:00:00. > :00:22.Now on BBC News it's time for Reporters.
:00:23. > :00:29.Welcome to this special edition of Reporters, marking three years since
:00:30. > :00:34.the start of the Arab uprisings. I am in the old city of Damascus. In
:00:35. > :00:39.this programme, we have a series of reports assessing the impact of
:00:40. > :00:44.protest across the region. The last hope for the Arab Spring. We report
:00:45. > :00:48.from Sydney, the birthplace of the uprisings, and whether the
:00:49. > :00:54.revolution has delivered on its promises. -- Tunisia.
:00:55. > :00:58.Three years on, processes are still on the street, and so are the right
:00:59. > :01:04.police. The gender gap - a report from
:01:05. > :01:10.Yemen, one of the most conservative countries, on whether life is
:01:11. > :01:17.changed for women. Women leader restricted lives. For the majority,
:01:18. > :01:23.nothing much has changed. Growing concern about a return to
:01:24. > :01:26.authoritarianism in Egypt. Many Egyptians believe the system
:01:27. > :01:30.has stayed the same. Power is still in the hands of the army. There is a
:01:31. > :01:38.real sense that the revolution is unfinished business. And sectarian
:01:39. > :01:42.split. A report on the deepening divide between Sydney and Shia
:01:43. > :01:58.Muslims, crushing hopes of a better future. -- Sunni.
:01:59. > :02:06.Three years on, many are asking what went wrong with what used to be
:02:07. > :02:12.called the Arab Spring. In some places it lead to stability, in
:02:13. > :02:16.others, violence. It was the events in Tunisia that inspired the wave of
:02:17. > :02:25.uprisings across the region. Leaders tell us the -- they are still
:02:26. > :02:28.confident about the future. On the streets we found anger about a
:02:29. > :02:39.revolution that has not delivered on its promises. It is the song that
:02:40. > :02:47.has gone viral in Tunisia. Everyone knows the words on this university
:02:48. > :02:55.campus. We live like trash in a garbage can, the lyric goes. The
:02:56. > :03:01.rapper filmed his video in a poor suburb. Life is hard, jobs are
:03:02. > :03:10.scarce, but people help each other just to get high. TRANSLATION: We
:03:11. > :03:15.dreamt about the revolution. I thought we would be like Copenhagen
:03:16. > :03:20.or Amsterdam, it remains the same. There is more freedom now to speak
:03:21. > :03:31.out, although some rappers have gone to prison for insulting authorities.
:03:32. > :03:37.After their revolution, to lesions refused to go quiet.
:03:38. > :03:41.Protesters are still on the streets. Some other right police. They are
:03:42. > :03:45.still shouting to leave. They are shouting at at the leaders. The
:03:46. > :03:50.struggle for greater democracy goes on.
:03:51. > :03:54.The old police state is still largely intact. There are a new
:03:55. > :04:03.security fears after attacks blamed on radical groups. They have
:04:04. > :04:07.betrayed the country, they shout, referring to the governments
:04:08. > :04:10.dominated by the moderate Islamic party.
:04:11. > :04:16.Do you worry you have let people down? TRANSLATION: People had high
:04:17. > :04:21.expectations, we are working on bringing about democracy. We are in
:04:22. > :04:25.the last phase and moving towards free and fair elections and a
:04:26. > :04:32.democratic constitution. What is your greatest fear for Tunisia?
:04:33. > :04:38.TRANSLATION: I am afraid that the people will become so dissatisfied
:04:39. > :04:47.with politicians that they will turn to the military and ask them for
:04:48. > :04:51.security. They have shown themselves willing to share power with secular
:04:52. > :05:02.parties. Some were just pulled out of eight national dialogue. This is
:05:03. > :05:06.not Egypt. Tunisia prides itself on its tolerant culture. If politicians
:05:07. > :05:10.do not tackle these mounting worries, the nation regarded as the
:05:11. > :05:17.last hope for the Arab Spring could soon lose its way.
:05:18. > :05:23.Yemen was also caught in the wave of our prizes that caught the region.
:05:24. > :05:30.Women played a key role in the uprising. How much has changed for
:05:31. > :05:36.women? Gem install ranks among the worst in the world in terms of
:05:37. > :05:46.gender balance. -- Yemen still ranks. Our correspondent has more.
:05:47. > :05:51.Yemen, one of the most conservative countries in the Middle East. It has
:05:52. > :05:58.been a male dominated society for centuries. Boys are taught from an
:05:59. > :06:05.early age that it is the man who control every aspect of life here.
