Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05KUWAIT3224
2005-07-20 14:53:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Kuwait
Cable title:  

ACTIVISTS LAUD WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACCOMPLISHMENTS;

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 03 KUWAIT 003224 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

FOR NEA/ARPI AND NEA/PI; ABU DHABI AND TUNIS FOR MEPI;
LONDON FOR TSOU; PARIS FOR ZEYA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM KWMN KMPI KU WOMEN POLITICAL RIGHTS
SUBJECT: ACTIVISTS LAUD WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACCOMPLISHMENTS;
STRESS EDUCATION AND TRAINING AS BASIS FOR FUTURE PROGRESS

REF: A. KUWAIT 3178

B. KUWAIT 2931

C. KUWAIT 2091

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 003224

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

FOR NEA/ARPI AND NEA/PI; ABU DHABI AND TUNIS FOR MEPI;
LONDON FOR TSOU; PARIS FOR ZEYA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM KWMN KMPI KU WOMEN POLITICAL RIGHTS
SUBJECT: ACTIVISTS LAUD WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACCOMPLISHMENTS;
STRESS EDUCATION AND TRAINING AS BASIS FOR FUTURE PROGRESS

REF: A. KUWAIT 3178

B. KUWAIT 2931

C. KUWAIT 2091


1. (U) Summary: The Charge hosted on July 19 a tea for the
three delegations of Kuwaiti women who traveled in early July
to the U.S., the UK, and France to talk about women's rights
(ref b). Other attendees included political activists,
Members of Parliament, journalists, and members of the
diplomatic community. The euphoria over the May 16 decision
granting women full political rights and the subsequent
appointment of a female minister and two Municipal Council
members remains, but there is a growing realization that much
still needs to be done to prepare women to exercise their
rights. Most talked about the need for a broad voter
education campaign during the run-up to the 2007
parliamentary elections and the immediate need to prepare
women to take part in the February 2006 voter registration.
End summary.

Education the Key to Women's Political Participation
-------------- --------------


2. (U) Twenty-five Kuwaitis, including seven women
delegates from the Ministry of Information-sponsored tour on
women's rights to London, Paris, and Washington, and 10
representatives of the diplomatic community attended the
Charge's tea on July 19. The event was an opportunity for
advocates of women's rights, representing groups and
organizations which rarely interact with each other, to
discuss recent political changes and how to sustain the
reform efforts.


3. (SBU) Dr. Abdullah Sahar, a political science professor
at Kuwait University, talked about the need for civic
education for Kuwaiti women, whom he said had a 40-year
disadvantage to overcome. He told PolChief that he and a few
colleagues were developing a curriculum on campaigning,
including how to develop a campaign message, which buzz words
to use, and how to deal with Kuwait's diwanyia culture (ref
a). He said he had 25 years of campaign experience, most of
which he honed as a student in the U.S., and he was eager to

share his knowledge with Kuwaiti women and the next
generation of voters. He added that political education
efforts needed to be "home-grown," arguing that an outside
NGO would be looked at with skepticism, would be accused of
interfering in Kuwait's internal affairs, and would never
fully understand how Kuwaiti society functions.


4. (SBU) When asked how the U.S. could best support women's
political participation, Dr. Sahar called for the translation
into Arabic of books and pamphlets on democracy and
exercising one's rights. He further commented that there was
a big gap in the average citizen's understanding of Kuwait's
political system. Civics is not taught at the secondary
school level and courses offered by Kuwait University are
limited in scope because the state-run school does not fully
encourage analysis or a critique of the government. (Note:
Post's strategy for the Freedom Agenda recommends translation
and distribution of the "Journal of Democracy" (ref c). Post
welcomes guidance on securing funding for this project that
would be well received in Kuwait. Post also welcomes
guidance on whether it is still possible to use MEPI small
grants funding for some of the activities described by Dr.
Sahar. End note.)


5. (SBU) Similarly, Khaled Al-Fadallah of the National
Democratic Alliance (NDA) said the organization had formed a
committee, "16-05" (May 16),to oversee voter registration of
women and training. In addition, NDA advocates reducing the
number of electoral constituencies, a move that could limit
vote-buying and facilitate women's participation. He
requested U.S. assistance in campaign training, voter
registration drives, and candidate training.

