#Global Development: Views from the Center RSS Feed Global Development: Views from the Center » Women, Development, and the Arab Spring: Moving from Protest to Political Participation Comments Feed Global Development: Views from the Center Obama Nominees Test Poll Blog Post The Millennium Villages Evaluation Debate Heats Up, Boils Over 2011 Commitment to Development Index Is Out CGD Independent research & practical ideas for global prosperity About Us | On the Hill | Press Center | Subscribe | Invest Search______________ Submit * Home * Topics + Aid Effectiveness + Capital Flows/Financial Crises + Climate Change + Debt Relief + Economic Growth + Education + Finance + Food and Agriculture + Fragile States + Global Health Policy + Globalization + Governance/Democracy + Inequality + International Financial Institutions + Migration and Development + Population and Development + Poverty + Private Investment + Regions + Technology + Trade + Initiatives o Active Initiatives ____________________________________________________ o 2011 Commitment to Development Index o Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA) o Cash on Delivery (COD) Aid o Combating Drug Resistance o Forest Monitoring for Action (FORMA) o Improving Migration Data o Migration as a Tool for Disaster Recovery o Oil-to-Cash: Fighting the Resource Curse through Cash Transfers o Pakistan: U.S. Development Strategy in Pakistan o Preventing Odious Obligations o Reforming Trade Preferences o Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance ____________________________________________________ o Completed Initiatives o Publications o Blogs o Experts o Events o For Educators o Impact Print Print Share/Bookmark Share Home Blogs Global Development: Views from the Center [Views_large.gif] Global Development: Views from the Center Women, Development, and the Arab Spring: Moving from Protest to Political Participation October 28, 2011 By Nandini Oomman in Women & Gender Tags: Women & Gender Tweet Nandini Oomman This is a joint post with Jessica Brinton At a recent CGD breakfast with Johnny West on his new book Karama! Journeys Through the Arab Spring, our colleague Mead Over asked how women would benefit from the Arab Spring. Though he speaks Arabic and has spent 20 years in the region, West didn’t have much to share about the role and prospects of women. As West explained, he had very few opportunities to interact with women. Unfortunately, this is a piece of a broader reality: even when women have played a huge role in protest movements, they are rarely represented in accounts of the revolution. Yet there is no doubt that women took an active role in the revolutions from Tunisia to Egypt to Yemen and Libya. One of the few to be internationally recognized is this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karman, a pro-democracy campaigner from Yemen. We think the Nobel committee is also signaling to countries that women should be recognized for their contribution to these revolutions and included in the constitutional reform processes now underway. Related Content o Girls Count: A Global Investment and Action Agenda o Report (Moving Beyond Gender as Usual) What is still in doubt is what will happen to these women after the streets (and media) have gone quiet (USIP’s Mary Hope Schwoebel unpacks some of the changes here). Reflecting on our recent Arab Spring discussion at CGD, we are concerned about a potential lost opportunity for development in this region. We pose two key questions below to argue that women’s rights are critical for development and to make a case for a more concerted donor—in particular U.S. and UN– effort to ensure that women are key participants of their countries’ reform movements. Why does gender equality and women’s political participation matter for development? Gender equality matters because when women play an active role in public and professional life, they strengthen the economy and increase the chance that health and education services reach the most marginalized—poor women and children. CGD has a strong history of working on gender issues as they relate to global development. For example, Girls Count: A Global Investment & Action Agenda Report and Start with a Girl: A New Agenda for Global Health show why improving adolescent girls’ health and wellbeing is critical to achieving international development goals and identify eight priorities for international action. In Moving Beyond Gender as Usual, we show why AIDS donors should respond to gender inequalities that drive the HIV/AIDS epidemic (Learn more about CGD’s work in this area here and here.) How are outsiders supporting a gender equality agenda in Arab Spring countries? A logical place to look for answers is to two high-level leaders on women and development: Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and Michelle Bachelet, head of UN Women. Although Secretary Clinton has publicly remarked on the importance of women’s political participation and the Arab Spring, recognized the Nobel Peace Prize Winners, and even met with students at Tripoli University, the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues has so far been silent on women’s political participation and the Arab Spring (full list of current programs). The State