Afghan women MPs actively participate in WCI Parliamentary Strengthening Workshop, 2011

The warm and receptive atmosphere of the trainings helped create a relationship of openness and trust between the women MPs and WCI. In addition to our fruitful meetings and training sessions, the WCI team had the opportunity to speak at length with many of the women members about their experiences as elected officials and their professional and personal histories. These discussions often also included the challenges women faced under the Mujahedeen, Taliban and the difficulties they continue to face in the ongoing conflict.

For example, an MP from the Maidan Wardak province told us about how she secured admission to Kabul schools for forty students from her region. As a result, these students were immediately arrested and released months later only as a result of the MP’s personal perseverance. The only nomadic woman MP in parliament told us about how she campaigned for mobile health clinics and schools for her constituents and their children. These are just a few stories; countless other women MPs have secretly organized, taught children, provided health care and formed women’s NGOs against all odds and at an enormous risk to themselves and their families.

At the very end of the five-day training, one of the MPs, the Honorable Perwin Sadat, began to sing “We Shall Overcome.” By the end of her final verse other women and our team had joined in singing, feeling the power in each line and the relevance of the words in their lives and struggles. The entire group was tearful due both to the historical significance of the song in the United States’ Civil Rights Movement and the current socio-political conditions in Afghanistan as they relate to women. Just as with the Civil Rights Movement, the courageous women with whom we spoke shared a common thread of resistance, resilience and resourcefulness.

The WCI team consisted of Program Manager, Nasrin Rafiq, Program Officer, Nickie Séne, and two WCI senior consultant trainers, Ambassador Cynthia Schneider and Ambassador Meryl Frank. Major topics of the training included: leadership, coalition and consensus building, negotiation and diplomacy, inter-gender communication, media relations, public speaking, arenas for raising gender issues, gender mainstreaming, and establishing a Women’s Caucus.

Thank you to everyone involved both from the U.S. and Afghanistan for sharing your time and stories with us.

In her testimony, which follows below, Marjorie defined for the Committee WCI’s foundational model, where we work both from the bottom up, at the grassroots level, such as with rural market women in post-conflict, emerging democracies and from the top down, with women who have recently been elected to positions of power. WCI also handed the Committee a detailed report of our actions worldwide, with a special description of our newly opened headquarters in Liberia and the transformative work our program officers accomplish there every day.

Marjorie Testifying before the Subcommittee

The vast majority of the American public believes that 20% of the federal budget is dedicated to foreign aid and that this amount should be reduced to 10%. In reality, we know that the proportion of spending dedicated to foreign aid is actually only 1% of the annual US budget. With proposed cuts to foreign spending in the current budget cuts, that number could be reduced even further, leaving organizations such as USAID, which heavily supports WCI’s international work, to make tough decisions about which programs to remove due to lack of funding.

It is for this very reason that it is imperative that organizations such as Women’s Campaign International, share tangible markers of their success with community members, elected officials, supporters and detractors. Through the use of solid evidence, we as a society can more effectively draw conclusions about the efficacy and necessity of foreign aid.

Please read Marjorie’s congressional testimony below for examples of these tangible markers in WCI’s work across the world.

House Committee of Appropriations:
Subcommittee of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs

Marjorie Margolies President
Women’s Campaign International
Testimony FY 2012

Madam Chairwoman and distinguished Members of the Committee: Thank you for allowing me to speak today before the subcommittee. I am here on behalf of Women’s Campaign International, an organization that was founded in 1998.

Following my short stay on the hill, I was appointed to be the Director of the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. Here, we saw, in action, what happens when women leaders come together and demand their seat at the decision making table. It was out of this conference that Women’s Campaign International was born –to support women’s participation and to create a platform from which their voices could be heard.