:06:06. > :06:11.In this deeply traditional nation, women are almost invisible. The
:06:12. > :06:18.generations they have had no say. In 2011, as the uprising spread through
:06:19. > :06:24.the region, hundreds of thousands came out in protest. Surprisingly,
:06:25. > :06:30.women were at the forefront of the demonstrations which overthrew the
:06:31. > :06:35.former president. Part of the reason why women took to the streets was to
:06:36. > :06:39.help other women that are voiceless. The reality is that women leader
:06:40. > :06:45.restricted lives. The vast majority cannot read and write. It is
:06:46. > :06:47.difficult for women to buy property. More than half are forced to get
:06:48. > :06:52.married when they are still very young. For the majority of women,
:06:53. > :07:00.not much has changed. If anyone needs change, it is this family. We
:07:01. > :07:05.met the family, they are desperately poor. All three of the daughters
:07:06. > :07:11.were married after for their 14th birthday. They had to do this to pay
:07:12. > :07:19.off debts. The youngest, for just ?140. TRANSLATION: We did not have a
:07:20. > :07:31.choice. We are very poor, my husband is sick. Are you angry at your
:07:32. > :07:36.parents? Why? TRANSLATION: I did not want to get married, but they made
:07:37. > :07:40.me do it anyway. They say that conditions are difficult and they do
:07:41. > :07:44.not have enough money. TRANSLATION: They should not have done it. The
:07:45. > :07:49.man who came here to marry me and by sisters, they know we are poor. My
:07:50. > :07:56.apparent what do anything to stop it. I wanted to finish school and
:07:57. > :08:01.become a doctor. For the human rights Minister, stopping child
:08:02. > :08:08.marriage is a priority. Many girls are married at the age of nine, ten,
:08:09. > :08:17.when they are very young. They could not bear the responsibility of
:08:18. > :08:24.marriage. If they are 15 or 14, some of them get pregnant. Some of them
:08:25. > :08:28.die. Child marriage is one of many challenges that women face. There is
:08:29. > :08:33.a long road ahead before they see the progress they demanded during
:08:34. > :08:42.the uprising. The hope is that the next generation will have a chance
:08:43. > :08:46.for a better future. In the Arab world's most populous
:08:47. > :08:54.nation, Egypt, mass protest to topple the long-time ruler. He was
:08:55. > :08:57.ousted in 17 days. He was later replaced by someone from the same
:08:58. > :09:03.organisation that he had driven underground, the Muslim Brotherhood.
:09:04. > :09:09.The first freely elected president was removed from office after barely
:09:10. > :09:11.a year in power. Now eager to's military backed government maintains
:09:12. > :09:18.that the country is on the path to democracy. Many Egyptians feel that
:09:19. > :09:24.the country is turning back the clock and becoming even more
:09:25. > :09:31.authoritarian. In the land of the Pharaohs, they cheer for a new
:09:32. > :09:37.strong leader. The army chief. The poster boy for a coup. In July he
:09:38. > :09:43.removed the hugely unpopular elected President Mohamed Morsi. Next year,
:09:44. > :09:50.he could be elected himself. Do you want the general to run for
:09:51. > :09:59.president? Such is the cult, that you can even
:10:00. > :10:04.find him on sweets. They are read bestseller. For many who fought for
:10:05. > :10:13.change colour this leaves a bitter taste. This Manfield and 2011, his
:10:14. > :10:17.dreams of freedom cost him his site. He is right eye was hit by shotgun
:10:18. > :10:24.pellets, his left eye targeted by a sniper. We sat down with a former
:10:25. > :10:30.dentist in a cafe, where revolutionaries have met the decade.
:10:31. > :10:37.He says the old regime that plunged into darkness has not been
:10:38. > :10:42.overthrown it. TRANSLATION: The system remains the same. The army is
:10:43. > :10:47.maintaining its position. It has acquired more privileges. It has
:10:48. > :10:52.ruled since 1952 and a Scott Seiver need to change, because some people
:10:53. > :10:59.to the streets. -- and does not see the need. They are still taking to
:11:00. > :11:04.the streets. Protests are all but banned, dissent is stifled, and
:11:05. > :11:09.prominent activists are being rounded up. The biggest casualties
:11:10. > :11:14.may be the Islamist is of the Muslim Brotherhood. These days it is hard
:11:15. > :11:20.to find the brothers, so we joined some of the sisters making a house
:11:21. > :11:26.call. The revolution brought the Muslim Brotherhood to power, now
:11:27. > :11:31.they are out in the cold. This woman was born into the organisation, it
:11:32. > :11:36.was founded by her grandfather. With hundreds of supporters killed, and
:11:37. > :11:41.thousands jailed, the Muslim Brotherhood is back underground. The
:11:42. > :11:50.upper part is gone, it is behind bars. In every sector and every
:11:51. > :11:55.branch, in every district, the first level and the second level, and some
:11:56. > :12:02.of the third level have gone. Gone too is much of the hope that feels
:12:03. > :12:09.Tahrir Square, when people power were brought down the regime. It
:12:10. > :12:12.looks very different today. You cannot have a gathering of more than
:12:13. > :12:19.ten people without permission. Some say life is worse now than under the
:12:20. > :12:23.regime. History was made here, of the old order was swept away.
