Part IV:
Concluding Thoughts
“If I have gotten to where I am it is perhaps largely because I was able to see the ties between women’s/my experiences and the superstructural and infrastructural conditions that provide the context for our lives. ”
-Lilia Labidi, Former Minister of Women’s Affairs, Tunisia
Leadership is measured by much more than merely the position one occupies. In the MENA region, women are leading the process of change through civil society organizations, and to a lesser extent in the private sector and within public institutions. In this index, we did not explore the role of women leaders in civil society, and the critical part that civil society plays in holding governments accountable. But that should not diminish the function that these women leaders play in driving toward stronger and more inclusive institutions. Sudan’s recent revolution is a great example of this trend. Women took to the streets and exercised agency in the pursuit of much needed change in their country. One recent article observed that it was a “coalition of women’s groups who have been mobilising people and leading protests throughout this uprising” that “issued a statement in support of the Declaration of Freedom and Change, demanding that at least 50 percent of those who make up every facet of the new transitional government are women, and that affirmative action be implemented in favour of representatives from marginalised regions.” Women also played a central role in peaceful demonstrations in Algeria that resulted in the resignation of President Bouteflika after 20 years of rule. Such protests continue peacefully in the region, with women leading, alongside men, in pro-democracy efforts. These women leaders include Zoubida Assoul, leader of the Union for Change and Progress party, president of the Network of Arab Women Lawyers, and spokeswomen of the Citizen Movement. And it was the Workers’ Party