Since this conference, the importance of women’s participation has been cited by the United Nations, the World Bank, and USAID. These organizations emphasize the connection between the economic and political empowerment of women and social change. Ban-ki Moon stated that, “Women must be full partners in development, so they can lift themselves and their communities out of poverty.” Currently, however, that full partnership has yet to be realized. Women perform 66 percent of the world’s work, produce 50 percent of the food, but earn 10 percent of the income and own 1 percent of the property. Women are 51% of the population, but only account for 19% of seats in national government. Of the 500 largest corporations in the world, only 13 have a female chief executive officer. It has been shown that with the money they do get, women are more likely to invest it in their families and communities. With what decision making power they have, women are more likely to direct funds towards social programming, health, education and peace building. This is and has been the cornerstone of this movement and this is the foundation of WCI’s work.

Since its founding, WCI has worked in 2 dozen countries around the world to promote women’s participation in public advocacy, market and political processes. WCI’s impact can best be shown through its stories.

Let me tell you about Her Excellency Callista Mutharika. We first met her as a parliamentary hopeful at our campaign skills training in Malawi in 2003. Callista, along with 26 other trainees got elected to parliament that year, doubling the number of women in Malawian parliament. Due to her strong work ethic and charisma Callista was eventually appointed to the Presidential Cabinet. In office, Callista and her female colleagues were a force. WCI worked with these newly-elected women members to come together, across party lines, to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS in Malawi. They led by example and made it publicly known that they would be tested for HIV. Their ability to address the issue as a unified group, not only reduced the stigma of getting tested for HIV/AIDS, but also increased their visibility as agents of change and politicians who kept their campaign promises.

Since her time in Parliament Callista has taken on a new role in leading the country of Malawi as its First Lady. Here, Callista decided to use this platform in the most effective way she knew—advocating for women’s leadership, safe motherhood, health care for women and girls, prevention of HIV/AIDS and Malaria, and promoting girls’ education. She is now playing a significant role in WCI’s First Ladies Strategic Initiative, a program helping to build the capacity of the Offices of First Ladies in Africa.

WCI is also committed to supporting sustainable community based development. Currently, in Liberia, we support a national network of rural women’s groups. These groups are often overlooked by economists, politicians and humanitarian workers. However, they are a strong force—together, they worked to elect the first female head of state in Africa—and together, they have established the beginnings of strong community organizations—formed to make their own change in their own communities. It is from here that WCI works with these groups. WCI’s approach is simple—build on the existing skills and structures that are in place and provide strategic support to make sustainable community programs.

Take, for example, the agriculture collective in Beatoe a small village in Gbarpolu County, Liberia. As a group, these farmers came together to plant 30 acres of cassava. What they didn’t have were plans to distribute the profits from the farm, a system to make collective decisions or a plan of how to best price and sell their goods. This is where WCI came in. We worked with them to choose a value added tool to increase the overall profit they make as a group. Over the next 2 years, WCI will work with this group as they create and implement a plan to maintain the tool, manage the profits and ensure that the benefits reach all members of the group in a fair and transparent manner.

As you can see, our programs, like the needs of women around the world, are diverse. They range from value added agriculture to healthcare to economic empowerment and financial literacy. We work with members of parliament and First Ladies. We work with rural farmers and market women. What unites all of our projects is a focus on women’s leadership, confidence building and the ability of women to work together to collectively overcome the obstacles that they face in a sustainable way, long after our programs are over.

Monica stood up to introduce herself. She said, “Uh, um, I’m really sorry that I am not prepared, and like, I hope you can follow along…” She trudged through a painfully delivered speech for the next five minutes. The girls squirmed in their seats, not knowing if she was genuinely having a hard time delivering her speech or whether they were expected to intervene.

When she was finished, Monica and Nickie, another WCI Program Officer, asked the girls what they thought. What did Monica do well? What could she have done better? Thus began the day’s discussions of effective communication and public speaking skills.

We have all been there: excessive use of fillers, poor eye contact, twisting hands, talking too fast, the gamut. These are, as the girls learned, not effective ways to engage an audience. Through Monica’s role-playing activity, the girls learned the ABC’s of public speaking and then put these skills to use in creating campaign videos with Flip cams.

For example, in this video Shayna discusses her group’s campaign against abuse:

Guest teaching artist, Laura Deutch, shared videos created by other teens as good examples of sincere, simple messages conveyed through media. The GALS enthusiastically critiqued the videos, learning from the mistakes and successes of the other teens’ work. They not only critiqued the content of the videos, but also the technical components. Laura led the girls in understanding how to hold a camera, how to position a subject in a frame, how to compose a shot, and what to look for when selecting a background.

