Mounira Karray

A Tunisian educator who pioneered women's literacy programs in rural areas during the 1980s.

Mounira Karray (1948–2020) was a Tunisian educator and feminist who transformed rural education through her Women's Literacy Movement. In the 1980s, she established mobile schools in remote regions, teaching over 15,000 women to read and write. Her Integrated Development Program combined literacy with agricultural training, empowering women to become economic leaders. Karray's work laid the foundation for Tunisia's 2011 National Literacy Strategy, which targeted gender equality in education. She collaborated with global organizations like UNESCO's Literacy Initiative and authored Education as Liberation: Tunisia's Rural Women (1998). Despite facing societal resistance, her programs reduced female illiteracy rates from 60% to under 15% in targeted areas. Karray's legacy is celebrated in Tunisian government archives and the Women's Impact Network.