Partners in Participation: Al-Khalij Women's Campaign Initiative
Overview
The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), in cooperation with the International Republican Institute (IRI), implemented the first in a planned series of three campaign training schools for women activists in Doha, Qatar from Feb. 14 to 18, 2004. The school brought together 52 participants from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen to share with them tools and strategies for mounting viable political and advocacy campaigns in their home countries.
Recognizing that elections are not on the horizon in some countries and that in others women have neither the right to vote nor to stand as candidates, the Institutes did not seek to guarantee the immediate success of women at the ballot box. This flagship program aimed, rather, to expose Gulf women to their peers in order to create a network of like-minded individuals committed to substantive democratic change. In addition, three women from Jordan, Lebanon, and Morocco, who either hold office or have run for election, spoke at the conference and detailed their own struggles to reach policy-making positions.
NDI and IRI believe that work can be done in each country to endow women with the capacity to speak out on the issues that are important to them. These efforts may manifest themselves not only in electoral campaigns in the long-term but also in advocacy and outreach movements in the short-term. As one participant remarked about the school, ""Thank you…for contributing to our sense that YES, we can do it too. We can achieve positions in our community that can contribute to the betterment of life for all."
Methodology
The program included intensive three-hour training sessions, one each on campaign planning, message development, and outreach. Led by established practitioners from around the world, each segment aimed to share best practices and impart practical skills to participants through interactive training techniques. The participants were divided into groups of mixed nationalities, interests, and experiences in order to maximize interaction and sharing.
In the afternoons, each of the three groups rotated through technical modules, including a panel comprised of Arab women; an image, public speaking, and media training workshop; and individual consultation sessions where participants were encouraged to seek out presenters and trainers to discuss issues particular to their own countries and situations. The Institutes have found that participants have specific problems or obstacles on which they would like advice but do not have the opportunity for one-on-one time with experts and colleagues who have had similar difficulties or experiences to overcome. These consultations provided participants with that outlet and introduced them to practitioners who might later serve as mentors or sources of information and advice
Participants, presenters, and trainers were also engaged in a series of panel discussions that addressed key issues relating to the promotion of women's equal participation in political life. The subjects of these panels included the establishment of quotas, influencing the leadership of political parties, and the image of women in the Arab world.
According to one participant, ""We spent four days together, and no one talked about religion or border disputes. If only the world could be like that! Thank you all for helping us to know that it could be possible."
Follow-up activities with the participants are planned for the coming months through NDI's field offices in Yemen and Bahrain.
This program was funded by a grant from the Middle East Partnership Initiative.
Contact Information
For further information on our programs in the Middle East and North Africa, please contact:
Payton Knopf
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Updated March 2004
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