Report of Activities 2007 - Club of Madrid

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Missions to Sierra LeoneCLUB DE MADRID: REPORT OF ACTIVITIES 2007The first mission by the Club of Madrid and its counterpart in Sierra Leone, Campaign forGood Governance within the African Women Leaders Project, took place in May in Freetownand Makeni. Lasting five days, it was led by the Club of Madrid Members Kim Campbell(Canada) and Ketumile Masire (Botswana) and included the participation of Dora Byamukama,a member of the Eastern Africa Legislative Assembly.The mission’s activities included meetings with over 250 people, including women ministers,electoral candidates, senior civil servants, women’s civil society groups, leaders of politicalparties, traditional leaders, local representatives and young leaders. The delegation focused onpromoting participation by women in the legislative and presidential elections held in July andAugust 2007 respectively, supporting the candidates, and on encouraging parliamentaryapproval of legislative initiatives to protect women’s rights.In the month of July, the Club of Madrid and Campaign for Good Governance carried out asecond mission to Sierra Leone, in response to the many requests received from the participantson the first mission. The former Minister for Ethics and Integrity of Uganda and former memberof parliament Miria Matembe led several training sessions.This mission took place at the same time as the official start of the electoral campaign in SierraLeone. Matembe explained the key strategies for a successful campaign to the participants,most of whom were electoral candidates for the three main political parties in the country.Practical training sessions were held on public speaking, how to answer questions from citizensand the media, and how to raise funds and manage electoral resources. The former Ministerexplained to the women leaders the importance of maintaining strong ties with civil societyorganisations and the need for centring their discourse on specific measures that are ofimportance for voters. Finally, Matembe gave some guidelines for the winners of the electionswho would become members of parliament.In December (11-15), the third Club of Madrid delegation visited the country. ChandrikaKumaratunga, former President of Sri Lanka and the senator and former general prosecutor ofLiberia, Gloria Musu Scott, led the delegation and met with the Sierra Leone President, ErnestBai Koroma, who expressed his support for the initiative and stressed the great value of theAWLP. Meetings were also held with government leaders including the governmentspokesperson, members of parliament, representatives of political parties, the mayor ofFreetown, civil society organisations and international organisations such as United Nations.During the visit, the new computer centre created for this project by Club of Madrid wasinaugurated. This should allow women parliamentarians to access new technologies through theprovision of computers with Internet connections. A brief training course was given on how touse them. This centre should also promote participation by women in the debate fora on theproject’s web site.The programme ended with two days of workshops offering training on leadership for membersof parliament, given by senator Scott and Dr. Bernadette Lahai, a veteran member of the SierraLeone parliament.Study mission to UgandaAfter the decision to not work in Somalia, which had initially been selected as the third countryfor AWLP, for safety considerations, in August the Club of Madrid carried out a mission to8/17
CLUB DE MADRID: REPORT OF ACTIVITIES 2007Uganda to study the potential for AWLP in that country. The delegation presented theorganisation and the project’s goals to the different people involved and future partners, that is,women parliamentarians, local authorities, women’s organisations and civil society in general,as well as members of the international community. The mission also served to analyse thecountry’s needs and its current political situation in order to fine-tune the project design and thegoals and activities in Uganda.The AWEPA organisation (European Parliamentarians for Africa) was confirmed as the mostsuitable counterpart for the project in this country. The Club of Madrid and its partner took theopportunity to determine the form to be taken by collaboration and to plan the first projectactivities in Uganda.Missions in NigeriaFrom 28 to 30 November, the Club of Madrid, together with its counterpart in NigeriaWomen’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA), organised a mission toNigeria (Abuja and the states of Bauchi and Jos) in which a contribution was made to strongerleadership by women politicians.The delegation, led by the former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Wim Kok, and MiriaMatembe, former Minister of Ethics and Integrity and former member of the Ugandanparliament, met with authorities from the country, senators, members of parliament, religiousleaders and members of civil society organisations. During these meetings, the parliamentarianswere able to strengthen their ties in order to further their agenda which includes, for example,the introduction of a women’s quota. Discussions were held with religious leaders on theirimportance and influence for changing attitudes and promoting education for women; also withhigh-level politicians in Nigeria, such as the Parliament spokesperson, Dimeji Bankole. Theyassured the delegation that they would do everything possible to support womenparliamentarians, and expressed their thanks for the opening of a computer centre in theParliament. In the states of Bauchi and Jos, the delegation had the opportunity of talking tolocal women leaders about their problems and needs and encouraged them to continue theirpeaceful fight for a more representative democracy in Nigeria. The delegation reported on theinformation gathered during this first visit to Nigeria in a press conference and in interviews onthe radio and television.SHARED SOCIETIES PROJECT, component: “WOMEN’S POLITICALPARTICIPATION AND LEADERSHIP: Seminar with women leaders from Iran, theMiddle East and Africa”The Club of Madrid and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI)organised a seminar in the month of March in which the Club of Madrid Members Kjell MagneBondevik (Norway), Kim Campbell (Canada), Lionel Jospin (France), Mary Robinson (Ireland)and Jennifer Mary Shipley (New Zealand) and 18 women leaders from Egypt, Iran, Iraq,Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Spain shared their leadership experiences onthe promotion of access for, and participation by, women in social and political spheres.The seminar, which received support from Casa Asia, was eminently practical and helpedenhance the leadership skills of those present, tightening links amongst the men and womenparticipants with a view to promoting access by women to decision-making in the mediumterm. NDI provided funding for the event in the form of a subsidy from the NationalEndowment for Democracy.9/17
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Report of Activities 2007 - Club of Madrid

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