Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has appointed 30 women to the previously all-male consultative Shura Council.

Read more at bbc.co.uk

An Emirati designer has created a new brand to hit the United Arab Emirates, taking the traditional one-piece abaya – a common Muslim female dress in the Gulf – and breaking it in two(...) Badreya Faisal said that 'Any woman who is an example of gracefully crossing over between Middle Eastern and Western fashion with the same elegance, sophistication and individuality' would be her ideal woman to dress.

Read more at albawaba.com

The Sisterhood Is Global Institute/Jordan (SIGI-Jordan) on Sunday said women’s poor representation as leaders and members of political parties will adversely reflect on their chances to win parliamentary seats at the national level.

Read more at jordantimes.com

Make some room in the boys’ club: It is now mandatory to have female board members in every company and government agency in the United Arab Emirates, according to a new instruction from the U.A.E. government.

Read more at nytimes.com

In 2012, 979 women volunteered to join up with the Danish military's four month-long basic conscription programme. This is nearly double the number of female volunteers who signed up in 2011, when women made up 9.5 percent of the programme's privates.

Read more at dr.dk

Interviews with three Egyptian women’s rights activists, Yara Sallam, Shahinaz El Hennawi and Dina* about their hopes and concerns since Egypt’s first free elections this year.

Read more at awid.org

A Danish-Moroccan book project reverses the stereotypical images of Moroccan women. The book Moroccan women: Invisible success stories contains personal stories told by 14 successfull Moroccan women from all levels of society and in business life, meant to inspire other women. The book was launched in Denmark earlier this week with attendance from among others the Moroccan ambassador, Raja Ghannam. Head of KVINFO's MENA department, Lisbeth Pilegaard, said in her presentation that the book is a farewell to the conception of Moroccan women as victims, fragile individuals that do not participate in society. The book is produced as a part of KVINFO's bilateral project Women Economic Decision Making and Leadership.

Download Maroccan women: Invisble success stories free online

Read interview with one of the women at Womendialogue

In the wake of recent developments during the Arab Spring and its intense media coverage, a deceivingly straightforward question arose; Where are the women?  Although women actually played a pivotal role in every country during its transition period, they were still widely portrayed as “victims” or “sexual objects”, leaving to men the role of the “leader”, the “hero” or the “expert”. 

EMHRN’s gender media guide’s ambitious aim is to correct this misconception by bringing to light a more gender balanced media coverage of women in transition countries.

Read more and download the guide at euromedrights.org

The Arab Spring gave Yemen’s women a public voice and a visible face. But the revolution has faded without changing anything for millions who are married too young and shut away in mud huts for the rest of their lives.

Read more at thedailybeast.com

Women stood at the forefront of the Arab Spring, taking to the streets shoulder to shoulder with men in an effort to overturn oppressive old orders. But while their efforts have seen dictators ousted and reforms introduced, the greater rights for women many hoped would emerge from the upheaval have not materialized.

Read more at cnn.com