"It is vital that MENA [Middle Eastern and North African] countries more urgently recognize that the status of women is the key determinant to the development of their societies. This report provides important data to encourage reform in women's rights."---Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan<BR><BR>"These reports constitute valuable contributions to our understanding of both the advances made and the challenges that lie ahead for women of the Middle East and North Africa."---Leila Ahmed, Harvard University<BR><BR>"The struggle for women's rights is central to any lasting progress toward a more just and free society in the Middle East. Women's Rights in the Middle East and North Africa is an essential source for information and analysis about where that struggle is today, and where we need to make advances. I hope that this important study will inform the discussion about gender equality and mobilize concrete action in the region to bring about genuine change for the women of those societies."---Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran and visiting fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC<BR><BR>"Particularly thorough in providing an update on legislative developments that are relevant for women. Helps to identify some cross-regional trends with preliminary thinking about how to address common challenges...Recommended."---Choice<BR><BR>Freedom House's innovative publication Women's Rights in the Middle East and North Africa: Progress Amid Resistance analyzes the status of women in the region, with a special focus on the gains and setbacks for women's rights since the first edition was released in 2005. The study presents a comparative evaluation of conditions for women in seventeen countries and one territory: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine (Palestinian Authority and Israeli-Occupied Territories), Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The publication identifies the causes and consequences of gender inequality in the Middle East, and provides concrete recommendations for national and international policymakers and implementers.<BR><BR>Freedom House is an independent nongovernmental organization that supports democratic change, monitors freedom, and advocates for democracy and human rights.