Now it was time for the girls to put their “messages in motion”! After working in their groups to create a concise and convincing campaign message, the girls, with Laura’s expertise and their public speaking tips, used the Flip cams to create eye-catching and professional campaign message videos. See for yourself!

In this example, GALS student Lex presents her team’s campaign to promote healthy self-esteem among middle-school aged youth.

Two of our Junior Coaches, Ama and Alexis, GALS’ participants returning from last year, also produced an amazing video of a “fictitious” campaign. When Alexis joined the program last year, she characterized herself as shy, however as depicted in this video, she has found her voice!

Although all the girls had little time to prepare, the videos highlighted their poise and willingness to get up and speak publicly about their campaigns.

After all of the groups created their videos, it was time for peer-to-peer feedback! The girls gathered and watched the campaign messages their peers had made. A critique workshop can be scary, but the trust that has been built among the GALS helped to make this feedback session an incredibly enriching and effective tool. The GALS watched each other’s videos and filled out these forms, anonymously, to provide feedback to their peers. They also provided positive verbal feedback.

After all this hard work, it was time for lunch. The girls were very fortunate to have The Links, Incorporated provide a healthy lunch, as part of a program that day at International House to raise awareness about healthy living. GALS hopes to partner with the Links in the future, as helping young women to become leaders is a goal of both organizations.

As the girls continue implementing their advocacy campaigns, social media will be a crucial component. Facebook, YouTube and blogging will carry the GALS’ messages to a larger audience. Many of the groups have in fact already created Facebook pages on which to post updates about their campaigns!

The GALS program is evolving to use social media very effectively this year, as is shown by these messages. As digital and social media grows, so too does the use of it in our program!

– Written by Karen Doyle

Enemies of Happiness closes with Ms. Joya’s victory, but reveals the complexities inherent in that victory. In the final two scenes of the film, we see Ms. Joya verbally sparring with her more conservative parliamentary colleagues. We also see President Karzai’s emotionally charged, sentimental speech to open the first parliamentary session in Afghanistan in nearly thirty years. In so doing, the film engages the tension between the hope inherent in securing a leadership position in an emerging democracy, and the continued challenges and setbacks women leaders face upon entering office.

Malalai Joya addressing an audience at the Arch Street Friends Meeting House in Philadelphia

On Wednesday March 30, Ms. Joya made two stops in Philadelphia as part of her U.S. speaking tour. At one of these events, I asked Ms. Joya about the ending of Enemies of Happiness, specifically what it suggested about her ability, or any woman’s ability to be effective in Afghan Parliament. She answered: “I wish the film didn’t end the way it did.” She said that ending with the Karzai speech left the viewer feeling that goals were accomplished and change easily made.

Instead, she wished the film showed her ongoing struggles after victory—the threats made against her by her colleagues, the times they turned off her microphone when she stood up to speak, the times she was thwarted in enacting her ideas. Ideas, she points out, that are as natural as asking that Afghan people be supported in accessing the most imperative of needs: education.

Women’s struggles do not end the minute they enter political office. Once there, they are faced with a number of hostilities as their presence, unfortunately, represents a threat to the old order. Ms. Joya, however, handles these pressures not only with dignity, but also with the hard skills needed of political leaders, including knowledge of the political system, a well-communicated platform, and strong negotiation skills.

In an excerpt from her recently published book, A Woman Among Warlords, Joya makes her determination clear, paralleling her fight with that of another brave Afghan woman who struggled against injustice in the early twentieth century, Sarwar Joya, from whom Malalai takes her alias. Malalai states:

“I know that because I refuse to compromise my opposition to the warlords and fundamentalists or soften my speeches denouncing them, I, too, may join [Sarwar] Joya on the long list of Afghans who have died for freedom. But you cannot compromise the truth. And I am not afraid of an early death if it would advance the cause of justice. Even the grave cannot silence my voice, because there are others who would carry on after me.”

