Business & Money | Saturday 12 September, 2015 10:12 am |

The World Bank has praised the efforts of Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Egypt for introducing reforms to empower women socially and economically.

The report issued Wednesday stated that Saudi Arabia and Lebanon had passed laws to protect women from domestic violence, which meant that four countries in the region had legislation in place for this purpose.

In addition, Saudi Arabia gave women 20 percent representation in the Shoura Council, while Egypt allocated 25 percent of seats in parliamentary councils and 10 percent in Parliament. Egypt had also criminalized sexual harassment in public places.
The report focused on 11 economies in the region from 15 around the world that restrict the development of women. The report showed that countries in the Middle East and North Africa have several legal restrictions in place hampering women on the economic front.
In some countries, women are not allowed to pass their nationality on to their children, while 18 other countries in the region have jobs restrictions including a wide gap between the wages of men and women.

On the international level, the report said that women face job restrictions in 100 out of 173 countries surveyed. It stated that women are prevented from working in certain jobs in factories in 41 countries, while 29 countries prevent them from working at night. 
The report praised the reform efforts undertaken in some parts of Africa and Latin America. It stated that certain parts of Europe and Central Asia have some of the most progressive property laws, and access to credit. However, there were instances of women being prevented from working in certain jobs without any justifiable reason.