This roundtable focused on women’s rights in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The speakers discussed what progress has been made in the MENA since the Arab Uprisings, and what the remaining challenges are for women in North Africa, Iran, and the Gulf region. The roundtable also explored the shifting attitudes towards women's participation in the public sphere, gender activism, and women's political participation, highlighting regional and/or subnational variations regarding these aspects.

This GLD Policy Roundtable was recorded on 8 March 2023.

Panelists:

Dr. Dalal Alfares, Assistant Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature, Kuwait University.

Dr. Nermin Allam, Assistant Professor of Politics at Rutgers University-Newark.

Dr. Yasmine Berriane, Researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS).

Dr. Shirin Saeidi, Assistant Professor of political science and the director of the King Fahd Center for Middle East Studies, at the University of Arkansas.

Moderator:

Dr.Marwa Shalaby, Assistant Professor in the departments of Gender and Women’s Studies and Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Read the policy brief based on this roundtable here!

Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa, Governance and Local Development Institute, Policy Brief no.19, May 2023.