NDI - Kuwait

NDI E-news: The Middle East, African Elections, Belarus | Jan./Feb. 2011

fgalleto — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 22:10:35 +0000

February 2011

Now the Hard Work Begins...

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Egyptians celebrate in Tahrir Square. Photo by RamyRaoof.

Following weeks of protests in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain, thousands in Libya are now advocating for political freedoms long denied by the country's regime. The government has responded with beatings, shootings and arrests. NDI condemned this government-backed violence and joined calls for the immediate cessation of attacks against Libyans who are exercising their right to peaceful assembly, and for a democratic transition.

As democracy advocates raise their voices throughout the Middle East, analysts and commentators have turned to NDI seeking insights into the implications of the ongoing changes for the future of democracy in the region. In The New York Times,
The Washington Post, on CNN and elsewhere, NDI leaders and staff have offered commentary and interpretation as the historic changes have unfolded.

The Institute has a long history in the region. Its first office, for the West Bank and Gaza, opened in 1994. Since then, NDI staff have also been based in Egypt,
Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon,
Mauritania, Morocco and Yemen. Institute programming also encompasses Algeria, Bahrain,
Kuwait,
Qatar, Saudi Arabia
and Tunisia.

In all of these countries, NDI has established partnerships with political parties, civic groups, parliamentarians and others seeking to promote peaceful reform and have a voice in how they are governed. The Institute works to share organizational skills, comparative experiences and tools to connect democratic activists within and between countries.

In response to the developments in Egypt, for example, NDI is putting Egyptian activists in touch with political leaders from Chile, Poland and elsewhere so they can take advantage of lessons learned during other democratic transitions. It's similar to work the Institute has done in many other places and times, such as when it brought opposing Northern Ireland factions together in South Africa in 1997 to learn from Nelson Mandela and others how to negotiate peace and reconciliation.

African Election Roundup: Nigeria, Sudan, Niger

In Nigeria, NDI is conducting an international observation mission to analyze the electoral process before, during and after presidential, legislative and local elections scheduled for April. Regular updates can be found in Nigeria Election Watch, which is based on reports from NDI's long-term observers, who began assessing election activities throughout the country from January and will continue through May. Subscribe»

In Sudan, NDI's civil society partners, the southern-based Sudanese Network for Democratic Elections (SuNDE) and the northern-based Sudanese Group for Democracy and Elections (SuGDE), observed
all stages of the recent referendum
in which Southern Sudan voted to secede from the north. The groups concluded
that "the Southern Sudan referendum allowed the free expression of the will of the people for self-determination."
Read more»

Before presidential and legislative elections in Niger, 36 political parties and two independent candidates signed a code of conduct that encouraged parties and their supporters to campaign honestly and respect the outcome of the Jan. 31 vote and the runoff election set for March 12. Read more»

Women in Afghanistan, Guatemala, Ukraine Overcoming Obstacles to Elected Office

Among the 249 members of Afghanistan's lower house of parliament are Farida Hamidi and Frishta Amini, two women who make up the entire delegation from Nimroz province. Despite the risks faced by female candidates, both women ran strong campaigns and garnered more votes than their male opponents. Read more»

In Guatemala, where indigenous women are 20 percent of the population and hold only one of the nation's 333 mayoralties, Isabel Francisco discusses her campaign for mayor of Santa Eulalia, Huehuetenango. "This is my third time as a candidate," she said. "The first time I finished in fifth place. The second time I finished in third place. This time I'm hopeful I'll win!" Read more»

Zinayida Galchynska promised herself that if she survived breast cancer she would run for local office and make a real difference in her community. She kept that promise and is now a councilor in Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine — thanks in part to the skills she learned at an NDI campaign school and a campaign based on going door-to-door to meet voters. Read more»

NDI President Urges International Support for Belarusian People

NDI President Kenneth Wollack outlined ways the international community can provide moral support and practical assistance to political and civic leaders, media and ordinary citizens in Belarus, where government forces engaged in a brutal crackdown following failed elections Dec. 19. Wollack was speaking at a Jan. 27 hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs. Read more»

Colombian Municipal Councilors Hone Good Governance Skills

In Colombia, newly-elected municipal councilors generally are expected to learn on the job. To help them gather the skills they need, an NDI program focused on how to identify the needs of their constituents, develop policies to address those needs, and engage with citizens and the media. Read more»

