Iraq: Where are Iraq’s women?

But where are the women - who make up the majority of the population - in this process? So far, there have been two meetings aimed at forging a constitutional future for the country, but out of more than 250 delegates, only six were women. They included representatives of the "Iraqi exile" working groups set up by the State Department before the war. Elisabeth Rehn, independent author of an extensive report for the United Nations, Women, War and Peace, says she was shocked at how few women are involved in the process. "There has been so much talk about how to reflect the diversity of Iraqi society - the Shia, Sunnis and Kurds - but what about the women? Some 55% of the population has been forgotten," she told BBC News Online. Ms Rehn said the issue needs to be addressed urgently because choices are already beginning to be made about who will be elected to official bodies.