We use panel data (covering the period 2002-2010) from 13 MENA countries and control for several relevant variables, including secondary school enrolments, adult fertility rates, autocracy, and official development assistance targeting family planning and reproductive health. The results suggest that official development assistance to women' equality organisations and institutions is effective in increasing women's political empowerment. We find that autocracy exerts a negative influence on women's political empowerment while higher adolescent fertility rates are associated with smaller proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments. We comment on the policy implications of the main findings.