NDI Adds 2010 Afghanistan Elections Data to Mapping Website

Complete data from Afghanistan's 2010 parliamentary elections have been added to
afghanistanelectiondata.org, the Institute's innovative mapping website
. The site now includes data from Afghan elections beginning in 2004, as well as demographic, ethnographic, topographic, security and other information. Visitors can create visual analyses of voting patterns and other assessments, or segment and envisage data and maps in a variety of ways.
Read more»

New NDI Publications

NDI, one of the world's largest publishers of Arabic-language resources and references on democracy support, has just released its latest catalogue. It includes a listing of publications and information on how to order them. Read it in Arabic | English»

Drawing on its 25 years of experience in the women's political participation field, NDI has published a new guide for democracy practitioners to help them develop and carry out effective programs to bring more women into government and politics. Democracy and the Challenge of Change: A Guide to Increasing Women’s Political Participation, helps the user develop, carry out, monitor and evaluate women’s political participation programs. The guide provides a rationale for focusing on increasing women’s participation and includes examples of best practices, case studies and practical strategies.

The new guide, Political-Process Monitoring: Activist Tools and Techniques, explores the work that the Institute and its partner groups have done for legislative, budget-related and campaign-related monitoring, shadow reporting and monitoring government follow-through.

Congress Looks to Women as Agents of Change

fgalleto — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:57:09 +0000

In places as diverse as Timor-Leste, Croatia, Morocco, Rwanda and South Africa, increasing numbers of women are being elected to political office. In each case, more women has meant more legislation related to anti-discrimination, domestic violence, family codes, inheritance, and child support and protection.

"Women's political participation results in tangible gains for democracy, including greater responsiveness to citizen needs, increased cooperation across party and ethnic lines, and more sustainable peace," said NDI President Kenneth Wollack in testimony at a June 9 House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on "Women as Agents of Change: Advancing the Role of Women in Politics and Civil Society."

Wollack and other panelists discussed the concrete ways in which women help democracy deliver benefits to all citizens. Panelists also stressed the role that the United States must play in promoting gender equality and empowering women politically and economically to help establish stronger, more inclusive democracies around the world.

In the last 10 years, the rate of women's representation in national parliaments globally has grown from 13.1 percent at the end of 1999 to 18.6 percent at the end of 2009. Some regions have seen particularly dramatic increases, such as Sub-Saharan Africa, where the number of women in parliaments has risen from 10.9 to 17.6 percent. While these numbers show progress, women continue to be vastly underrepresented in politics, excluded from decision-making processes and routinely subjected to discrimination and violence.

In spite of enormous social and economic barriers and often in the face of violent opposition, women around the world are demanding their rights to education, security, and healthcare, and claiming a louder voice in decisions that affect their lives and communities. Panelists highlighted the vital role that women can play as leaders in politics and their communities, and stressed the need for increased support for women's political leadership both in the U.S. and abroad.

As Wollack noted, "it is not an accident that the countries in which health, education and economic development are not part of the national agenda are places where women are denied a genuine political voice. Empowering women politically will help countries develop democratic institutions so they can begin to successfully address issues related to security, jobs, human rights, physical well-being and human development." Throughout his testimony, he illustrated how NDI has been working with political and civic leaders for more than two decades to support their efforts to increase the number and effectiveness of women in political life.

Wollack also called attention to the various barriers that limit women's political and civic engagement, namely access to positions of power and to economic resources, lack of government transparency, and pervasive and discriminatory gender stereotypes. He focused on the eight ways to build women's political participation: conducting ongoing communications trainings; building leadership skills; uniting women across political party lines, often in the form of women's caucuses; reforming political parties internally so that women's participation is a real priority; teaching women to train other women so that knowledge and skills are not lost; training elected women so that they are ready to deliver services back to constituents, increasing their chances of re-election; exchanging information internationally; and engaging youth to help change attitudes and behavior towards women.

Other witnesses were: Melanne Verveer, ambassador-at-large for Global Women's Issues; Dr. Esther Brimmer, assistant secretary for International Organization Affairs; Swanee Hunt, chair of the Institute for Inclusive Security and former U.S. ambassador to Austria; and Judy van Rest, executive vice president of the International Republican Institute (IRI). The House Committee members and panelists discussed a range of topics, including women and governance; women and security; women's role in Haiti's reconstruction process; U.S. policies in Afghanistan; violence against women; the importance of ratifying The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW); and the creation of a new United Nations gender entity that would coordinate efforts to support women globally.

