Morocco/Maghreb: Two demonstrations for and against the national action plan to integrate women in development

The debate has further intensified in Morocco regarding the national plan for mainstreaming the participation of women in development amidst growing resentment within extremists and conservative circles. Meanwhile, moderate religious figures have maintained that whilst they have no opposition with regards to women's participation in social and economic development processes, matters related to the family code should not be broached. To be noted that the national plan which is the fruit of a collective process involving various actors of civil society as well as the public sector emphasizes four main axis namely literacy, education, heath and economic growth. The most contentious issues raised by the national plan are related to raising the age of marriage to 18 for girls (as opposed to the current situation where the minimum age of marriage is 14), making polygamy conditional on the acceptance of the first wife, curbing men's uninhibited rights to divorce, and the sharing of property, assets, and entitlements between the two spouses after divorce.
The discussions and negotiations of this national plan which has yet to be submitted to Parliament have involved an extensive process including meetings, consultations, seminars and debates in various parts of the country. In several occasions, extremists opposed to the plan have attempted to compromise public meetings.

As part of the nation-wide lobbying for the adoption of the national plan of action, a large demonstration was called for in the city of Rabat by proponents of the plan namely the large local network of women groups and NGOs which have actively taken part in the development of the plan. Thousands of women and men participated in the Rabat demonstration including politicians and social activists. A counter demonstration was staged in Casablanca by the Islamist association "Al Adl wa'l Ihsan" and the Party of Justice and Development (PJD) which was said to group an equally significant number as the Rabat demonstration. Both demonstrations were carried out peacefully and no incident was noted except the existing cleavage over the issue of the national plan and the divergent positions vis-à-vis gender relations in the Morocco.
- Meanwhile, a report released by the Collectif Maghreb Egalite indicated a growing trend of violence against women and gender based oppression in the three countries of the Maghreb whilst stressing that rape has been systematically used as a weapon of war in Algeria. Members of the Collectif have indicated that since 1994, more than 5000 women have been raped in Algeria whilst many others were killed in appalling circumstances particularly in rural areas. Data collected in Morocco indicated that there are 28000 known cases of violence against women notwithstanding cases of sexual harassment on the work site.

Kuwait/Machreq: Women do not take no for an answer

Following the parliament's refusal to pass on a bill granting women the right to vote and participate in electoral processes, hundreds of Kuwaiti women marched in the capital Kuwait city demanding that women's names be added to the voters' registers. A number of men took part in the march as a show of solidarity and indicated that the marchers' demands are in line with the Prince's intention to pursue grant women of Kuwait their full political rights. The Association of Kuwaiti Women who spearheaded the march also collected signatures on a petition demanding that women be granted equal political rights as their fellow male citizens. The petition challenged the recent decision of the parliament and reiterated that it further exacerbates discrimination against women in Kuwait.
As a result, and in an unprecedented move, the Mayor of the city of Kuwait approved the creation of a parallel special voters' registry for women. 
Meanwhile, the trial of the two Kuwaiti women authors, Leila Othman and Alia Shouaib, has ended with a sentence of two months imprisonment and a payment of a fine for both. The verdict which came as a shock in Kuwait and other countries in the Arab region follows a trial of both authors who were accused by Islamists group of using indecent words and terms in books published by the authors between 1978 and 1984. Both authors are now appealing the court decision which I believed to be unfair and unconstitutional.
-  In neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the President of the Consultative Council (Majlis al Shouraa) announced that the country has no immediate plans to allow women to participate as members in the said council. However, other news seem to indicate that the Council will pursue its current policy to allow women to attend the Council meetings as observers and may subsequently re-consider its position vis-à-vis the participation of women as full Council members. Women have been invited to attend various Council meetings recently especially during sessions discussing issues "related to women".


Lebanon/Machreq: A flurry of activities in pipeline for celebrating the 8th of March

With the launch of the divorce campaign spearheaded by the Arab Women Court, a number of events took place in Lebanon including seminars and open meetings with Muslim and Christian clergy around the issue of family laws. These activities are part of an overall awareness raising programme aiming at profiling the discrimination against women seeing divorce settlement. 
Parallel to that, various activities took place in commemoration for the 8th of March. As a follow-up of the Global March 2000, the regional Arab March (cf. GLIP Monthly Report/January 2000) will now be launched in Beirut in mid-April by the 4 coordinating NGOs in Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, and Jordan. A special report covering that event will be disseminated in due course.
On March 8, and in compliance with a UNESCO proposal, the chief editors of all newspapers, TV and radio stations in Lebanon were replaced by their women colleagues for 24 hours! Things went back to "normal" on the following day….

Iran: A high participation of women in the latest elections

Winds of change are blowing in Iran where the country has witnessed a massive mobilisation of women during the latest elections both at the level of voters and candidates. The flurry of women candidates was noted in both the reformists and conservative camps whilst the political agendas clearly reflected concerns with issues related to the positive of women in Iran.

For any query, comment, feedback, contributions or for copies of the Update in other languages, please write to glipnews@cyberia.net.lb
 

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