Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to her Department's news release of 25 June 2013, what progress has been made by the task force of legal experts working to identify legal, regulatory and social barriers that limit opportunities for women in business in the Arab world.

This work was taken forward under the auspices of the MENA-OECD project “Supporting women as economic actors during the transition period”, which analyses to what extent legal provisions influence women’s economic participation. The project is expected to complete in May 2015, providing concrete recommendations to improve legal frameworks.