As we collectively mourn the passing of Geraldine Ferraro, it is striking to remember that it was not long ago when here in the United States, women were not seen as viable political leaders. While women leaders in the U.S. have made great strides to move away from that perception, they are still working towards the goals of equal representation and equal decision-making power. What Ms. Joya helps us to remember is that each nation’s trajectory for women’s political participation will be distinct. It will take on the tenor of that particular nation’s history and culture, replete with unique challenges and opportunities. It will be an ever evolving, ongoing process. A process that benefits from the sharing of experiences and best practices of women leaders around the world.

A note from WCI: After conducting pre-election, campaign skills training for Afghan women in May of 2010, last week, Women’s Campaign International conducted a 5-day post election training for the 67 women parliamentarians in Afghanistan. Stay tuned for updates about these successful trainings.

View of Kruje, on the outskirts of Tirana

The conference was attended by a remarkable audience of over 200 young teenage girls (and boys!) from across Albania, Conference panels and talks focused on Human Rights, Economic Empowerment, and Political Participation. What follows are reflections on Marion’s inspirational experiences during the Conference, as well as some thoughts on what she learned about the work of promoting women’s leadership worldwide.

Ernesta Redi attended the Clinton Global Initiative in 2010. There, she was stunned to find that among all of the public-private partnerships formed and all the commitments declared to furthering women’s empowerment, there was little to no attention given to the Balkan region. Undefeated, Ernesta leveraged her connections and her grasp of the power of public-private partnerships to spearhead an initiative that tackles the slew of challenges preventing young women from participating in decision-making processes in all sectors and levels of Albanian society.

"She Is the Key" on Facebook

The first of its kind in Albania, this “She is the Key” website will provide a networking and mentorship platform connecting influential women leaders in business, politics, media and other sectors with up to 1 million young girls across the Balkan region. The hope is that with time, girls who have completed the mentoring program will then grab the torch and share the ideas, knowledge, and skills they’ve acquired with their peers. The website will also provide a space to document these mentorship experiences, creating a wide collection of stories which will later serve as an inspiration that encourages more girls and women to participate in the future.

Just as the “She is the Key” website is designed to do in the digital world, the conference provided a safe space in physical reality for participants to interact, learn from, and exchange thoughts and ideas with influential, inspiring women speakers and panelists. A remarkable enthusiasm and dynamism pervaded the conference as the audience and panelists spoke frankly with one another.

Young audience members sought from speakers the tangible advice and information needed to make a difference, be it in the field of politics or otherwise. Panelists and speakers, in turn, provided these inquisitive minds with helpful, informative answers, sometimes even going so far as to commit their full support.

Cathy Zurbach, panel member, "Strengthening Women's Empowerment in the Region"

In one particularly moving exchange, a young woman stood up to ask the Albanian MP Valentina Leskaj a question. The energy in the room was tense, both hopeful and hopeless. A number of young women had been expressing a shared sense of helplessness with a political world that seemed all too inaccessible for them. Then, this audience member brazenly, forthrightly asked MP Leskaj, “When I come to you and tell you I want to enter the sphere of politics, and I want to become a politician, can I count on you to help me and give me guidance? Will I have your support?”

The Hon. Leskaj leaned into the microphone, smiled, paused a moment, and answered simply but firmly, “Yes, of course.” The entire audience erupted in cheers and applause. We were, I felt, not just applauding the MP, but applauding the resurgence of hope into the room, applauding the tenacious belief that yes, we can make a difference and yes, our elected officials are here to serve us.

This remarkable energy lasted beyond the conference itself. That very evening, Ernesta had already received over 70 emails from young women not only thanking her for an inspiring day, but asking what actions they can take to move “She is the Key” forward. In just one day, the interactions of influential, powerful women and Albanian youth engendered an enthusiasm and desire to act; it’s exciting to think of what this initiative can accomplish in the long term.

I think for me, one of the most striking things about this conference was its sheer pragmatism, how in touch the discussions were with realities on the ground. Every panel and participant in one way or another emphasized that working towards the inclusion of women has to be an inclusive process in itself. That is, this process will require the efforts of men as well as women, artists as well as politicians, private firms as well as non-profits, and global as well as local communities.

