Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03KUWAIT2008
2003-05-13 09:30:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Kuwait
Cable title:  

DEMOCRACY SMALL GRANT PROPOSAL FOR GENDER

Tags:  PHUM KWMN PGOV KDEM KPAO KU 
pdf how-to read a cable
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 002008 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/PPD: MOONEY, MACINNES, GAFFNEY
DEPT FOR NEA/RA KEARY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KWMN PGOV KDEM KPAO KU
SUBJECT: DEMOCRACY SMALL GRANT PROPOSAL FOR GENDER
BUDGETING STUDY IN KUWAIT

REF: STATE 91641

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 002008

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/PPD: MOONEY, MACINNES, GAFFNEY
DEPT FOR NEA/RA KEARY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KWMN PGOV KDEM KPAO KU
SUBJECT: DEMOCRACY SMALL GRANT PROPOSAL FOR GENDER
BUDGETING STUDY IN KUWAIT

REF: STATE 91641


1. Embassy Kuwait requests an NEA Democracy Small Grant of
$25,000 to sponsor a gender-budgeting study to be carried out
by the Kuwait Economic Society.

--------------
THE PROBLEM
--------------


2. Women, who do not have the right to vote, have little
opportunity to influence policy in Kuwait, and women's rights
activists point to overwhelming apathy as one of the greatest
obstacles in their path to equality. Many of those who
oppose women's rights hide behind the high standard of living
enjoyed by all Kuwaiti citizens; these critics feel Kuwaiti
women have no need to gain political equality to improve
their situations because they experience no suffering and
want for nothing.


3. Recognizing that a direct push for political rights does
not appeal to many Kuwaiti women, women's rights activists
now hope to use the issue of economic inequalities to gather
support for reforms from conservative women. They are
attempting to draw attention to economic inequalities to
demonstrate to Kuwaiti women that their lack of political
rights has far reaching consequences. By highlighting the
ways in which the disenfranchisement translates into economic
disadvantages for women and their children, women's rights
activists hope to raise awareness and interest among more
conservative women. Activists hope that presenting women
with evidence that they are not receiving their fair share of
economic benefits from the government will energize women to
agitate for a voice in that government.

--------------
THE PROJECT
--------------


4. To help develop this new strategy for gaining support for
political rights for women, Embassy Kuwait requests an NEA
Democracy Small Grant (DSG) to sponsor a gender-budgeting
study to be carried out by the Kuwait Economic Society. The
DSG would fund a gender-sensitive analysis of the most recent
available Kuwaiti budget, and the publication of that
analysis. Embassy Kuwait believes the study will bolster
claims by women's rights activists that lack of a voice in
politics translates into concrete economic disadvantages for
women and their children.



5. Gender-budgeting (GB) is a method of examining the
government budget to determine its different impacts on men
and women, and can be used to gender-analyze macroeconomic
policy. GB initiatives reflect the growing move toward more
open, participatory, and responsive systems of governance;
since 1985, 20 countries have used GB techniques as part of
their budget development process. GB initiatives bring the
issue of gender equity in resource allocation to the
attention of legislators, and analyze the extent to which
budgets reflect the different roles that men and women play
in the economy. Both women and men contribute to the
economy, but are neither equally distributed across sectors
nor equally remunerated for their labor. For example,
women's unpaid domestic labor and reproductive work maintains
the social framework and the future labor force, but is
rarely formally recognized as a contribution to the economy.
Aiming to influence budget decision-making, GB initiatives
propose resource re-allocations to close gender gaps and to
address the unmet needs of women and girls. Women's rights
activists will share the results of the GB study with
parliamentarians and use the findings to advocate for gender
equality in budget allocations.

--------------
THE PLAYERS
--------------


6. The Kuwait Economic Society (KES) was established in 1970
to encourage scientific research to contribute to economic
development in Kuwait. The KES cooperates with foreign and
international organizations to further its objectives of
economic liberalization. The KES is a force for much-needed
reform of the Kuwaiti economy and is one of the Embassy's
best economic contact organizations. The KES hosts monthly
seminars to discuss economic and social developments in
Kuwait, as well as bi-annual conferences addressing key
economic issues such as the WTO, privatization, and the oil
industry. Most importantly from the perspective of this
project, the KES regularly participates in the legislative
process pertaining to the economy; the National Assembly
consults with the KES on draft laws dealing with economic
issues.

--------------
THE PLAN
--------------


7. The KES estimates it will take 6 months to complete the
study. They envision using a nine-person team to perform the
budget analysis: 1 team leader/coordinator, 1 outside
consultant (recommended by the World Bank),6 local analysts
to gather information and statistics, and 1 administrative
assistant to provide office support. The information
gathering and administrative work will all be done by local
staff; the outside consultant will spend approximately 1
month in country gathering and analyzing the data. The
consultant will return once the report is completed to
present the results.


8. Post requests a grant of $25,000 to cover costs
associated with this project. The Kuwait Economic Society
will provide and pay for the local staff necessary for
information gathering and support. The Democracy Small Grant
will cover the costs of the outside consultant brought in to
perform the budget analysis. The cost breakdown is as
follows:

Initial assessment
Consultant Fee: $12,600 ($450/day for 28 days)
Round-trip airline ticket to Kuwait: $1500
Lodging and M&IE: $6944 ($248/day for 28 days)

Follow-up visit to present results
Consultant Fee: $2250 ($450/day for 5 days)
Round-trip airline ticket to Kuwait: $1500
Lodging and M&IE: $1240 ($248/day for 5 days)

Total estimated cost for the consultant is $26,034. The
Kuwait Economic Society has committed to make up the
difference between the Democracy Small Grant and the cost of
the project.
URBANCIC