Make Every Woman Count
3.2. Trends in Legal, Policy and Institutional Reform 3.2.1. Legal Reforms Over the Decade, all North African governments, except for that of the Sahrawi Republic, adopted legislation that addresses women, governance and decision-making, either broadly or specifically. All North African countries, except for Sahrawi Republic (no data found), have established quotas through legislation. In 2012, the Government of Morocco adopted three laws that guarantee women a specific number of seats in Parliament and councils. Organisational Law No. 27.11 of 2012 reserves 60 seats in the Lower House of Parliament for women,854 and Organisational Law No. 34.15 reserves a third of seats on councils for women.855 Currently, women hold 81 out of 395 seats in the lower house.856 Finally, Organisational Law No. 02.12 ensures parity between women and men for appointments in high-level positions.857 Following the uprising in Libya, several laws were adopted during the transitional period that established the participation of women in the process. For example, the 2012 Law for the Election of the General National Congress states that lists must be arranged on the basis of alternation among male and female candidates, and lists that do not respect such principle are rejected.858 In 2013, Law No. 17 gave a 10% quota for women in the Constituent Body to draft the Constitution. 859 Law No. 10 of 2014 stipulated a 16% quota for women in the national Parliament.860 Similarly, Decree No. 35 of 2011 introduced legislated candidate quotas in Tunisia, requiring parties to alternate between female and male candidates on their lists.861 In 2014, Law No. 2014-16 on elections stipulated that women and men have the same rights to be elected in the legislative and executive functions in Tunisia.862 In some countries, legislation establishing quotas for party lists include economic incentives to encourage political parties to elect more female candidates. Law No. 2012- 029 stipulates that 20 seats be reserved for women running in the single nationwide list in Mauritania. Political parties that elect more women than required by the quota can receive a financial benefit.863 Similarly, the Algerian Law for Representation of Women, Article 7, stipulates that political parties can be awarded state funding according to the number of their female candidates elected at national and sub-national levels.864
3.2.2. Policy and Institutional Reforms Three countries (Egypt, Libya and Mauritania) have adopted strategies on women’s political participation, gender equality and women’s rights by adopting legislation and implementing policies and strategies. Libya adopted the Strategy on Supporting and Empowering Women in 2019.865 The same year, Mauritania introduced the National Strategy for the Promotion of Women.866 All countries, except for Sahrawi Republic (no data found), have undertaken institutional reforms such as establishing offices specifically dedicated to gender and gender equality. Decree No.
Figure 12 North Africa: Percentage of Women MPs (% of members of parliament, 2020)
2.13.495 of 2013 of Morocco created a ministerial committee in charge of tracking implementation of the government plan on gender equality.867 The Government of Libya established public offices to
Algeria 25.80%
Tunisia 24.90%
Morocco 20.50%
Mauritania 20.30%
Libya 16.00%
Egypt 15.10%
support and empower women in the government and ministries.868 Tunisia held national training programmes to empower women during 2010 and 2012.869 In 2015, the Government of Algeria together with UN Women launched a programme to provide capacity-building and technical assistance to elected women at national and local levels to enhance their influence in the decision-making process.870 The programme also focuses on the elimination of GBV and promotes gender equality values through media outreach to raise awareness among younger audiences and change negative gender stereotypes.871
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No data available for Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic. Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union.
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