:12:24. > :12:28.Although two residents have been removed, many believe the system has
:12:29. > :12:33.stayed the same. Power is still in the hands of the army. There is a
:12:34. > :12:39.real sense that the revolution is unfinished business. Elections are
:12:40. > :12:44.coming in the most populous Arab nation. The rough is that the
:12:45. > :12:54.democratic vision may not be realised. That may thereafter years.
:12:55. > :13:00.Here in Syria, the Arab uprising began as a peaceful protest. A
:13:01. > :13:03.growing war is now a deepening humanitarian crisis. The United
:13:04. > :13:08.Nations has just launched its biggest ever appeal. $6.5 billion
:13:09. > :13:12.for Syria. It estimates that about half of the population, nearly 10
:13:13. > :13:18.million people, need access to food aid of some kind. About 2.5 million
:13:19. > :13:26.people are living in what are known as "hard to reach" or besieged
:13:27. > :13:30.areas. No aid is getting in. Searing Govett officials have now told us
:13:31. > :13:36.that they will allow aid to reach besieged areas no matter which side
:13:37. > :13:39.controls them. -- Syrian government officials. The
:13:40. > :13:45.Syrian war is now a battle for bread. They have lost their homes,
:13:46. > :13:50.jobs, dignity, and survive on UN handouts. This woman has to feed 16
:13:51. > :13:55.children and grandchildren. They used to live in one district which
:13:56. > :14:01.is now held by the rebels and cut off by the government. My brothers,
:14:02. > :14:07.sisters, friends are still there, she tells me. They cannot leave,
:14:08. > :14:12.they don't have any food. This province is also under siege and has
:14:13. > :14:14.been for months. The BBC managed to obtain these pictures, markets with
:14:15. > :14:27.only radishes. -- for sale. In these pictures,
:14:28. > :14:32.people marched towards military checkpoint, calling for the siege to
:14:33. > :14:37.end. This is the response. Food is a weapon in this war. The government
:14:38. > :14:45.now tells us that they will finally let UN aid through. We have spoken
:14:46. > :14:54.to them. We have told them that there will be more access, more
:14:55. > :14:58.co-operation, particularly after the new achievements by the Syrian Armed
:14:59. > :15:02.Forces. Does that mean that you will only allow aid to reach those areas
:15:03. > :15:08.where your forces have prevailed militarily? No, I will assure you
:15:09. > :15:13.that it will go towards all Syrians in need. The government blames
:15:14. > :15:16.rebels for the siege. Rebel commanders across the suburbs made
:15:17. > :15:19.an urgent plea for help. This is their pledge to protect aid convoys
:15:20. > :15:25.and ensure that relief reaches civilians. Confidential UN document
:15:26. > :15:30.leaked to the BBC show the scale of this crisis. 2.5 million Syrians are
:15:31. > :15:37.now stuck in besieged or hard to reach areas. 0.5 million are under
:15:38. > :15:41.siege by government troops, tens of thousands by government forces. We
:15:42. > :15:47.arch to the UN if they believe that the UN would change this. -- asked.
:15:48. > :15:54.I asked if the UN could go to all areas of Syria as I have requested.