At the same time, participants stressed the challenges that yet remain in promoting gender equality in the Balkans, challenges such as the decrease of foreign aid in the region, the persistent nature of cultural and gender stereotypes, lack of evaluative measures and resources, and the limited capacity of the program which means that rural girls may not be able to benefit from the program’s services.

Activist Valdete Idrizi (2nd from left) - 2008 International Woman of Courage honoree; Margarita Xhepa (far right) - revered Albanian film and stage actress; with aides, greeting the crowd

WCI is proud to present an exciting event in honor of Women’s History Month! In coordination with the Pennsylvania Women’s Campaign Fund, on Thursday March 24, we will screen the award-winning documentary film Enemies of Happiness (Eva Mulvad, 2006), to be followed by a panel discussion featuring our very own Marjorie Margolies.

Synposis of the film from PBS:
Enemies of Happiness follows the successful campaign of Malalai Joya, a 28 year-old Afghan woman running in the country’s first democratic parliamentary elections in 35 years. Joya’s courageous and vocal calls for governmental reform created real dangers in her life, but also won her the support of many who also wanted change in their nation.

What: Enemies of Happiness Screening and Panel Discussion
When: Thursday, March 24, 6 – 8 PM
Where: Marathon Grill, 40th and Walnut St. (Upstairs)
Free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served!

Winner of the World Cinema Jury Prize in Documentaries at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.

Paula Introduces Herself

On Saturday February 26, the GALS were visited by girls’ leadership coach, Paula Singer. Paula joined the group activities, listened to the girls’ brainstorming, and shared her reflections with our WCI staff. Here’s what she had to say:

“When I walked into the room, I was really impressed with the many bright faces of the young women who were assembled there. Considering that it was 10 AM on a Saturday morning, these young ladies looked alert and ready to work and engage with each other and their coaches on important social advocacy projects!

I had the privilege of sitting in on the R.E.S.P.E.C.T. group. R.E.S.P.E.C.T. stands for:
Real
Empowerment
Self-Esteem
Potential
Enthusiasm
Confidence
Tenacious

As their acronym suggests, the R.E.S.P.E.C.T. campaign focuses on issues of self-esteem. One  group member, Lex, put it this way: Some people have too low self-esteem. And some people – they know who they are – have too high! We wanna help people to balance their self-esteem so it’s in a healthy place.

‘What age group do you think you need to target?’ I asked them. Not surprisingly, they had already thought about this question. Each of them eagerly vied for a chance to explain their decision to focus on middle-school populations. As I’ve seen in my own work, middle school is one of the toughest times for girls and boys. It’s in middle school that youth are faced with the task of forging an identity in the midst of so many pressures and rapid changes – physically, socially and emotionally. Thus, R.E.S.P.E.C.T is wise to target this group of students.

The team’s ‘Junior Advocacy Coach’ (a student who participated in the advocacy program in her sophomore year and decided to stay on to help newcomers), Alexis, recounted to R.E.S.P.E.C.T. her experiences trying to get people excited about her group’s campaign the year before. She’d learned that the best way to get people involved is to do something interactive. R.E.S.P.E.C.T. followed that advice and began brainstorming fun activities to use when meeting with middle-schoolers. Some of their brainstorming led to activities with beaded bracelets and even better, home-made cookies!

GALS at work!

As I continued to observe, I noticed that everyone listened respectfully to each person who spoke, and it felt like a real group effort. I loved the way each young woman at the table volunteered for assignments based on her strengths and talents.

This experience reminded me of a quote I read recently about the Women in the World Summit, to be held in New York next week. Diane von Furstenberg, a pioneering fashion designer and Summit participant, said: ‘I am forever impressed by the strength of women, but channeling that strength is crucial. Getting together and inspiring one another is the most valuable thing we can do for the future.’

I’m glad to have been able to witness groups of young women inspiring one another. And I look forward to continuing my work with the GALS teams as I visit their after-school club at Freire Charter School later in the month.”

Paula Leads a Team-Building Workshop in a Summer Program

Read the full story here.