Women in the Arab world: EPP Group denounces Islamists' oppression.

In Lebanon the number of women MPs remains too low. 

"When the world celebrates international women's day, tomorrow, women in the Arab world will not have much to celebrate about. Women across much of North Africa and the Middle East participated actively in the Arab Spring but their efforts haven't paid off, at least not for them," said Marie-Thérèse Sanchez-Schmid MEP.

In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, Islamist parties have taken the reins of their countries by means of a democratic process but women remain excluded from public life. In Egypt the biggest party in parliament, the Freedom and Justice Party, is against having a women as President. In Egypt, women participation in the official decision-making process is almost non-existent.

In Tunisia, the activists of women's rights were dealt a big blow by the assassination of opposition leader Chokri Belaid because he was very vocal on women's rights.

Just two days ago, in the Gaza Strip, the ruling Hamas Islamists banned women runners from the annual marathon, a decision which compelled the main United Nations agency in Gaza to cancel the event altogether. 

"The threat by Islamist parties of relegating women to second-class citizens is real more than ever before," says Santiago Fisas Ayxela MEP

"Without women's full and active involvement in the Arab society, at all levels, the democratisation process will just not work. The United Nation's Development Programme has published studies suggesting links between oppression on women and economic decline," stated Vito Bonsignore MEP, EPP Group Chairman responsible for EUROMED.

But the culture of oppression is not confined to young Arab democracies. Lebanon, which is arguably one of the Middle East's most developed democracies, has only four women as Members of Parliament. The total number of MPs is one hundred twenty eight.      

"We urge all Lebanese political parties to put forward women candidates for the upcoming elections," said MEPs Sanchez-Schmid, Fisas Ayxela and Bonsignore. Elections in Lebanon are scheduled for 9 June.