Read Wollack's testimony»

Related:

Pictured above:Wollack testifies at the Subcommittee hearing

Published on June 14, 2010

Women as Agents of Change: Advancing the Role of Women in Politics and Civil Society

fgalleto — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:19:53 +0000

Author:

Ken Wollack

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

06/09/2010

Resource Type:

Testimony

Language:

English

Media Type:

PDF

2010

English

Attachment	Size
Kenneth Wollack's Testimony	42.9 KB

New Members of the Kuwaiti Parliament

ggreene — Fri, 22 May 2009 22:29:53 +0000

The four women elected to Kuwait’s parliament are listed here. The vote figures are initial returns, with ranking and vote totals subject to change as results are finalized.

Massouma Al Mubarak
1st District, first place, 14,247 votes

Massouma Al Mubarak holds a Ph.D. in the philosophy of international relations from the University of Denver (Colorado) as well as master’s degrees in international relations and political science, a diploma in planning and a bachelor’s degree in political sciences. She has been a lecturer since 1982 at Kuwait University and a visiting professor at the University of Denver (1986-1988) and the University of Bahrain (1990-1991). She became Kuwait's first female minister when she was appointed minister of planning and state minister for administrative development affairs in 2005. She was appointed minister of communications in 2006 and minister of health in 2007.

Dr. Salwa al Jassar
2nd District, 10th place, 4,776 votes

Dr. Salwa al Jassar holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from the United States as well as a master's degree in education and a bachelor’s in geography from Kuwait University. She is an assistant professor at Kuwait University's College of Education. She recently served as an adviser to the United Nations Development Programme office in Kuwait. She is also a member of the Board of Education-Faculty of Education at Kuwait University as well as a board member of the Kuwait Transparency Society and president of the Women’s Empowerment Center.

Aseel al Awadhi
3rd District, second place, 11,860 votes

Aseel al Awadhi holds a Ph.D. in political philosophy from the University of Texas and a bachelor’s degree with a minor in political science from Kuwait University. She was a member of Amnesty International in 1988-1991 and a volunteer at the Kuwaiti Society for Victims of War in 1991-1993. She has been lecturer at Kuwait University's Arts College since 2006.

Rola Dashti
3rd District, seventh place, 7,666 votes

Rola Dashti holds a Ph.D. in population economy from Johns Hopkins University in the United States. She held a number of consultative positions in companies and is chairperson of Kuwait Economic Society, the first woman to hold that post since the society was founded in 1970. In 2005, she was the winner of the King Hussein Humanitarian Award and has been involved in several volunteer activities since her undergraduate years, when she worked with the International Red Cross in Lebanon to assist refugee families from the south in 1982. She was listed among the world’s 100 most influential Arabs for 2007 and 2008.

–

Published on May 22, 2009

Four Kuwaiti Women Become First to Win Seats in Parliament

ggreene — Fri, 22 May 2009 22:14:10 +0000

On May 16, 2005, the women of Kuwait, standing together, won a prize they had been working toward for years – the right to vote and run for election. On May 16, 2009, the promise of that achievement came to fruition. Four women, running competitive, professional campaigns, won seats in Kuwait’s 50-member parliament. NDI ran intensive programming leading up to the elections, working with candidates, organized political groups and civil society organizations with a special focus on women candidates.

A remarkable aspect of the victories of Massouma Al Mubarak, Salwa al Jassar, Aseel al Awadhi and Rola Dashti was their margin of victory, which was much higher than most observers expected. The vote marked a significant departure from the 2008 election and was seen as a repudiation of previous parliaments’ lack of progress and the desire of Kuwaiti voters to see real change.

The result benefitted the four successful women candidates, who received 38,549 votes, compared to a total of 21,352 votes received by all of the 27 women running last year. Parliamentarians are elected to four-year terms with the top 10 vote-getters in each of five districts earning a seat. But the Emir may dissolve the legislature and call for new elections at any time, which was the case in 2006, 2008 and this year.

In addition to the four women who were victorious, other women also did better than in the past. For example, Thikra Rashidi, running in a large, conservative district dominated by tribal interests, received more than 6,600 votes.

Many of this year’s leading women candidates, including al Awadhi, al Jassar and Dashti, had run in previous elections and we were able to build upon experience going back to 2006. For example, al Awadhi came in second in her district, receiving more than double the number of votes she polled last year, when she was in 11th place.

NDI first began working in Kuwait in 2004, assisting advocates for women's political rights in developing an effective strategy to win universal suffrage. NDI met with leaders in the suffrage movement, held consultations with Kuwaiti women activists and provided women with advocacy tools specifically targeted at passage of the women’s suffrage legislation.

