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Partners in Participation (PiP) is a collaborative effort between nongovernmental organizations and civil society communities in the Middle East and North Africa to increase women's participation in civic and political affairs.
The Women's Regional Campaign Schools form an integral part of PiP. The first in this series of trainings was held in Doha, Qatar in February 2004. Schools were also held in Tunis, Tunisia in July 2004, in Amman, Jordan in March 2005, and in Kuwait City, Kuwait in September 2005. IRI conducted the most recent Women's Campaign School training conference from June 3-6, 2006 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Each conference invites women who have demonstrated leadership in their respective fields to complete interactive training on campaign communications and leadership skills. The Dubai Women's Campaign School brought together women from Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar, each a leader in their respective country and field. Training was designed to provide women with the technical skills to mount viable election campaigns through sessions on strategy and planning, media training, organization and management and campaign finance. Training can be equally applied to any type of campaign, whether candidate, referendum, advocacy or public awareness-raising.
As a supplement to the PiP training programs, IRI launched an interactive website in English, Arabic and French as a resource for women seeking training materials on campaigning and advocacy. The site is also designed to facilitate ongoing networking between female leaders in the region through an extensive database of PiP participants and a message board function.
Working with Moroccan participants from the Tunis PiP conference and other party activists, IRI has developed a women's leadership coalition in Morocco. The coalition provides Moroccan women with the tools and support to build their political leadership skills and become more active in their respective political organizations. In addition, the coalition provides a platform to share experiences, build capacity among female political activists at all levels of political party organizations, provides training and encourages discussion on topics pertinent to women’s political participation. The Morocco Women's Coalition has organized trainings on political skills for party members and organized a conference on the country’s new family code and its impact on the participation of Moroccan women in public and political life.
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