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by Farzaneh Roudi-Fahimi and Valentine M. Moghadam

(November 2003) Education is a key part of strategies to improve individuals' well-being and societies' economic and social development. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) (countries and territories included in the Middle East and North Africa as defined here are listed in Table 1), access to education has improved dramatically over the past few decades, and there have been a number of encouraging trends in girls' and women's education (see Figure 1). Primary school enrollment is high or universal in most MENA countries, and gender gaps in secondary school enrollment have already disappeared in several countries. Women in MENA countries are also more likely to enroll in universities than they were in the past.

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Table 1
Selected Socioeconomic Indicators in the Middle East and North Africa

	Percent of Population Over Age 15 Who Are Illiterate, 2000		Number of People Over Age 15 Who Are Illiterate (thousands), 2000		Percent of Population Ages 15 to 24 Who Are Illiterate, 2000		Number of People Ages 15 to 24 Who Are Illiterate (thousands), 2000
	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male
Middle East and North Africa	42	22	50,057	26,671	23	11	8,585	4,573
Algeria	43	24	4,211	2,360	16	7	530	227
Bahrain	17	9	32	25	1	2	1	1
Egypt	56	33	12,253	7,374	37	24	2,500	1,678
Iran	31	17	6,696	3,819	9	4	655	296
Iraq	77	45	5,070	3,057	71	41	1,593	962
Jordan	16	5	220	78	1	1	3	5
Kuwait	20	16	103	130	7	8	15	19
Lebanon	20	8	246	91	7	3	23	9
Libya	32	9	533	168	7	0.5	43	1
Morocco	64	38	6,286	3,702	42	24	1,265	750
Oman	38	20	246	155	4	0.5	9	1
Palestined	16	6	136	48	—	—	—	—
Qatar	17	20	21	57	3	7	1	3
Saudi Arabia	33	17	1,723	1,092	10	5	187	101
Syria	40	12	1,879	566	21	5	376	85
Tunisia	39	19	1,307	621	11	3	106	27
Turkey	24	7	5,453	1,539	6	1	392	81
United Arab Emirates	21	25	117	345	6	13	10	29
Yemen	75	33	3,525	1,444	54	17	874	292

	Gross Enrollment Ratio (%)a				Women as a Share of Uni- versity Enroll- ment (%)	Public Education as a Share of Total Govern- ment Expendi- ture (%)	Percent of People Ages 15 and Older in Labor Forceb		Women as Percent of Labor Forceb	Total Fertility Ratec
	Primary		Secondary
	Fe- male	Male	Fe- male	Male			Fe- male	Male
Middle East and North Africa	91	100	62	71	—	—	20	73	20	3.3
Algeria	107	116	73	68	—	16	—	—	—	2.8
Bahrain	103	103	105	98	60	12	19	65	17	2.6
Egypt	96	103	83	88	—	15	20	74	21	3.5
Iran	85	88	75	81	47	18	11	75	12	2
Iraq	91	111	29	47	34	—	17	75	18	5.4
Jordan	101	101	89	86	51	20	22	76	21	3.7
Kuwait	95	93	57	55	68	14	43	83	25	4
Lebanon	97	101	79	72	52	8	27	76	28	2.4
Libya	117	115	—	—	48	—	23	78	21	3.7
Morocco	88	101	35	44	44	25	30	79	28	2.7
Oman	71	74	67	69	58	16	16	79	14	4.1
Palestined	109	107	86	80	47	—	10	67	13	5.7
Qatar	104	105	92	86	73	—	35	92	13	3.5
Saudi Arabia	—	—	—	—	56	23	15	80	11	5.7
Syria	105	113	41	46	—	14	21	83	20	3.8
Tunisia	115	120	80	76	48	20	24	73	24	2.1
Turkey	96	105	48	67