Following the announcement granting women the right to vote and run for office, NDI held its fourth Partners in Participation Regional Campaign School in Kuwait. More than 70 women activists and leaders from 15 countries across the Middle East and North Africa, including 20 Kuwaiti women, met to share their experiences, learn how to run successful political campaigns and help build a regional network of women with the skills to succeed in politics over the long term.

During the 2006, 2008 and 2009 elections, NDI continued extensive campaign skills training, working with women candidates, civil society activists and opinion leaders to develop political skills for those either running for office or interested in running in the future.

Topics were wide-ranging, but this year there was a specific focus on the use of new media and online organizing technologies, critical in a country like Kuwait with a large number of educated elites and a powerful technological infrastructure.

NDI ran intensive programming leading up to the elections, working with candidates, organized political groups and civil society organizations with a special focus on women candidates. NDI also greatly expanded its civil society programming, including a partnership with Kuwait Transparency Society (KTS) on two programs. The first used the web and social networking to encourage young people to participate in the elections. The second supported an election monitoring program in which NDI and KTS trained observers and helped organize the reporting system used by KTS monitors to alert the society to issues on Election Day.

More:
Read biographical information on the four women elected to the Kuwaiti parliament on May 16 | Read article »

Pictured above: The Kuwaiti National Assembly building, top, and a post-election headline from the Arab Times newspaper.

–

Published on May 22, 2009

Local officials in US praise Kuwait's democracy

jbowen — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:51:10 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

01/07/2007

Resource Type:

Article

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Read the article	14.06 KB

Historic Four Day Campaign School For Women Political Leaders From Middle East & North Africa Ends Today

jbowen — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:20:54 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

09/28/2005

Resource Type:

Press Release

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Read the release	37.23 KB

Partners in Participation: 2005 Kuwait Regional Campaign School

jbowen — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 19:19:40 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

10/25/2006

Resource Type:

Report

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Read the report	923.21 KB

Kuwait

ggreene — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 18:10:53 +0000

In May 2005, Kuwaiti women were granted the right to vote and stand for office, and the opportunity for women to exercise their new political rights arrived far earlier than expected when parliamentary snap elections were called for in June 2006. Consequently, NDI initiated a candidate and campaign training program for women in addition to a comprehensive voter education program to raise women’s awareness of their voting rights. NDI continued to support women candidates, youth activists and voters ahead of early parliamentary elections in 2008 and 2009. In 2009, the third election in which women ran as candidates, four women were elected to parliament for the first time in Kuwait’s history.

Subscribe to updates about Kuwait

In 2011, numerous corruption claims were levied in the Kuwaiti parliament, including allegations of multi-million dinar bribes paid to numerous members of parliament (MPs). As a result, the prime minister and his cabinet resigned in November 2011 amid opposition-led rallies and protests, and the Emir again called for early elections in February 2012. The new National Assembly is now comprised of 26 new MPs (52 percent), with 34 of the 50 seats won by opposition candidates. However, none of the 23 women candidates, including the four incumbents, won seats.

NDI’s current programming focuses on fostering a new generation of women leaders with the skills to participate in the political process, influence the policy debate and hold elected officials accountable on policies related to women. A mentorship program provides opportunities for university women to learn from prominent Kuwaiti women who are business, civic and political leaders, and internships with local civic groups and the National Assembly offer hands-on experience in the policy process.

Political Context

In 1962, less than a year after gaining independence from Britain, Kuwait approved a constitution that transformed the country into a constitutional monarchy and provided for the establishment of a 50-member National Assembly elected by popular vote, an act which catapulted Kuwait into the forefront of Arab democratic development. Since that time, democratic advances have been intermittently implemented, often when global and local events have jarred political debate. Additionally, ongoing tensions between the government and National Assembly over demands for increased freedom, criticisms of the government and legislative stagnation have impeded the pace of democratic reform; the National Assembly was suspended from 1976 to 1981 and again from 1986 to 1992.

During the 1990-91 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the Emir and the government managed Kuwaiti affairs while in exile. Striving for unity, the government met with opposition figures during the occupation and committed itself to further democratic reforms, including a reinstatement of the 1962 constitution. Following liberation, opposition groups continued advocating for a lifting of martial law, restructuring of the cabinet and reimplementation of the constitution, which led to elections for the National Assembly in 1992.