Department’s Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) says it provides assistance to countries that respond to women’s needs, including their ability to participate in politics. Their agenda promises the support of young women, who are considerably more literate than their mothers and grandmothers (See Economist article here for this encouraging statistic). Unfortunately, MEPI’s website lacks detail about this support. UN Women has just kicked off a new call for proposals on women’s empowerment in the Arab Spring region through their Fund for Gender Equality. A good first step, but UN Women could do much more: it has the ability and the neutrality to be a convener of smart and influential experts who can bring sound policy proposals to the newly formed governments. It seems they are participating in a workshop this week where participants will gather in Brussels to systematically document the lessons learned from the Arab Spring. We hope this information will increase the likelihood that women’s rights, including political participation, are a core component of the new political agendas. Shall we only say “Insh’Allah” (God Willing) this will happen? Perhaps not. We need more action. The United States, UN and others outside the region who understand the importance of women’s full participation in society should use all the tools at their disposal NOW, when the course is being set for the future, to help ensure that that gender equality is a key part of the revolution sweeping the region. Possibly Related Posts o Obama Urges Trade, Investment to Support Arab Spring; U.S. Scores Not so Hot o Three Early Moves for Michelle Bachelet’s UN “Start-Up” for Women o ONE Way to Help Women Tweet AddThis Social Bookmark Button << Previous Post Next Post >> Post a Comment We value frank and constructive exchanges and encourage you to use your real name in your comments. ______________________ Name (required, will be published) ______________________ Mail (required, will NOT be published or otherwise shared) ______________________ Website (optional, your organization or online bio, for example. Will be published.) ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Submit Comment [ ] Notify me of followup comments via e-mail IFRAME: http://api.recaptcha.net/noscript?k=6LfzdwUAAAAAAOUHBPuigpQhA7deScWPg7H C9wc9 ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ Submit Comment o Views from the Center features posts from Nancy Birdsall and her colleagues about innovative, practical policy responses to poverty and inequality in a globalizing world. o Translator [USEMAP:gltr_image_map.png] o [icon-rss-big.png] E-mail address______ Subscribe o ____________________ Search o Monthly Archives [Select Month________] o Categories [Select Category___________________________] o Popular o [1424963_image_cod_aid_badge.png] o Tags Africa Agriculture Aid Effectiveness Carbon Accounting Cash on Delivery Aid China Clean Technology Fund Climate Change Commitment to Development Index Copenhagen Corruption Debt Relief Democracy Evaluation Food Aid Food Crisis Foreign Aid Reform G8 G20 Governance/Democracy Haiti HIV/AIDS Human Rights IMF India Inequality International Financial Institutions Liberia MCC Microfinance Migration Migration and Population Millennium Development Goals Oil On the Hill Pakistan Poverty Private Investment Regions Rural Development Security and Development Technology U.S. Presidential Elections UN USAID World Trade Organization Zimbabwe o Comments Jeremy on How’s Your Country Score? Kudos to AfDB for Its Data Release: Insightful post. What your take is on the governance/democracy data that is... Nandini Oomman on Why I’m Thrilled the United States Has Stopped Excluding Haitians from Temporary Work Visas: Michael-I just read this wonderful... Todd on How’s Your Country Score? Kudos to AfDB for Its Data Release: The AfDB told me they will soon release all data back to 2000. Adam McCarty on CGD’s What’s Hot & What’s Not for 2012: Actually, I have a serious contribution (sorry). I would say that Myanmar is totally... Michael Clemens on Why I’m Thrilled the United States Has Stopped Excluding Haitians from Temporary Work Visas: Thanks so much Michael, your own... o Blogroll # Africa Can End Poverty # AidData Blog # Building Africa Today # Chris Blattman's Blog # CIPE Blog # Crisis Talk - The World Bank Group # Crisscrossed # Dani Rodrik # Dispatches # Dot Earth # From Poverty to Power # Governance Focus # The Guardian Global Development # iMFdirect # International Economic Law and Policy Blog # The Kaufmann Governance Post # NextBillion.net # ODI WebLog # Owen abroad # PFM Blog # Poverty News Blog # Pulling for the Underdog # Trade Diversion # The Undercover Economist # World Economic Forum Weblog # World Resources institute Earthtrends o Subscribe to this podcast on [icon_itunes_24_bg.png] iTunes & [icon_stitcher_24_bg.png] Stitcher. Contact Us | Press Center | Jobs | RSS | Invest © 2012, CGD. All rights reserved. | Credits CENTER FOR GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT 1800 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Third Floor Washington DC 20036 Tel 202.416.4000 | Fax 202.416.4050 Twitter Facebook YouTube RSS Meetup Podcast Global Prosperity Wonkcast What We're Reading CGD Society