Developing Women’s Political leadership in Kuwait

Fifteen Kuwaiti women have begun a training program that will prepare them to serve as Kuwait’s first generation of women’s political leadership trainers.  In the months ahead, Kuwait will witness the creation of a network of women with a capacity to organize, express their views publicly, debate politics openly, and conduct political campaigns.  With this train-the-trainer project, Kuwaiti women will become active participants in mainstream political development, and overcome factors hampering their political participation and leadership in the country.

On November 11, Aisha Al Rasheed, President of the Center for Better Parliamentary Performance (CBPP), inaugurated the first training center specialized in developing a culture of political awareness and activism among Kuwaiti women.  Through support from the local grants program of the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), the Center commenced the first phase of a two-tier training series aimed at advancing women’s political leadership.  The fifteen Kuwaiti women undergoing this training will learn about the political process; how to analyze surveys and conduct opinion polls; garnering public support for political advocacy; challenges facing women candidates; and how to run an election campaign.

Dr. Moza Al Maliki, who trained participants at this first workshop on “Effective Political Campaigns”, hoped that the training would help produce a cadre of Kuwaiti women leaders who “have a voice in running the country and selecting qualified men and women”.    Aisha, President of CBPP, blamed the public for their parliament’s inadequate performance, saying that “we do not know how to select [candidates] and it is our responsibility to choose the best and most qualified”.  She added that the workshop will include both theory and field work, in order for trainees to completely absorb the political process.

With this training, which will be extended to a larger group of women in the months ahead, will also help generate prospective candidates for Kuwait’s next parliamentary elections, as well as women who can competently support and manage election campaigns.  The project will also contribute to the gradual elimination of the socio-cultural barriers that hinder women’s participation and leadership in politics.