In January 2006, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah succeeded his father as Emir and was faced with an ongoing parliamentary debate over redrawing the electoral constituencies. By reducing the number of electoral districts, reformist MPs hoped to foster greater political competition and reduce patronage politics common under the existing 25-constituency system. The resulting deadlock between the government and National Assembly over the issue prompted the Emir to dissolve the National Assembly and call for early elections. By the end of the balloting, Kuwaitis had replaced 17 of the incumbent MPs. Immediately following the election, the Emir submitted and the National Assembly passed a bill reducing the number of electoral constituencies to five.

In addition to serving as a referendum on reducing the number of electoral districts, the 2006 elections were the first opportunity for Kuwaiti women to vote or to stand for office. In 2005, after decades of advocacy, Kuwaiti women were fully enfranchised, and, less than a year later, 32 women ran for parliament when the Emir unexpectedly dissolved the National Assembly and called for snap elections a year earlier than scheduled. Though none of the women candidates were elected, many ran effective and professional campaigns, and the elections drew national and international media attention to their role.

After running as candidates in the snap parliamentary elections in 2006 and again in 2008 without winning any seats, four women were elected to the 50-member parliament in 2009: Massouma Al Mubarak, Salwa al Jassar, Aseel al Awadhi and Rola Dashti. Their margin of victory was much higher than most observers expected. The four women received a combined 38,549 votes, compared to a total of 21,352 votes received by all of the 27 women who ran the previous year. Three of these women had previously run and the fourth, Massouma Al Mubarak, was in 2005 appointed Kuwait’s first woman cabinet minister. Dr. Mubarak helped influence the government’s decision to automatically register all women of eligible voting age in 2006 so they would be registered to use their newly acquired voting rights in time for the early elections.

The dramatic increase in opportunities for Kuwaiti women resulted in the development of many women’s groups and increased women’s activism. In parliament, the women MPs were the driving force behind the drafting and passage of a new labor law, which stipulates regulations surrounding working conditions and workers’ rights, especially those for women. During this period, Kuwaiti women also won the right to acquire their own passports and to travel freely without their husbands’ consent. However, women in Kuwait continue struggling to build strong political support networks, win parliamentary and municipal seats and influence policy, particularly policies impacting women.

Amid numerous corruption claims made in the Kuwaiti parliament, opposition-led rallies and protests, the prime minister and his cabinet resigned in November 2011. Following the resignations, the Emir decreed the dissolution of parliament and scheduled parliamentary elections for February 2012; the fourth legislative election in six years, and the fifth dissolution since the parliament was established in 1963. Thirty-four of the 50 seats were won by opposition candidates. As a result, the new National Assembly is now comprised of 26 new MPs.

However, the opposition gains also brought an unexpected blow to women, as none of the 23 women candidates, including the four incumbents, won seats. With 60 percent voter turnout, voters made it clear that they wanted to see significant change, advocating for the incoming government to combat corruption and to increase transparency.

NDI Programming

Increasing Women’s Political Participation

In 2004, NDI initiated its efforts in Kuwait to assist advocates for women's political rights with developing an effective strategy to gain universal suffrage. NDI met with suffrage movement leaders, consulated with Kuwaiti women activists and provided women with advocacy tools specifically targeted at passage of women’s suffrage legislation. Following the announcement granting women the right to vote and run for office, NDI held its fourth Partners in Participation Regional Campaign School in Kuwait. Women activists and leaders from 15 countries across the Middle East and North Africa, including Kuwaiti women, met to share their experiences, learn how to run successful political campaigns and help build a regional network of women with the skills for long-term political success.

As a result of the Emir’s decision to dissolve the National Assembly and call for early elections in 2006, NDI modified the 12-month program for women into a one-month, targeted and concentrated campaign training program. NDI initiated a series of one-on-one consultations for women candidates with campaign and media experts and elected women from around the region in order to provide tailored feedback to the first-time candidates. These consultations focused on campaign messages, candidate image, fundraising, voter outreach, speech development and overall media strategy. The Institute also worked with local partners on a comprehensive voter education program to raise women’s awareness of their voting rights and encourage them to vote, which 56 percent did on election day.

Following the 2006 elections, NDI conducted a series of focus groups to gain a better understanding of what factors influenced voters’ political choices during the parliamentary elections and to provide new insight into the perceived role of women as political leaders in Kuwaiti democracy. The findings included rising concerns about domestic and national challenges; negative perceptions of the performance of members of parliament; ambivalent attitudes toward women as political leaders; and an unsympathetic assessment of women’s performance during the June 2006 elections. The results of this research informed NDI’s programming to strengthen women’s political participation through collaboration with civil society organizations, work with political associations and preparation for future elections.

