Women in the Middle East and Africa had 67.4 percent less annual disposable income than men in the region in 2012, the largest gap in the world, according to Euromonitor International, the consumer markets research group.

While Egypt is still discussing its future NGO law, which may hinder e.g. human rights organisations in working freely in the country, a court in Cairo has sentenced 43 people to between one and five years in prison for working for unregistered NGOs in Egypt.

Twenty-seven defendants, all of whom were tried in absentia, received five-year jail sentences. Eleven received one-year suspended sentences, and five received two-year sentences.

Men overwhelmingly dominate the Arab Spring countries, but women, enabled by advances in literacy and higher education, are increasingly asserting themselves.

In Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Syria, they have been on the front lines of revolution. These nations will not succeed unless women are fully incorporated into political and economic life.