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Women's Legal Rights over 50 Years : Progress, Stagnation or Regression?Using a newly compiled database of women's property rights and legal capacity covering 100 countries over 50 years, this paper analyzes the triggers and barriers to reform. The database documents gender gaps in the ability to access and own assets, to sign legal documents in one's own name, and to have equality or non-discrimination as a guiding principle of the country's constitution. Progress in reducing these constraints has been dramatic -- half of the constraints documented in the 1960s had been removed by 2010. However, some sticky areas persist where laws have not changed or have even regressed. The paper analyzes potential drivers of reforms. A significant finding is that the relationship with a country's level of development and the extent of its reforms is not straightforward. For the first half of the sample, there was no systematic connection; only in the last 25 years have increases in income been associated with higher probabilities for reform, but only in lower-income countries. With the remaining constraints as prevalent in middle- as low-income countries, increased growth is not necessarily going to spark additional reforms. Clearer patterns emerge from the momentum created by international conventions, such as the Committee to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), women's political representation at the national level, mobilization of women's networks, and increasing labor force participation in sectors that provide a voice for women, which are positive forces for change. Conversely, conflict and weak rule of law can entrench a discriminatory status quo. And much is at stake; strengthening women's legal rights is associated with important development outcomes that can benefit society as a whole.
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Jordan Country Gender Assessment : Economic Participation, Agency and Access to Justice in JordanOver the last three decades Jordan has
 made substantial investments in its human resources,
 spending more than 10 percent of Gross Domestic Product
 (GDP) on health and education. Like their male counterparts,
 women and girls have benefitted from these policies and
 their quality of life has improved. The Jordan Country
 Gender Assessment (CGA) has two primary objectives. The
 first is to assess gender imbalances in the areas of
 economic participation in the labor market, agency, and
 access to justice; provide a framework for policies or
 interventions to the Government of Jordan (GoJ) on
 addressing imbalances; and provide a basis for implementing
 the activities included in the Gender Action Plan (GAP). The
 second objective is to develop and strengthen partnerships
 with GoJ agencies, Civil Society Organization's (CSOs),
 and academic institutions to promote collaboration on
 addressing gender-related issues impacting development, and
 in particular to develop mechanisms for cooperation on
 implementation of the GAP. This CGA will further explore, in
 the Jordan country context, the argument that the
 considerable progress in human development in Jordan has not
 yet led to consistently higher women's participation in
 economic, political and social life, which in turn has
 slowed women's economic participation. Access to
 justice is directly linked to the issue of agency-whereas
 agency defines the legal and social boundaries of rights and
 practices, the concept of access to justice covers the tools
 and mechanisms aiding persons in exercising these rights.
 Obstacles to women exercising agency in Jordan are caused by
 a combination of the treatment of women versus men under
 applicable legal frameworks, with gaps further widened by
 restrictive social norms that can govern women's
 behavior. Recent legislative and regulatory reforms, if
 implemented effectively, have the potential to increase
 women's agency through expansion of rights and
 improvements in service delivery. Despite legal and social
 impediments to accessing land, levels of registration of
 land by women have been increasing in recent years.
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Women, Business and the Law 2012Women, business and the law focuses on
 this critical piece of the puzzle, objectively highlighting
 differentiations on the basis of gender in 141 economies
 around the world, covering six areas: accessing
 institutions, using property, getting a job, providing
 incentives to work, building credit and going to court.
 Women, business and the law describes regional trends and
 shows how economies are changing across these six areas,
 tracking governments' actions to expand economic
 opportunities for women. For men and women throughout the
 developing world, the chance to start and run a business or
 get a good job is the surest hope for a way out of poverty.
 It also requires good business regulation, suited to the
 purpose, streamlined and accessible, so that the opportunity
 to build a business or have a good job is dependent not on
 connections, wealth or power, but on an individual's
 initiative and ability. The doing business report has led
 the way in providing data to countries about creating a
 sounder and more streamlined business environment. Women,
 Business, and the Law 2012 are the second in this series of
 reports. This edition retains the same basic structure of
 the 2010 pilot edition, while significantly expanding the
 depth of data covered. While the number of topics covered is
 the same, there has been a significant expansion of the data
 collected within these topics, thus addressing some of the
 initial shortcomings of the pilot edition. The number of
 economies covered has also been expanded from 128 to 141.