CHAPTER THREE: DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL GOVERNANCE i. Summary of the CSAR 306. According to the CSAR, Algerian women have made significant progress, as is confirmed by their determined involvement in the democratic process and their participation in the construction of the state and the development process. The legal mechanisms instituted in Algeria to promote and protect the rights of women are based on the principle of equality, as defined in section 29 of the Constitution. These mechanisms enshrine the civil, political, economic and social rights of women, who are given full legal capacity in civil, criminal, administrative and commercial matters. They also have political, economic and social rights. The legal mechanisms were strengthened in 2005 to respond to developments in Algerian society and to undertakings in the context of the country‟s adherence to international instruments aimed at entrenching the rights of women. 307. Amendments were made to the Family Code to balance the rights and duties of spouses, and to entrench the rights of women to enter into a marriage contract and ensure housing, in the event of divorce, for minor children whose custody was entrusted to the mother. Flexibility was introduced with regard to the constitutive aspects of marriage, especially with the condition of the Wali, the guardian, whose presence was reduced to an almost symbolic meaning as a woman has the right to choose her guardian, who could be her father, a close relative or any other person of her choice. Amendments were also made to the Code on Nationality by granting nationality to children born of an Algerian mother and by affording, under certain conditions and in accordance with procedures fixed by law, the opportunity of acquiring nationality through marriage to an Algerian man or woman. 308. The law also introduced a national legislative mechanism for the incrimination of sexual harassment under the new Criminal Code, something not covered by earlier legislation. 309. The institutional mechanisms for implementing the rights of women were supplemented by the establishment of the post of Deputy Minister responsible for the Family and the Condition of Women in 2002. This governmental structure was charged with ensuring the implementation of a National Strategy on the Promotion of the Rights of Women, in partnership with public and academic institutions and the union movement. Institutional mechanisms in place include the Committee on the Protection and Promotion of the Family, as well as the National Council of Women and the Family, established on 7 March 2007 and consisting of representatives from public institutions, the union movement and persons chosen for their expertise in this field. Algeria, in the context of this legislative and institutional mechanism, is implementing a global, sectoral policy on the promotion and protection of women, which is also reflected in budgetary allocations and national development programmes. A special effort is also being made to promote maternal and infant health, the education of young girls, and literacy among women, and to integrate women into the economy. 102