US embassy cable - 03AMMAN5575

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 005575 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA (LCheney); NEA/PPD (DBenze, JANE GAFFNEY, 
DUNCAN MACINNES); NEA/ARN (SWilliams); IIP/G/NEA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, OEXC, SCUL, JO 
SUBJECT:  CONSULTANT EMPOWERS JORDANIAN WOMEN POLITICIANS 
 
Ref: Amman 04038 
 
1. Summary: Jordanian and Palestinian female Members of 
Parliament and municipal officials praised the workshops and 
individual consultations by political consultant Daryl 
Glenney, who focused the newly-elected representatives on 
their role in advancing both women's empowerment and citizen 
participation in government.  During her August 15-25 visit 
under the auspices of PA Amman and Jerusalem, Ms. Glenney 
laid the foundations for a network of newly elected 
Jordanian MPs and municipal council members, aspiring female 
candidates for the Palestinian Legislative Assembly and 
women's activists and NGOs.  One of her main contributions 
was to enable the Palestinian women to hear from their 
Jordanian counterparts about the quota system of 
parliamentary seats and other challenges, which they faced 
as women in the recent elections here.  Ms. Glenney also 
emphasized the need for the women to put aside their 
campaign differences and support each other.  End Summary. 
 
2. Program Description: Campaign consultant Glenney held 
workshops and assessment sessions for female Jordanian MPs 
and municipal officials elected during the summer as well as 
potential female Palestinian candidates, who traveled to 
Amman from the West Bank and Gaza.  She held a workshop on 
strategic planning and communications for about 60 municipal 
officials and women activists under the auspices of the 
General Federation of Jordanian Women, an umbrella 
organization which includes women's groups throughout Jordan 
.  Glenney also held an assessment meeting with five of the 
six female MPs, several of whom she had counseled on their 
campaign strategies during her previous visits here prior to 
the campaign.  The new MPs, who are mainly from rural, 
tribal backgrounds, criticized what they saw as a bias 
towards urban, Western-educated women in much of the 
training activities held by the Jordanian women's NGO's. 
Some of their criticisms were featured in an article in Ar- 
Rai, the official daily. 
 
In a training workshop held in Amman but organized by PA 
Jerusalem, Ms. Glenney helped strengthen campaign strategies 
plus fundraising, media and organizational skills among 15 
Palestinian women who are potential candidates for the 
Palestinian Assembly.  On their final day, the Palestinians 
held a workshop with one of the female Jordanian MPs and 
five unsuccessful candidates to compare experiences on 
issues such as dealing with male prejudice and the Jordanian 
quota for women. 
 
To discuss next steps, Ms. Glenney met with the leaders of 
several NGO's and semi-official organizations such as the 
National Federation of Business and Professional Women, the 
National Commission for Women, and the Queen Zein Al Sharaf 
Institute for Development.   Projects to be carried out with 
the Jordanian organizations, which the Post intends to 
assess and support, include training in legislative skills 
and constituent relations as well as English and information 
technology for the female MPs and municipal council members 
plus a series of workshops on citizen awareness and citizen 
participation, to be held throughout Jordan. 
 
The Charge held a reception in Ms. Glenney's honor, which 
drew about 50 female activists including some of the new 
female MPs, aspiring Palestinian female candidates, the 
heads of several women's NGOs and think tanks, journalists 
and other women activists.  The PAO hosted a lunch for the 
heads of the leading women's organizations in her honor. 
 
3. Impact: Ms. Glenny's program underlined USG support for 
the new parliament and the empowerment of women.  Ms. 
Glenney also highlighted the need to move beyond election 
rivalry -particularly between the successful rural and 
tribal MPs and the unsuccessful urban women who lost their 
bids for quota seats in Amman.  Both the women's NGOs and 
the female MPs seemed to understand that they need to 
support each other in the future.  For example, some female 
MPs said they voted in favor of laws abolishing women's 
right to initiate divorce (the Khuloe) or reducing penalties 
for "honor killings" because they lacked information or did 
not grasp parliamentary procedures.  Here, several women's 
NGO organizers said, is where they can share their 
familiarity with the issues based on direct contact with 
women throughout Jordan. 
 
Ms. Glenney's program also underlined the importance of 
bridging the credibility and communications gaps between 
constituents and their representatives in parliament and the 
municipal councils.  In her workshops she stressed the need 
to stay in frequent touch with the voters after election day 
through networking, workshops, town hall meetings and other 
forms of communication. 
 
4. Support: The Jordan program was funded through our USAID- 
funded PASA while the workshops for Palestinians were funded 
through PA Jerusalem's I-bucks.  As always, we are very 
grateful for the support of our colleagues in OIIP and NEA 
for facilitating her logistical arrangements from 
Washington.  Regards.  Hale