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NDI announced today that it is awarding its 2011 Madeleine K. Albright Grant to Appropriate Communication Techniques for Development (ACT), a women’s rights organization from Egypt.
Since 1990, ACT has worked to improve the skills of Egyptian women seeking to participate in the political process, achieve elected office, advocate for women’s rights and promote legislation to better women’s status.
When Egyptians took to the streets this spring to demand democracy and justice for their country, ACT called for peaceful and democratic political change. As the revolution was unfolding, the group co-founded a coalition of women's organizations that developed a statement of women's demands that was presented to the Egyptian Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Since the revolution, it has worked to ensure women’s voices are included in the transition process.
The $25,000 grant will allow ACT to continue its work with its countrywide network of civil society organizations and women leaders to identify and advocate for women as Egypt works to develop a new constitution and transition to a democratic government.
Through its history, ACT, which brings together both women and men, has helped create and grow networks across Egypt and the Arab world. In 2005, it formed a coalition called “Aswatna,” Arabic for “our voices,” that focuses on civic and voter education. More recently, ACT trained women candidates who ran in last year’s parliamentary elections.
The Madeleine K. Albright Grant supports community-based organizations that create greater roles for women in political and civic life. It is part of NDI’s Win with Women Global Initiative, which promotes women’s political leadership worldwide. The Albright Grant is made possible by the generosity of the Melvin and Bren Simon Foundation. NDI is deeply grateful to the foundation for its steadfast commitment to the Institute’s political participation programs for women.
Winners of the Albright Grant, which was established in 2005, are selected from a competitive pool of applicants seeking to promote women's participation in civic or political life. The 2010 grant was awarded to the Departmental Network of Chocó Women of Colombia (Red Departmental de Mujeres Chocoanas) to create a network of women political leaders and fund a political training school in the primarily Afro-Colombian department of Chocó.
Other past winners are the Women’s League of Burma, the Indonesian Women’s Political Caucus (KPPI), the Mostar Women’s Citizen Initiative of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the 50/50 Group of Sierra Leone.
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Pictured above: Azza Kamel, director of ACT, at the iKnow Politics Arabic site launch in Jordan in 2009
Published on June 29, 2011
