The effectiveness of foreign aid to women’s equality organizations in the MENA: Does aid promote women’s political participation?

This paper addresses the question of whether official development assistance promotes gender equality in the Middle East and North Africa region. The paper examines the effects on women’s political empowerment of aid to Women’s Equality Organizations and Institutions, measured by the proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments. The paper uses panel data (covering the period 2002-10) from 13 Middle East and North African countries and controls for several relevant variables, including secondary school enrolments, adult fertility rates, autocracy, and official development assistance targeting family planning and reproductive health. The econometric results suggest that official development assistance to women’ equality organizations and institutions is effective in increasing women’s political empowerment. Autocracy exerts a negative influence on women’s political empowerment. In addition, higher adolescent fertility rates are found to be associated with smaller proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments. The paper concludes by discussing the policy implications of the main findings.