Tunisia/Maghreb

In preparation for the forthcoming local elections of municipal councils in May 2000, Tunisian President Zine Eddine Ben Ali stated that he will do his utmost to secure that 800 of the total 4000 municipal council seats assigned for 257 localities are allocated to women. In his keynote address to the 11th conference of the Union Nationale de la Femme Tunisienne, Ben Ali stressed the important role of women in building a democratic society. The President reiterated the significance of the latest parliamentary elections whereby 11% of the new members of parliaments are now women. 

The WHO East Mediterranean Regional Office held a conference in Hamamat in Tunisia to discuss the critical role of women in health and development programmes. The 5 days conference grouped more than 60 participants from WHO, International Family Planning Association and other NGOs from Arab countries in the region. The focus of the conference was on discussing regional programmes aiming at promoting the role of women and identifying obstacles and challenges to the implementation of the Beijing Platform of Action in the field of health and development.

Kuwait/Regional

Kuwaiti women activists involved in the issue of political rights have sued the Ministry of Interior for failing to respond to many women seeking to register their names in the voting polls. The plaintiffs presented their case within the framework of international human rights instruments and conventions ratified by Kuwait. The Government of Kuwait has requested a period of time to study the request whilst the court has postponed its decision till 29 May. It is unsure whether this case which is currently heard in court will be successful in view of the gender discriminatory aspect of the Kuwaiti electoral laws. To be reminded that thousands of women and men have launched a public campaign aiming at registering women in the voters registries following the failure to introduce legal amendments aiming at providing women with equal political rights
A Kuwaiti woman and university student has taken legal actions against 6 Islamists who had allegedly attacked and beaten her becauseshe was not veiled. The student's family was being pressured to contain the affair and refrain from disseminating it in the media.
Developments with the case of the two Kuwaiti women writers, Leila Othman and Alia Cheaib are on-going as the court verdict of two months imprisonment has been waived. In a subsequent appeal, all charges against Alia Cheaib were dropped whereas Othman was request to pay a penalty of U$D 3,000 for certain wording which appeared I her earlier publications and which were deemed indecent. The case and its verdict were highly debated both locally and internationally with many organizations and groups including Amnesty International, expressing serious concerns as well as support to the two writers. 

Bahrain/Regional

A conference on "Women in the Gulf and the Third Millenium" was held in March at the International Conference Centre in Bahrain under the auspices of the Minister of Social Affairs on the occasion of the Internation Women's Day. The conference grouped more than 250 participants from Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. Discussions during the conference focused on issues related to globalisation, obstacles to the advancement of Arab women, as well as local experiences in women and leadership. Participants in the conference issued a series of recommendations aiming at promoting the role of women at the social, economic, legal and political levels.

Saudi Arabia/Regional

A women-only internet café was closed in the Holy city of Mecca because of "indecent behavior" as reported by the media. Other café providing internet services were closed because of alleged abuse of these services. Women users of the café expressed their disagreement with such moves whilst blaming the managers of the establishment who have permitted odd cases of misusages of the café. Internet services were introduced in Saudi Arabia in February 1999 and the number of subscribers quickly rose to 100000.
Amnesty International criticized Saudi Arabia for gender discrimination, an allegation which was refuted by the government which maintained that women and men are given equal rights within the framework of Sharia.

Afghanistan/Regional

The Taliban movement has put further restrictions on the movement and mobility of women following the lay of hundreds of women employees in the education and administrative sector. The decision was justified as being a measure for reducing public spending. The Taliban however have not indicated that any measure will be taken to compensate for the affected women who will not be able to find alternative employment. It is to be noted that thousands of women headed households rely heavily on the income of women which often does not exceed five dollars per month.

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MACMAG GLIP, POB 165302, Beirut/Lebanon
 

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