CONSULTANT EMPOWERS JORDANIAN WOMEN POLITICIANS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 005575

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA (LCheney); NEA/PPD (DBenze, JANE GAFFNEY,
DUNCAN MACINNES); NEA/ARN (SWilliams); IIP/G/NEA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OIIP OEXC SCUL JO
SUBJECT: CONSULTANT EMPOWERS JORDANIAN WOMEN POLITICIANS

Ref: Amman 04038


1. Summary: Jordanian and Palestinian female Members of
Parliament and municipal officials praised the workshops and
individual consultations by political consultant Daryl
Glenney, who focused the newly-elected representatives on
their role in advancing both women's empowerment and citizen
participation in government. During her August 15-25 visit
under the auspices of PA Amman and Jerusalem, Ms. Glenney
laid the foundations for a network of newly elected
Jordanian MPs and municipal council members, aspiring female
candidates for the Palestinian Legislative Assembly and
women's activists and NGOs. One of her main contributions
was to enable the Palestinian women to hear from their
Jordanian counterparts about the quota system of
parliamentary seats and other challenges, which they faced
as women in the recent elections here. Ms. Glenney also
emphasized the need for the women to put aside their
campaign differences and support each other. End Summary.


2. Program Description: Campaign consultant Glenney held
workshops and assessment sessions for female Jordanian MPs
and municipal officials elected during the summer as well as
potential female Palestinian candidates, who traveled to
Amman from the West Bank and Gaza. She held a workshop on
strategic planning and communications for about 60 municipal
officials and women activists under the auspices of the
General Federation of Jordanian Women, an umbrella
organization which includes women's groups throughout Jordan
. Glenney also held an assessment meeting with five of the
six female MPs, several of whom she had counseled on their
campaign strategies during her previous visits here prior to
the campaign. The new MPs, who are mainly from rural,
tribal backgrounds, criticized what they saw as a bias
towards urban, Western-educated women in much of the
training activities held by the Jordanian women's NGO's.
Some of their criticisms were featured in an article in Ar-
Rai, the official daily.

In a training workshop held in Amman but organized by PA
Jerusalem, Ms. Glenney helped strengthen campaign strategies
plus fundraising, media and organizational skills among 15
Palestinian women who are potential candidates for the
Palestinian Assembly. On their final day, the Palestinians
held a workshop with one of the female Jordanian MPs and
five unsuccessful candidates to compare experiences on
issues such as dealing with male prejudice and the Jordanian
quota for women.

To discuss next steps, Ms. Glenney met with the leaders of
several NGO's and semi-official organizations such as the
National Federation of Business and Professional Women, the
National Commission for Women, and the Queen Zein Al Sharaf
Institute for Development. Projects to be carried out with
the Jordanian organizations, which the Post intends to
assess and support, include training in legislative skills
and constituent relations as well as English and information
technology for the female MPs and municipal council members
plus a series of workshops on citizen awareness and citizen
participation, to be held throughout Jordan.

The Charge held a reception in Ms. Glenney's honor, which
drew about 50 female activists including some of the new
female MPs, aspiring Palestinian female candidates, the
heads of several women's NGOs and think tanks, journalists
and other women activists. The PAO hosted a lunch for the
heads of the leading women's organizations in her honor.


3. Impact: Ms. Glenny's program underlined USG support for
the new parliament and the empowerment of women. Ms.
Glenney also highlighted the need to move beyond election
rivalry -particularly between the successful rural and
tribal MPs and the unsuccessful urban women who lost their
bids for quota seats in Amman. Both the women's NGOs and
the female MPs seemed to understand that they need to
support each other in the future. For example, some female
MPs said they voted in favor of laws abolishing women's
right to initiate divorce (the Khuloe) or reducing penalties
for "honor killings" because they lacked information or did
not grasp parliamentary procedures. Here, several women's
NGO organizers said, is where they can share their
familiarity with the issues based on direct contact with
women throughout Jordan.

Ms. Glenney's program also underlined the importance of
bridging the credibility and communications gaps between
constituents and their representatives in parliament and the
municipal councils. In her workshops she stressed the need
to stay in frequent touch with the voters after election day
through networking, workshops, town hall meetings and other
forms of communication.


4. Support: The Jordan program was funded through our USAID-
funded PASA while the workshops for Palestinians were funded
through PA Jerusalem's I-bucks. As always, we are very
grateful for the support of our colleagues in OIIP and NEA
for facilitating her logistical arrangements from
Washington. Regards. Hale