DAS CHENEY MEETS WITH QUEEN RANIA: US ASSISTANCE,

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 005922

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/09/2012
TAGS: PREL JO AID
SUBJECT: DAS CHENEY MEETS WITH QUEEN RANIA: US ASSISTANCE,
WOMEN IN POLITICS, JORDAN FIRST.

Classified By: AMBASSADOR EDWARD W. GNEHM REASONS: 1.5 (B) AND (D)

1.(C) SUMMARY. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near East
Affairs Elizabeth Cheney met with Queen Rania Oct 8 prior to
the third annual micro-entrepreneur awards ceremony, which
was held at the recently opened Zara Expo Center in Amman.
The Queen complimented the successes of AID programs in
Jordan, noted the potential for further micro-finance
development here and discussed with DAS Cheney ideas for
empowering women in Jordan and the region. The Queen
lamented that Jordan's "track record is not good" regarding
the election of women into parliament but was hopeful that
this could change. The Queen also articulated the GOJ's
"Jordan first" theme, saying that "the region needs an
example of a government that has a positive reflection on its
people." END SUMMARY.

2.(C) The Ambassador, DAS Cheney, AID Director Toni
Christiansen-Wagner, Mrs. Gnehm and poloff met with Queen
Rania and her personal assistant Oct 8 for a fifteen minute
meeting prior to the micro-entrepreneur award ceremony.
(Note: the awards are given annually by a local
micro-finance association to micro entrepreneurs who receive
loans from AID for their business projects). The Queen told
DAS Cheney that the area of micro-finance was something in
which she has a personal interest. She also noted the
successes of AID programs in Jordan: "AID is excellent here.
It correctly identifies the areas of need, and realizes that
many areas and programs are interconnected." The Queen
specifically noted AID's program on reproductive health as an
area of success.


3. (C) On the issue of empowering women in the middle east,
DAS Cheney explained that the Department will be hosting 65
female political leaders from the middle east in the US
during the upcoming November elections. The women will be
receiving campaign skills training and traveling outside
Washington to observe grassroots campaigning in preparation
for US mid-term elections. Cheney explained that the US
hoped this would be a kick-off event for a larger regional
campaign school for women, with future activities to be held
in the region. The Queen expressed strong support for this
program, and agreed that educating women on how to
successfully organize a political campaign is essential for
their success. Noting that "organization is most important,"
the Queen cited the success of the Islamic Action Front in
Jordan as due in large part to their strong organizational
ability. She said that Jordan's "track record is not good,"
on election of women to the parliament, noting that only one
has been elected by popular vote (Toujan Faisal). The Queen
said that, in general, she is against a quota system to
ensure women are in parliament, but that perhaps a quota
system for the short-term would be necessary.


4. (C) On domestic politics, the Queen said that she would
like to get Jordanians to focus on where politicians stand on
"four or five" specific issues, and hoped that people would
"move away from slogans" (i.e. exclusively anti-US and
anti-Israeli rhetoric) in domestic politics. She noted that
it would be important for future elections to be about
"Jordanian" issues that truly affect people's lives. There
are serious problems in Israel/Palestine and Iraq, the Queen
said, "but my husband always says that we have to carry on,"
and that the government must focus on the needs of
Jordanians. She said that it is not always easy to
communicate a message to the people but that, "the region
needs an example of a government that has a positive
reflection on its people."


5. (C) COMMENT. The Queen's comments on domestic politics
are an articulation of the GOJ's "Jordan first" strategy, and
a further indication that during a period of heightened
regional tension, the GOJ is working on all fronts to
convince Jordanians that their interests must come first.


6. (U) DAS Cheney has cleared this message.
GNEHM