Amman, Jordan – The Arab Women’s Leadership Institute (AWLI), a program funded by IRI through the National Endowment for Democracy, held a strengthening women’s leadership in local governments training from 23-25 July 2010.  The training included appointed and elected municipal representatives as well as aspiring candidates from nine countries across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.  The training equipped women leaders with skills to advance community and regional economic development, increase transparency and reform, and build coalitions to improve the lives of their constituents. 

Women leaders from the Middle East discussed strategies to meet regional economic challenges with Mrs. Anna Cabral, former Treasurer of the United States and current official at the Inter-American Development Bank.  During the training, local leaders developed regional coalitions to advocate for national health insurance, improved Arab education, volunteerism to provide professional role models for young workers, and increased regional trade.

AWLI Vice Chair for Elected Officials, Dr. Eman Al Hussein, a Professor with the University of Al Balqaa in Jordan, guided local leaders through strategic planning development to put those coalitions into action.  Municipal leaders conducted a group analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges to develop step-by-step plans to achieve coalition goals.

“This training highlighted how similar the challenges are across the Arab region, and how leaders can learn from one another to improve their roles and create successful economic development projects in their home countries,” said Dr. Al Hussein.

AWLI will offer continued guidance and support to participants as they seek to implement plans developed throughout the training.

This is the second event in a series of AWLI economic development trainings.  In June, the Institute hosted women civil society leaders from eight MENA countries to coordinate their approach to economic challenges from a civil society perspective.  In November, AWLI will host a final training to promote partnerships between participants from prior trainings.

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