Arab women make up nearly half of the Arab world’s population of some 135 million. Among all the world’s Muslim women, they form a distinctive group. But their status cannot be given a single classification. It varies greatly according to the country they live in and the section of society to which they belong.In Saudi Arabia, today women, with few exceptions, still wear the veil and may not meet men other than their nearest relations. The more modernized countries, such as Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia, offer a different picture. There the women of better-off families have a lifestyle broadly comparable with women in Europe. Many are outstanding in public or professional work. In proportion to men, there are more women members of parliament in Sudan than in Britain. Egypt has over 1,000 women doctors and a woman is its senior flying instructor. There are women judges in Lebanon and Algeria. Syrian women engineers worked on the Euphrates dam.

Please note that the terminology in the fields of minority rights and indigenous peoples’ rights has changed over time. MRG strives to reflect these changes as well as respect the right to self-identification on the part of minorities and indigenous peoples. At the same time, after over 50 years’ work, we know that our archive is of considerable interest to activists and researchers. Therefore, we make available as much of our back catalogue as possible, while being aware that the language used may not reflect current thinking on these issues.