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Resolution 2012 (2014) Final version
Women’s rights and prospects for Euro-Mediterranean cooperation
1. Three years after the uprisings
which started the “Arab Spring”, women’s status on the southern
shore of the Mediterranean has a mixed record. Moreover, significant
differences exist between the various countries: on the one hand,
Morocco and Tunisia, by creating or consolidating democratic institutions,
have achieved significant progress in this area; on the other, Egypt,
struggling to restore stability, and Libya, on the brink of civil
war, have not made any progress in this area. Algeria’s progress
is insufficient.
2. Gender equality is an indicator of a country’s degree of democratisation
and of its resolve and capacity for the inclusion of all citizens
without discrimination of any kind. Likewise, breaches of women’s
rights often act as an alarm bell, revealing threats to the rights
and freedoms of everyone.
3. Morocco and Tunisia have hitherto been prime interlocutors
of the Council of Europe, and these productive relations should
be perpetuated in the future. At the same time, these countries
can play an exemplary modernising role in international forums,
such as the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, by proving that
it is possible to advance towards gender equality without renouncing
one’s cultural and religious roots.
4. The Parliamentary Assembly welcomes the enshrinement of the
gender equality principle in the new constitutions adopted by Egypt
and Tunisia in 2014. Making this principle a reality will call for
a sustained effort on the part of these countries’ governments and
legislators during the years ahead.
5. An alert and watchful stance regarding the situation of women
in the countries of the region remains necessary, since where human
rights are concerned regressions are always possible and the political
and institutional frameworks are particularly unstable in some of
these countries.
6. Civil society, including women’s organisations, has played
a crucial part in the processes of democratic transition or consolidation,
and should be supported by the national institutions and the agents
of international co-operation.
7. In general, media also have an important part to play in modernising
society and supporting gender equality; this is especially true
in societies where illiteracy remains widespread (oral tradition).
They have a potent influence on attitudes and should exercise it
to instil the principle of equality and eradicate gender stereotypes.
8. In the light of these considerations, the Assembly reiterates
the recommendations directed at the countries of the region both
collectively and individually in Resolution 1873 (2012) “Equality between women and men: a condition for the
success of the Arab Spring”. Furthermore, it calls on the countries
of the region to:
8.1. apply the
principle of equality enshrined in their constitutions coherently
and in depth, including through specific policies and programmes;
8.2. make sure that the law on the family and inheritance is
in keeping with the principle of equality, particularly as regards
the role of the head of family, parental authority, divorce, custody
of children and inheritance;
8.3. combat violence against women by means of a legal framework
founded on prevention of violence, protection of victims and punishment
of perpetrators, which addresses all forms of violence against women
in the ambit of criminal law, including domestic violence, female
genital mutilation, neglect of daughters, so-called “honour” crimes
and sexual violence; this legislation should be coherently implemented
and regularly evaluated;
8.4. eliminate all barriers impeding women’s effective access
to justice and guarantee their access to and participation in the
mechanisms of transitional justice;
8.5. support civil society, including women’s organisations,
and involve it in preparing and implementing laws and policies likely
to have an impact on the status of women;
8.6. promote the full participation of women and of women’s
organisations in public and political life, in particular by introducing
provisions into electoral legislation aimed at promoting the representation
of elected women in public bodies. Within these bodies and, as appropriate,
political parties, information and training activities should be
organised to improve the aptitudes of all elected representatives
without distinction as to gender;
8.7. promote women’s representation in the judicial system
and the legal professions, as well as in the police force;
8.8. involve the media in promoting equality, both by combating
gender stereotyping and by increased representation of women on
the staff of the various information agencies, particularly radio
and television;
8.9. guarantee equal access to education at all levels without
gender-based discrimination and intensify the fight against illiteracy,
including that of adults and especially women;
8.10. intensify co-operation with the Council of Europe, in
particular by acceding to the relevant conventions and enlarged
partial agreements, notably the European Commission for Democracy through
Law (Venice Commission), if they have not already done so;
8.11. consider accession to the Council of Europe Convention
on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (CETS No. 197) and
to the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating
Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (CETS No. 210, “Istanbul
Convention”);
8.12. strengthen interparliamentary co-operation with the Council
of Europe by using available tools such as the partner for democracy
status and through co-operation under the Strengthening Democratic Reform
in the Southern Neighbourhood programme (South Programme);
8.13. strengthen co-operation within the region in order to
exchange good practices for improving the status of women.
9. Furthermore, the Assembly calls on Morocco to:
9.1. guarantee that the Family Code
is uniformly implemented in the various courts of the country, in particular
through activities for the information and training of magistrates
and by facilitating access to justice for women who are disadvantaged
and live in rural areas;
9.2. ensure the implementation of the Government Plan for Equality
ICRAM (Concerted Initiative for Enhancing the Attainments of Moroccan
Women) adopted in June 2013 on the basis of a partnership agreement
with the European Union;
9.3. combat the phenomenon of underage marriages;
9.4. eradicate the phenomenon of illegal employment of minors,
particularly in a domestic setting, by enforcing the current labour
legislation;
9.5. complete the legislative process under way so as to introduce
adequate legislation on violence against women.
10. The Assembly calls on Tunisia to:
10.1. reform electoral legislation in order to guarantee the
effectiveness of provisions in favour of women’s representation;
10.2. complete the process of creating legislation on violence
against women and trafficking in human beings and guarantee its
implementation and evaluation.
11. The Assembly calls on Algeria to:
11.1. reform the Family Code in a truly gender-balanced manner
by eliminating the provisions that discriminate against women, notably
in respect of legal capacity to marry, parental authority and conditions
for seeking divorce;
11.2. reform Law No. 12-06 on associations, or apply it in such
a way that it does not curb freedom of assembly and association.
12. The Assembly calls on Libya to guarantee the implementation
of the decree enacting a law to recognise women victims of rape
during the 2014 revolution as “war victims”, adopted on 19 February
2014, by allocating sufficient human and financial resources.
13. The Assembly calls on Egypt to:
13.1. promote women’s participation in public life and their
political representation, specifically by means of adequate electoral
legislation;
13.2. combat violence against women in all forms, including
psychological and sexual harassment and female genital mutilation.