As of early 2026, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region continues to rank lowest globally in gender parity, having closed only 61.7% to 62.6% of its overall gender gap. According to recent projections by the World Economic Forum, persistent legal, institutional, and cultural barriers have contributed to the region’s lag behind global averages. Significant disparities remain in economic participation and political representation, despite relatively high levels of educational attainment among women. At the current pace, it is estimated that full gender parity in the region may not be achieved for another 115 to 152 years.
Nevertheless, women across the MENA region have made meaningful progress in several sectors, including entrepreneurship, healthcare, technology, media, and civil society. These advances underscore both their resilience and determination, while also highlighting the urgent need for comprehensive reforms – particularly in legal frameworks, gender-responsive policymaking, and sustained investment in women’s leadership.
Launched in 2022 and directed by award-winning Iranian-American author, historian, and women’s rights advocate Dr. Nina Ansary, the Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) seeks to deepen understanding of the complex dynamics shaping women’s experiences in the MENA region. Through a range of programmes and initiatives, WLI engages activists, scholars, thought leaders, practitioners, and policymakers committed to advancing meaningful and lasting change.
To mark the two-year anniversary of the brutal killing in “morality police” custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Jina Amini 16th September, igniting the Woman. Life. Freedom movement, we honor and commemorate her memory and enduring legacy, its profound impact on the global community and the struggle for freedom, human rights and democracy in Iran.
This fellowship is dedicated to supporting emerging female scholars, policymakers, leaders and advocates who are committed to driving change in Iran and across the Middle East and North Africa region, advancing the cause of women’s rights, gender equality and social justice.
The objective of the fellowship aligns with the vision of the Cambridge Middle East and North Africa Forum Women’s Leadership Initiative contributing to broader regional foreign policy objectives, including but not limited to highlighting the egregious and dire human rights situation for women and girls in Iran and Afghanistan, systemic and institutionalized gender-based oppression and crimes against humanity with impunity.
MENAF is pleased to announce the launch of the Mahsa Jina Amini Fellowship and the selection of Djanan Deghati as the inaugural Fellow.
Dr. Nina Ansary is an award-winning Iranian American author, historian, and women’s rights advocate whose interdisciplinary scholarship focuses on the history of women’s rights in Iran and the broader implications of institutionalized gender discrimination.
Dr. Ansary received her M.A. in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies and Ph.D. in History from Columbia University, where her academic work laid the foundation for her first book, Jewels of Allah: The Untold Story of Women in Iran. Based on her doctoral thesis, the book reveals the unexpected ways in which Iranian women have advanced their rights, particularly in the post-revolutionary period. The book received numerous literary awards, including the International Book Award in Women’s Issues.
Her second book Anonymous Is a Woman: A Global Chronicle of Gender Inequality, examines the systemic exclusion of women from recorded history and the persistent fight for equal rights. The book garnered multiple awards, including the Benjamin Franklin Book
Award in History.
Dr. Ansary is active in international efforts to advance women’s rights and has served as a UN Women Global Champion for Innovation and a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics Centre for Women, Peace and Security. She is currently the Director of the Women’s Leadership Initiative and a member of the Advisory Board at the Cambridge Middle East and North Africa Forum.
A frequent guest on media outlets, she has appeared on CNN, BBC, Fox News and Larry King, and her work and commentary have been featured in The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Time, Teen Vogue, and the Yale Journal of International Affairs.
Dr. Ansary is the recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, Columbia University’s Outstanding Alumni Award, and the Barnard College Columbia University Trailblazer Award.
To contact Nina Ansary, please send an email to nina@ninaansary.com or connect with her on:
X/Twitter (@drninaansary)
Instagram (@ninaansary)
Facebook (facebook.com/ninaansary)