Women's Delegation Leaves Washington with a Positive Outlook
-------------- --------------


6. (SBU) Dr. Nibal Al-Boursly, who was part of the
delegation that visited Washington, said she was impressed
with the warm reception she received in the U.S. and
surprised to discover that "women face the same problems
wherever you go." She looked forward to developing
professional relationships with the American women she met
and commented that Kuwaiti women needed to be more active in
Vital Voices. Amal Al-Khalid, a journalist with the Kuwait
News Agency (KUNA),was also one of the Washington delegation
participants and praised the group's visit. She told PolOff
that she was happy to portray a different image of Kuwaiti
women to her American counterparts, one that broke the
stereotype of voiceless, abaya-clad women. Al-Khalid
enthusiastically recounted how shock flashed on the faces of
some American hosts when they first met the fashion-conscious
and Western-oriented Kuwaitis. While the tour received wide
media coverage in Kuwait and, to a more limited degree, in
the U.S., women cannot rest, she added. She admitted that
Kuwaiti society was splintered and that her group represented
a small percentage of politically-active women while most
females remain apathetic. The women will need to cross
religious, class, and geographic lines in order to
incorporate the currently marginalized majority of potential
female voters, she stated. Al-Khalid welcomed U.S. and
international training to prepare activists for voter
registration drives, campaign training, and consensus
building among women.

Focus on the Future: Encouraging Youth Interest in Politics
-------------- --------------


7. (SBU) Columnist Muna Al-Fuzai, who earlier in the week
was widely criticized for a column in which she wrote that
the women's delegations were not representative of the
majority of Kuwaiti women. Calling them "Kuwait's
aristocracy," she questioned their vision about Kuwait's
political future. She welcomed the opportunity to confront
her detractors and had several lively discussions on bridging
religious and economic differences as women exercised their
rights. She explained to her audience that her comments were
not personal attacks, rather an effort to raise awareness
about Kuwait's large middle class and the fact that many of
these women are from conservative families and do not
identify with the worldly academics associated with the
women's rights struggle. She said following the publication
of her column, a group of young Shi'a women -- Al-Fuzai is
Sunni -- invited her to speak to them about women's issues
and college students have also reached out to her. She told
PolChief she found her new target audience and would use her
English and Arabic columns, and public speaking appearances,
to encourage them to become politically active.

The Islamist Threat
--------------


8. (SBU) Kuwait National Petroleum Company Training and
Development Manager told PolAsst that Kuwait was split into
three categories of women: one group that really supports
women's rights and was working hard for them; "the lazy women
who don't care and don't want to hear about it (women's
rights);" and women who believe the appointment of a female
minister and women in Parliament was "the end of the world."
She hoped that all three groups could meet to find common
ground.


9. (SBU) Dr. Haila Al-Mekaimi of Kuwait University also
stressed the need for a broad education campaign. She noted
her concern that Kuwait's moderates and liberals are not well
organized, and commenting on a recent announcement by the
Islamic Constitutional Movement (ICM),the political arm of
the Muslim Brotherhood, that it would begin recruiting women,
said they would "stop at nothing" to maintain or increase the
Islamist presence in Parliament. Ministry of Social Affairs
and Labor Assistant Undersecretary Adnan Al-Omar and women's
rights activist Bader Mousa Al-Saif echoed Al-Mekaimi's
concerns. Al-Omar strongly urged the "three to four" groups
within the women's movement to unify to defend their
political rights.


10. (SBU) Shamael Al-Sharikh, a member of the Women's
Cultural Society and an officer with the Kuwait Petroleum
Company, also commented on the Islamists, telling PolOff that
the goals of women's rights activists in Kuwait were much
different than those of the Islamists -- their key political
opposition. She said that for Islamists, political goals
were easy to accomplish because of the relative simplicity of
their agenda. Unlike Islamist groups, she explained, the
women's movement in Kuwait was not a homogenous group and was
not as well organized or funded. She stated that political
success was more difficult for a women's political agenda in
part because of the cultural barriers; however, the greater
challenge was due to the fact that the women's movement was
comprised of a more diverse group of people, resulting in
objectives more sophisticated than anything on the Islamist
political agenda. She also commented on the injustice of the
bidoon -- stateless Arab -- situation in Kuwait and expressed
a concern that the issue needed to be addressed in the future.
*********************************************
Visit Embassy Kuwait's Classified Website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/

You can also access this site through the
State Department's Classified SIPRNET website
*********************************************
TUELLER