In more than two decades of democratization projects worldwide, beginning with the breakdown of Latin American authoritarian regimes and the fall of the Berlin Wall up to the Arab Spring in the Middle East and North Africa today, a wide range of efforts by States, citizens and organizations to address discrimination against women have been made as integral parts of bold and historic processes of the renewal of whole nations and regions. In other contexts, breakthroughs in law and practice occur as part of the responsiveness and accountability of States to an active citizenry committed to equality, non-discrimination and human rights for all women and men. The success or failure of efforts to effectively eliminate discrimination against women depends on how securely they are located within genuine processes of social and political transformation.