Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
10BANGUI46
2010-02-19 07:34:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Bangui
Cable title:  

S/GWI PROJECT PROPOSAL FOR THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

Tags:  KWMN PREL KPAO PHUM AID CDC COM TRSY CT 
pdf how-to read a cable
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P R 190734Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY BANGUI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1174
INFO RUEHGI/AMEMBASSY BANGUI 1486
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGUI 000046 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR S/GWI
S/WCI FOR JBIGIO

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KWMN PREL KPAO PHUM AID CDC COM TRSY CT
SUBJECT: S/GWI PROJECT PROPOSAL FOR THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

REF: A. 10 STATE 12531

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGUI 000046

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR S/GWI
S/WCI FOR JBIGIO

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KWMN PREL KPAO PHUM AID CDC COM TRSY CT
SUBJECT: S/GWI PROJECT PROPOSAL FOR THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

REF: A. 10 STATE 12531


1. (U) SUMMARY: In response to Ref A, below is Post's submission
for S/GWI funding for the Central African Republic (CAR). The
program seeks to improve women's leadership capacity, provide
technical assistance and capacity building for women's
organizations, and promote women's political advancement. END
SUMMARY.

--------------
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
--------------


2. (U) The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked
country of 4.5 million people. After decades of coups,
violence, and international neglect, the country initiated an
Inclusive Political Dialogue (IPD) in December 2008 to provide a
roadmap for peace leading up to national elections in April

2010. An encouraging recommendation by the IPD called for women
to occupy 35 percent of posts in government ministries and
political parties. Currently there are 10 women in the 105-seat
National Assembly and three in the president's 32-person
cabinet. There are no laws prohibiting women from participating
in political life, but most women lack the financial means and
knowledge of the process to compete in political races. This
causes women's engagement in the political process to remain
extremely limited.


3. (U) A core element of Embassy Bangui's strategic mission
objective is to foster the fledgling democratic process in the
CAR. The engagement of the USG in support of the civic
political participation of women seeks to ensure a peaceful
democratic transition for the CAR and assist CAR in meeting the
recommendations of the IPD. It is imperative to not only
increase the number of women involved in the political process,
but also to improve the capacity of local women civic society
organizations to promote electoral reform and other improvements
in the electoral system. In a country where civil society is
weak and struggles from a lack of means, the U.S. has a major
opportunity to bridge a vital gap and can empower those at risk
of continued marginalization.


4. (U) In 2007, there were no groups in CAR focusing on women's

participation in the political process. In order to increase
female participation in politics, the UN's Office for the
Central Africa Republic (BONUCA) assisted with the foundation of
a women's political group -- the Group of 23. Since its
founding, BONUCA has provided G23 modest technical and financial
support. In order to increase the political enfranchisement of
the vast population of female citizens, G23 must expand its
activities and membership outside of Bangui. The group's
ultimate goal is to ensure that 30 percent of elected officials
are female. The organization has participated in civic
education activities in the past, such as a 16-day campaign to
end violence against women organized by Mercy Corps and BONUCA.
They also organized a training workshop in December 2009 to
encourage women to participate in the upcoming elections.


5. (U) The Association of Women's Lawyers (Association de Femmes
Juristes -- AFJ) is another organization which strives to
increase women participation in the political process. The AFJ
provided training for female election observers for the 2005
elections, and plans to do so again for the 2010 elections. The
AFJ's nation-wide reach is unique for civil society
organizations in the CAR.

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PROJECT PROPOSAL
--------------


6. (U) Embassy Bangui requests USD 75,000 in S/GWI funding for
the CAR to provide technical assistance, funding, and capacity
building to the G23 and the AFJ women's organizations.
Specifically, the funds will be used to initiate programs to
improve women's leadership capacity and promote women's
political advancement. The goal of the project is to sensitize
and build women's capacity to actively engage in the democratic
processes and to initiate and promote good governance in the
CAR.


7. (U) Due to multiple disruptive social upheavals and poor
educational infrastructure, civil society organizations remain
nascent in their management and accountability practices. They
lack dedicated staff to oversee funds, have informal or
non-existent procedures for disbursements, lack of safes to
store petty cash, and are inexperienced with techniques for
financial reporting. Due to a lack of norms of best financial
and management practices in many CAR civil society
organizations, post proposes that the initial grant be conducted
through the National Democratic Institute (NDI) whom will
provide subgrants to G23 and the AFJ. NDI has substantial
experience working with subgrantees and managing women's

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political participation programs.


8. (U) NDI recently opened an office in Bangui in order to
manage a one million USD, nine month project for civic and voter
education, training of domestic election monitors, and the
deployment of regional observers for the 2010 elections. Adding
a component to the NDI program for the advancement of women's
political and leadership capacities would be complementary to
the current program. NDI will disburse funding to the local
partners in manageable tranches and provide direct financial
oversight and support in order to minimize financial risks
stemming from low local capacity.


9. (U) Specific program activities would include: a workshop to
train potential female candidates, a workshop on women's
leadership, training on the electoral process and how to
increase women's participation in politics, the production and
distribution of educational materials on the importance of
women's participation in politics and the process to run for
office, and radio announcements on community radio on the
importance of political participation by women.


10. (U) The desired outcomes are:
a)To increase the transparency of the electoral process by
producing informational materials on the electoral process and
how to run for office.
b) To increase female participation in the political process and
encourage more female candidates to run for local and national
office.
c) To strengthen the capacity of local women's civil society
organizations.
d) To increase women's leadership in the political and democracy
building processes.


11. (U) The performance measures are:
a) The number of potential female candidates trained.
b) The number of workshops completed on leadership for women,
the electoral process, and how to increase women's participation
in politics.
c) The production and distribution of informational materials.
d) The production of radio announcements for community radio.
e) The increased financial and management capabilities of AFJ
and G23.
f) The ability to reach women outside of Bangui.


12. (U) The proposed budget is:
a) Workshops for potential female candidates, Leadership
Courses, and Workshops on the electoral process and women's
participation in politics USD 40,000.00
b) Production and distribution of informational materials USD
5,000.00
c) Radio announcements USD 5,000.00
d) NDI Technical Assistance and Training USD 25,000.00
Total -- USD 75,000.00


13. (U) Post Management - This grant will be managed by the
POL/ECON Officer with support from two local program staff and a
rotating Presidential Management Fellow. The POL/ECON section
has similar management experience through the successful
management of the Embassy's Self-Help and Democracy and Human
Rights Fund programs.


14. (U) Embassy thanks the Department in advance for its timely
consideration of and response to this proposal.
SMITH