MALDIVES: U/S FORE MEETS WITH WOMEN LEADERS ON THE EVE OF

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000423 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DOL/ILAB FOR TINA MCCARTER STATE FOR SCA/INS, DRL/IL FOR LAUREN HOLT MCC FOR S GROFF, D NASSIRY AND E BURKE TREASURY FOR LESLIE HULL E.O 12958: N/A TAGS: KWMN PREL PHUM MV SUBJECT: MALDIVES: U/S FORE MEETS WITH WOMEN LEADERS ON THE EVE OF INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY REF: COLOMBO 284 ¶1. (U) Summary: On March 7, the eve of International Women's Day, visiting Under Secretary of State for Management Henrietta Fore held a round-table discussion with female political and business leaders in Male'. The participants said that female contributions to civil society and the economy are generally unappreciated in Maldives, and the role of women may be declining due to increased Islamic fundamentalism. U/S Fore highlighted to her interlocutors that a Maldivian citizen was honored by Secretary Rice with the International Women of Courage Award. End Summary. ECONOMIC RIGHTS LIMITED ¶2. (U) During U/S Fore's March 7 visit to Maldives the day prior to International Women's Day, she held a discussion with women leaders in business and civil society. One participant said that Maldivian women have traditionally played a strong role in economic activity, but their contributions are rarely recognized. She described inheritance laws unfavorable to women that permit husbands to maintain control of assets that wives are bequeathed. Such treatment is symptomatic of a prevailing attitude in Maldives that women are incapable of handling money, discussants said. U/S Fore noted that the women present clearly demonstrated that females could succeed in financial enterprises. She suggested that female business leaders select one bank from the few present in Maldives and focus on negotiating special loan packages and marketing targeted to women. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS UNDER THREAT? ¶3. (U) One discussant voiced support for a quota for women within the People's Majlis (the legislature). Another noted that although females in Maldives' political parties generally agree on certain women's issues, they feel intimidated within male-dominated political parties, and generally do not advocate strongly for women's issues. U/S Fore praised one notable women's rights activist, Mariya Ahmed Didi, recipient of the Secretary's International Women of Courage (IWOC) Award. ¶4. (U) The group also discussed the increased impact of Islamic extremism (a topic raised in several other meetings with U/S Fore, covered septel). Although the rising use of conservative Islamic dress is readily apparent on the capital island of Male', interlocutors told the Under Secretary that on several other islands, almost all women now wear coverings. They said this is antithetical to traditional Maldivian custom, in which a woman's face should not be covered. While no one condemned wearing the veil, the women in the meeting described the shift to its use as one symptom of increased Islamic extremism in the country. They worried that if fundamentalism takes root, it will further infringe on women's rights. MALDIVIAN IWOC RECIPIENT TOPIC OF DISCUSSION ¶5. (SBU) At meetings outside of the women's forum, various Maldivian officials praised the decision to award Maldivian citizen Ms. Mariya Ahmed Didi the Secretary's IWOC Award (reftel A). Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Shaheed posited that the award served as recognition of the Maldivian reform efforts underway. Other officials expressed pleasure at the award, and gave similar pro-government interpretations. On March 9, however, Shaheed contacted Ambassador Blake and asked him to provide a public explanation of the award's criteria. Shaheed said that some in Maldives speculated that his familial connection to the winner played a role in her selection. (Note: Shaheed was previously married to Didi's sister, with whom he has a son. They are divorced, but he maintains good relations with her family, including Didi, a personal friend. End note.) He worried that hardliners were especially critical because the award recipient is a vocal anti-government member of the opposition. The Ambassador provided COLOMBO 00000423 002 OF 002 information about the award selection process to the Minister and offered to give an interview to local media. COMMENT ¶6. (SBU) The concerns Maldivian women shared with U/S Fore bolster our assessment that finding ways to empower local women may act as a counter-balance to Islamic extremism. Through public diplomacy efforts and Embassy-wide outreach, we will continue to emphasize the need for greater gender equality. It is interesting to note that in meetings with American officials, government ministers co-opted the IWOC Award recipient as part of the broader reform agenda. However, Didi herself has strongly criticized the slow pace of democratization and urged the government to do more. For the local audience, and especially in facing anti-reform hard-liners, Foreign Minister Shaheed sought to create some distance from Didi and provide the objective criteria for her selection. ¶7. (U) Under Secretary Fore has cleared this cable. BLAKE