Progress Amid Resistance

492 WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICAbecause the committee is only able to issue nonbinding opinions, the im -pact of the protocol is as yet unclear.The fundamental purpose of the women’s affairs ministry, MAFFEPA,is to ensure the equality of the sexes. It coordinates the activities of variousgovernment institutions in an effort to promote the status of women andthe family, and to encourage women to assume a major role in the developmentprocess. Women’s rights are part of the concerns of organizationssuch as the National Union of Tunisian Women (UNFT), the TunisianAssociation of Democratic Women (ATFD), and more than 20 otherwomen’s groups. The Women and Development Committee, founded inJune 1991, examines different development plans through their variousstages to ensure that gender equality is respected.The National Council of Women and Family, established in 1992,was strengthened in 1997 with the creation of three commissions—theCommission on the Image of Women in the Media, the Commission onthe Promotion of Equal Opportunities for All and for the Applicationof the Law, and the Commission of National and International DeadlinesPertaining to Women and the Family. The Center for Research,Documen ta tion, and Information on Women (CREDIF), the Associationof Tunisian Women for Research and Development (AFTURD), as wellas the National Office of the Family and Population Affairs—which primarilyacts to watch over the health and reproductive rights of women—have all undertaken a number of studies on conditions for women. TheCenter for Arab Women Training and Research (CAWTAR), based inTunis, carries out comparative studies among Arab nations and promotesgender equality through advocacy and workshops.RecommendationsF The government should ensure that the laws, in particular those concernedwith the protection of the individual, are properly enforced in anondiscriminatory manner.F The government should amend the Code of Nationality to allowTunisian women to transfer their nationality to their non-Tunisianhusbands.F The government should withdraw Tunisia’s reservations to CEDAWand ensure its implementation by bringing national laws in conformitywith the convention.