In advance of the 2008 and 2009 snap elections, NDI again provided training for women candidates and campaign staff, preparing them for the challenges of running under the new five constituency system. Workshops included campaign planning, organization, message development, communications and voter outreach. Following the election of four women to parliament in 2009, NDI provided consultative assistance to the women parliamentarians, which focused on managing a parliamentary office, developing legislative agendas and communication with constituents and the media.

NDI has also provided training and technical assistance to organizations that represent and advocate on issues of concern to women. Programs have sought to strengthen their capacity to coordinate effective advocacy campaigns, collaborate with each other and engage in the policy process. Key policy issues addressed by organizations include more equitable distribution of government housing, citizenship rights, employment, and equal pay and education and health care reform.

Fostering a New Generation of Women Leaders

To help women increase their impact on national policy issues, NDI’s Tamkeen (‘empowerment’ in Arabic) program builds the capacity of university women to participate in the political process, influence the policy debate and hold elected officials accountable on policies related to women. The women taking part in Tamkeen attend leadership academies, gain practical experience in public policy during internships in the National Assembly and with local issue-based civic groups, and learn through a mentorship program with experienced Kuwaiti women who are business, civic and political leaders.

Domestic Election Observation

NDI has partnered with the Kuwait Transparency Society (KTS) in support of its domestic election monitoring initiatives. At the invitation of KTS, the Institute sent international delegates to witness the electoral process in 2008, 2009 and 2012. In 2008, NDI supported a study mission to Kuwait for a delegation of civil society representatives, party activists and government officials from the Middle East and North Africa region to witness parliamentary elections in Kuwait. The mission focused on providing delegates with the opportunity to interact with one another and to enhance their understanding of electoral processes by witnessing an election experience.

When snap elections were held a year later, in 2009, the government announced it would allow KTS to monitor elections from inside the polling stations – including the opening, closing and counting procedures. NDI conducted workshops and provided NDI publications for KTS domestic monitors. In practice, approximately 20 percent of monitors were permitted into polling stations on election day. However, in 2012, when the Institute again sent an international study mission to witness the parliamentary elections, KTS observers visited polling stations across Kuwait and were permitted into all polling centers.

Municipal Governance

As part of an effort to strengthen the capacity of municipal councilors, NDI has provided assistance to the Kuwait Municipal Council focused on strategic planning, constituent relations, communications, staff development and intergovernmental relations.

Regional Initiatives

NDI has continued to engage Kuwaiti government officials, elected municipal councilors, women candidates, and individuals in regional activities. Currently, Kuwaiti municipal councilors and journalists are participating in NDI programs to support the formation of a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Municipalities Association, build the capacity of councilors to carry out their roles and responsibilities as elected officials and improve the ability of journalists to cover political developments in their respective countries.

Contact Information

For more information about these programs, use our contact form or contact:

Washington, D.C.
Leigh Catherine Miles, Senior Program Manager
(202) 728-6304

Subscribe to updates about Kuwait

NDI 2005 Annual Report

vrao — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 05:00:00 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

12/01/2005

Resource Type:

Report

Language:

English

Attachment	Size
Read the report	6.23 MB

Kuwait Citizen Perceptions of Women in Politics Report

vrao — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 04:00:00 +0000

Author:

National Democratic Institute

Publisher:

National Democratic Institute

Published Date:

01/02/2007

Resource Type:

Focus Group

Language:

Arabic, English

Attachment	Size
2204_ku_women_pol_010207_ar.pdf	263.15 KB
2204_ku_women_pol_010207.pdf	200.36 KB

NDI - Kuwait

NDI E-news: The Middle East, African Elections, Belarus | Jan./Feb. 2011

STAY CONNECTED

CONTRIBUTE

READ MORE

Congress Looks to Women as Agents of Change

Women as Agents of Change: Advancing the Role of Women in Politics and Civil Society

New Members of the Kuwaiti Parliament

Four Kuwaiti Women Become First to Win Seats in Parliament

Local officials in US praise Kuwait's democracy

Historic Four Day Campaign School For Women Political Leaders From Middle East & North Africa Ends Today

Partners in Participation: 2005 Kuwait Regional Campaign School

Kuwait

Read More

Political Context

NDI Programming

Increasing Women’s Political Participation

Fostering a New Generation of Women Leaders

Domestic Election Observation

Municipal Governance

Regional Initiatives

Featured Stories

Contact Information

NDI 2005 Annual Report

Kuwait Citizen Perceptions of Women in Politics Report