:15:55. > :16:03.Their team here will explore exactly what that means in terms of our
:16:04. > :16:08.ability to go to the hard to reach areas and the besieged areas as
:16:09. > :16:14.well. You believe the promise? This is been a priority. If we are able
:16:15. > :16:15.to get to these areas and in my conversations with the Foreign
:16:16. > :16:19.Minister and the Deputy Foreign Minister, they said that they would
:16:20. > :16:24.work with us to ensure that people were reached. The government's
:16:25. > :16:30.Thomas comes as it makes military gains. This was a stronghold of
:16:31. > :16:34.rebels linked to Al Qaeda. The government insists that this is a
:16:35. > :16:41.war against terrorism and are confident that the West will
:16:42. > :16:46.eventually accept that. As we has seen, the Arab operating brought to
:16:47. > :16:49.Malta is change across the Middle East. The protests were largely
:16:50. > :16:53.driven by young people wanting a greater say in the way they were
:16:54. > :16:56.government. It is also resulted in reshaping the balance of power
:16:57. > :17:02.between the region's glee and Shia Muslims. Our Middle East editor has
:17:03. > :17:08.gone to Lebanon, a country which has been increasingly marked by
:17:09. > :17:14.sectarian violence. -- tension. Tripoli, unmarked and
:17:15. > :17:19.often divided is feeling the heat from Syria. It has turbocharged a
:17:20. > :17:23.long-standing local conflict between Sony Muslims and a la whites from
:17:24. > :17:34.the same Shia sect as President Assad. -- Alawites. Not far beyond
:17:35. > :17:39.the mountains is Syria but their war is here. Men from Lebanon killed in
:17:40. > :17:43.Syria are considered maters. These were Sunnis, fighters against the
:17:44. > :17:49.Assad regime. In Shia areas are posters of men who died for the
:17:50. > :17:54.regime. This is one end of the cor-surely the line. It runs from
:17:55. > :17:57.Lebanon on the Mediterranean, South troops Syria and Iraq and to the
:17:58. > :18:02.golf and beyond. In a shed in his garden right on the front line, this
:18:03. > :18:10.man and his friends are still idolising Saddam Hussein, the Saudi
:18:11. > :18:15.strongman who fought Shia Iran. -- Sunni strongman. His son died when
:18:16. > :18:23.mosques were bombed in August. They blame the Shia. TRANSLATION: God
:18:24. > :18:29.Almighty will kill them, of course. We ask God Almighty for permission
:18:30. > :18:32.and help to eradicate them all. The local militia commander said that
:18:33. > :18:37.grief and anger had pushed him to extremes. Every sectarian killing in
:18:38. > :18:44.the Middle East deepens and spreads hatred. The division in Islam goes
:18:45. > :18:49.back to a dispute over who should succeed the prophet Mohammed after
:18:50. > :18:52.his death in the year 632. Those who wanted his position to be inherited
:18:53. > :18:57.by his closest associates became Sunnis. Those who wanted him to be
:18:58. > :19:04.followed by his descendants became Shia. Just as in the split in the
:19:05. > :19:15.Christian church between Catholics and Protestants, it has been as much
:19:16. > :19:20.about power as religion. The American led invasion of Iraq in
:19:21. > :19:24.2003 started a new upheaval in the divide. The removal of Saddam
:19:25. > :19:28.Hussein, the most bitter enemy of Shia Iran was a blow to the
:19:29. > :19:31.traditional silly ascendancy in the Middle East. Thousands of Iraqis
:19:32. > :19:39.have been killed in six at -- sectarian violence since then. This
:19:40. > :19:42.was an attack in 2007 on Shia pilgrims. The side of a battle
:19:43. > :19:47.between the two sides of Islam in the seventh century. At the other
:19:48. > :19:50.end of the Gulf in Bahrain, a long-standing political conflict
:19:51. > :19:58.between the poor Shia majority and the mainly Sunni ruling class has
:19:59. > :20:04.become more overtly sectarian. In Syria itself, an uprising has become
:20:05. > :20:08.an increasingly sectarian war. Saudi extremist groups, generally Al Qaeda
:20:09. > :20:13.followers, now dominate the armed opposition to President Assad who is
:20:14. > :20:17.from a Shia sect. In Beirut in November, suicide Bombers attacked
:20:18. > :20:24.the Embassy of Orion. Many assumed it was the latest escalation in a
:20:25. > :20:26.proxy war between Shia Iran, the Syrian regime backers and Saudi
:20:27. > :20:33.Arabia which supports in the mainly Sunni rebels. I discussed these
:20:34. > :20:36.attentions with the Iran Foreign Minister last month. It is probably
:20:37. > :20:42.the most serious security threat in the entirety of the region and the
:20:43. > :20:47.world at large. I think that all of us, regardless of our differences
:20:48. > :20:55.over Syria, we need to work together on the sectarian issue. Three years
:20:56. > :20:59.after the Arab uprising started, the weight of a millennium and a half of
:21:00. > :21:05.sectarian rivalry is crushing hopes of a better future. This was a
:21:06. > :21:10.funeral for Shia fighters in Damascus. Even where sectarianism is
:21:11. > :21:17.less acute, there is economic crisis a political failure, and renewed
:21:18. > :21:20.oppression. No wonder this winter, here in Beirut and across the
:21:21. > :21:24.region, people are wondering how they will ever be able to control
:21:25. > :21:32.their lives and break away from the bloodshed.
:21:33. > :21:38.That is all from this special edition of Reporters marking three
:21:39. > :21:41.years since the start of the Arab uprising. On the old city of
:21:42. > :22:03.Damascus, goodbye for now. The weather has been giving it a
:22:04. > :22:07.rough ride of it in recent weeks and there is more to come now in the
:22:08. > :22:12.days until Christmas. More storms coming in and still -- from the
:22:13. > :22:16.Atlantic. Wet and windy weather is coming. We will see further travel
:22:17. > :22:22.disruption, particularly on Monday and Tuesday. It begins to settle
:22:23. > :22:23.down on Christmas Day. This is the big picture