REVISED DEMOCRACY SMALL GRANT PROPOSAL FOR GENDER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 005735 SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA/PPD: JKINCANNON, JDAVIES, TROBERTS DEPT FOR NEA/REA KEARY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM KWMN PGOV KDEM KPAO KMPI KU SUBJECT: REVISED DEMOCRACY SMALL GRANT PROPOSAL FOR GENDER BUDGETING STUDY IN KUWAIT REF: A) STATE 91641 B) KUWAIT 02008 ¶1. This is a revised request of Reftel B from Embassy Kuwait for an NEA Democracy Small Grant to sponsor a gender-budgeting study to be carried out by the Kuwait Economic Society (KES). The revised funding request for this grant is $34,350.00 (see para 9). The KES has requested a specific outside consultant to carry out the gender-budgeting study, Ms. Debbie Budlender (see para 8). -------------- 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 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 four-person team to perform the budget analysis: one outside technical consultant (Ms. Debbie Budlender), one primary researcher, one research assistant and one 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 one month in country gathering and analyzing the data. The consultant will return once the report is completed to present the results. ¶8. KES has requested Debbie Budlender of Cape Town, South Africa, a well-known consultant on gender budgeting studies, to serve as the outside technical consultant for this project. ¶9. Post requests a grant of $35,350.00 to cover costs associated with this project. The Democracy Small Grant will cover the costs detailed below: Total for Technical Consultant (Ms. Debbie Budlender): $17,050 Airplane tickets: $2,500 Per diem: $9,000 Accommodation: $5,250 Local Transportation: $300 Researcher: $6,000 Research Assistant (data collection and entry): $3,500 Administrator: $2,750 Books/Printing material/publication: $2,500 Budget Analysis Technical Software: $750 Report translation: $1,800 Miscellaneous: $500 GRAND TOTAL: $35,350.00 Post requests full funding for this project. Thanks and regards. MORAN