CNN has ranked the human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman among seven prominent and influential figures in the Arab world.

The seven figures coming from different Arab countries, namely Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, have contributed, one way or another, to the progress of Arab women and efforts in pursuit of their rights, and their ideas have sparked widespread controversy, reported CNN. 

CNN has also reminded that Karman is the first Arab woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 in recognition of her work in non-violent struggle for the expression rights, safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work in Yemen.

Besides Tawakkol Karman, six other Arab women have been also included in the list: Egypt’s feminist writer Nawal El Saadawi, pioneering leader of women's liberation movement Qasim Amin (1863-1908), Saudi Arabian human rights activist Samar Badawi, founder of the Egyptian Feminist Union Huda Sha’arawi, Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani and Egyptian-American writer Leila Ahmed.