In a recent development, the Saudi Civil Status Department started issuing divorced or widowed women family registry cards. The step provides these Saudi mothers with proof of their relationship to their children when it’s required, such as in schools, hospitals, or hotels. The media celebrated the news as a “reform” of women’s rights in a country “held back by a powerful clergy and ultra-conservative society.” However, there is deeper discrimination, in law and practice, presenting obstacles to Saudi women’s access to identification documents. Read more
On February 26 around 60 percent of the Iranian electoral body voted in elections for the Parliament and Assembly of Experts – the religious body composed of 88 clerics responsible for electing the new supreme leader. The early results in Iran’s parliamentary elections suggest that there will not be a solid majority. The conservatives are leading with 36 percent of the seats, followed by the alliance between pragmatists and reformists with 32 percent and independents with 32 percent of the 290-seat Parliament. In the Assembly of Experts, instead, the pragmatists managed to gain a slight majority winning 52 seats while the conservatives took 36 seats. Read more
Blink twice, and Yemen’s all-but-forgotten war — news of which is buried under grim headlines about Syria and terrorism and Middle East migrants — will be into its second year. On March 26, 2015, a coalition of Sunni Arab states led by Saudi Arabia began an air campaign designed to restore Yemen’s legitimate government and force a Shia rebel group known as the Houthis to relinquish its hold on an alarmingly large swath of Yemen’s national territory it had seized by force. Nearly a year later, the Saudi airstrikes continue, wreaking havoc on Yemen’s already fragile infrastructure and traumatizing its civilian population. Read more
The Youth Pioneer Society (YPS) is a non-profit organization in Bahrain founded by a group of young Bahrainis who met on Twitter in December 2011. Their aim is to elevate youth voices, increase career opportunities for youth, and support entrepreneurs. The group administers several training programs that cover everything from connecting youth to the Bahraini Parliament, developing the creative and entrepreneurial skills of aspiring youth as well as providing academic guidance for career development. Read more
Location: Washington, DC Period: June through August 2016 Department/Team: Senior Resident Scholars/Program Outreach and Communication Position Title: Research and Program Intern
The Internship Program at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington (AGSIW) provides talented students and recent graduates with a three-month (or longer) unpaid training opportunity designed to encourage professional and personal development. As a newly established organization, we encourage out-of-the-box thinking and value fresh perspectives.
For more information, please click here. The deadline to receive applications for Summer 2016 is Friday, April 1 by 5:00 pm EST.
