Young women will constitute no less than 60 % of the university student body of Tunisia by 2006, said today President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Today, he added, young women constitute 56 % of the 292,000 students at 161 public and private colleges and university institutions.

Women account for 37.4% of the civil service in Tunisia , 24% of the Judiciary, 22% of lawyers, 37.9% of the medical profession, 70% of the pharmaceutical profession and 25.5% of the press.

The status of Tunisian women is considered unique in the Arab-Muslim world. The principle of equality between men and women is fully enforced in Tunisia . The Tunisian Constitution states that "All citizens have the same rights and the same duties, and are equal before the law." Articles 20 and 21 recognize the right of women to vote and to run for office. The "Code of Personal Status", a law promulgated on August 13, 1956 , abolished polygamy, required formal marriage contracts as the only form of matrimonial arrangement, instituted judicial divorce and set the minimum age for marriage for girls at 17.

Since the accession of President Ben Ali to power in 1987, additional measures have been introduced to consolidate the gains made by Tunisian women, with a view to eliminating all forms of gender discrimination and establishing partnership as the basis of relations between men and women.