In my previous job and now in the government, I have been able to work with women in Sudan, who lived for almost 40 years under a very oppressive and severe military dictatorship. They were flogged for wearing pants, for example. They couldn't have meetings. They couldn't organize.
A year and a half ago, women were 70% of the people who took to the streets to demonstrate. Finally, they brought down a dictator. That revolution was.... I was there in December. People talk about it as a women's revolution, a youth revolution: 70% of the people on the streets. You see media coverage about women joining these revolutions. They were leading those revolutions.
They brought down a dictator, and they did not stop there. This is something that does not get nearly enough coverage. I'll try not to go on for too long.
When the transition government was named, with 11 members, there were two positions. Women had to fight for those positions, and they used arguments like “We have Resolution 1325. There are 80-some countries in the world that have national action plans. We need that too.”
They successfully negotiated for a 40% quota for either gender, for women or for men. That's a minimum of 40% representation in the legislative council going forward. For legislative elections, Sudan's national parliament going forward has a 40% quota in its constitution, which I think is the biggest one in the world. These are amazing stories.