS-Wilson Center report examines the very real effects of China’s rise on Latin America.

Finally, for a mother lode of governance-related papers check out the Copenhagen Consensus for Latin America and the Caribbean site. The Copenhagen Consensus is a project that encourages discussion of development issues by asking “If Latin America were willing to spend, say, $10 billion more over the next five years on improving welfare, which projects would have the greatest benefits?” The question provoked a torrent of interesting responses, with results broken down by category, that are well worth examining in detail.

Readers are encouraged to leave other recent reports of note (both thematic and country-specific are fine) in comments.

Map credit: Wikipedia

Weekly Governance Links: Miscellaneous

Because sometimes interesting governance developments just don’t fit into one particular theme...

Human Rights Watch has released an extensive report detailing the suffering of HIV positive women in Zambia, where generally weak rights for women have had a negative impact on their ability to cope with the disease.

A Reuters article notes that the chief of the anticorruption unit has stepped down. The woman, Suzanne Rich Folsom, was associated with former World Bank chief Paul Wolfowitz and had come under increasing pressure ever since last year’s Paul Volcker-led commission suggested her unit for further investigation. Another quality report related to corruption comes from the Center for Global Development, which reports on ways to combat deceptive partnerships that companies in the industrialized world use to issue bribes in developing countries.

Two scholars at the Carnegie Endowment analyze the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s draft party platform. In other Egypt news, Human Rights Watch describes the recent repression of a demonstration, thereby providing yet another example of the enormous obstacles the Muslim Brotherhood or any other prospective Egyptian party will face on the path to a democratic opening in Egypt.

An ongoing crackdown in Iran has received significant attention of late. With parliamentary elections scheduled for March 14, the New York Times notes that, once again, reformists are being disqualified in large numbers. Another Times article details the increasing pressure being put on a group that had managed to evade harsh treatment, the radical left. Meanwhile, Amnesty International decries the continued use of stoning as a method of capital punishment.

With Georgia’s presidential election now complete, attention turns to its neighbor Armenia, where elections will be held on February 19. Transitions Online has two articles providing some context to the election.

Given the troubling findings detailed in the release of Freedom in the World 2008, a timely paper from the Center for Global Development on how the international community can work with troubled young democracies to firm up their institutions in ways that promote further democratization and resist backsliding.

In the context of rising tensions related to immigration throughout the world, Human Rights Watch blasts the Libyan government’s decision to deport all of its undocumented workers, many of whom could be exposed to persecution at home. Note that the New York Times had an interesting article in December about the rise and effects of increased immigration within the developing world.

A September post noted the announcement of Chile’s extradition of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori and provided links detailing some of the many evils associated with the regime. Good news: the legal process is not going well for the former strongman. He has already been convicted and sentenced in one case, and recent damning testimony has been received in several others. For continued monitoring, visit the Fujimori on Trial website.

Mubarak ♥ Civil Society

After years of idly sitting on the statute books, the 1996 Egyptian law banning female genital mutilation (FGM) is finally gaining some advocates and some teeth. As detailed in the New York Times, an unusual coalition of government officials, high-ranking Muslim clerics, and civil society groups has formed with the goal of eradicating the ancient practice. The previous problem had been a loophole: while the practice was banned, doctors were allowed to perform the procedure for “medical reasons.” This was exploited to the point that FGM has remained near-universal in Egypt for reproductive age women. However, after the death of an 11-year old girl at a clinic earlier this year, the minister of health issued a formal decree completely banning FGM and threatening doctors with prosecution. This was greeted with derision from conservative sectors of society, and unsurprisingly, diktats from Cairo have had only marginal effect on traditional attitudes.

Since then, however, the government has been actively involved in shutting down clinics and has engaged high-profile personalities such as the Grand Mufti of Egypt and Suzanne Mubarak, the president’s wife, in media campaigns. More surprisingly, civil society—whose relations with the Mubarak government have ebbed from already-low levels in recent years—has been consulted by the government and acted as the pivotal link between the high-profile campaign and on-the-ground change. Consistent and sustained effort from the government and true engagement with its citizens is something that comes unnaturally to the Mubarak regime. Nonetheless, the government appears to have realized that if it simply shuts down clinics, the practice will be performed in hidden and likely unsanitary conditions. Therefore, it must find ways of changing opinion within the country. For the Mubarak government this approach will be quite novel. It will have to employ democratic mechanisms such as consistent application of the law, encouragement of public discussion, and permission for civil society organizations to work freely.

Success would undoubtedly be a triumph for women’s rights in the region. What would it mean for the government? Certainly not that civil society is to be empowered – that would represent too dramatic a shift to be plausible. But given Mubarak’s welding shut of the door to democracy in recent years, even small steps toward recognizing the benefits of engagement will represent a welcome change.