Washington, DC – IRI's Women’s Democracy Network (WDN) held its 2009 Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Award dinner on March 9, 2009, honoring those who have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of women in politics and civil society.  Receiving this year’s award was the Honorable Kay Granger (TX-12) and the Movement of Afghan Sisters.  Presenting the award was special guest U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Richard Holbrooke.  The award was presented as a part of the WDN’s annual International Women’s Day conference held in Washington, DC.

The presentation began with welcoming remarks from IRI Executive Vice President Judy Van rest and IRI President Lorne Craner, who introduced IRI Board Member Gahl Hodges Burt. Burt introduced the first presenter, Ambassador Holbrooke, recalling their decades-long friendship through their work in foreign affairs.  “I have watched and marveled at Richard Holbrooke’s career over these last 30 years.  It’s not just that he is a politician and is someone who understands how to deploy diplomacy but he understands the human side of diplomacy.”

Ambassador Holbrooke made remarks about IRI and the current state in Afghanistan before presenting the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Award to Professor Homayra Haqmal of Afghanistan.  “Every trip I make overseas in the last eight years to any country where IRI and the National Democratic Institute are present I always ask to meet with them independently of the embassies and the young men and women who are working in these places invariably are more knowledgeable and closer to the ground than anywhere else. So, Lorne and company, I congratulate you.”

Professor Haqmal, on her first trip to the United States, accepted the award on behalf of the Movement of Afghan Sisters.  “Our vision is to organize independent Afghan women so that they can take active part in political, social, economic and cultural affairs, to take our seat at the table next to all Afghans trying to rebuild our country.”

Also receiving the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Award was the Honorable Kay Granger, presented by IRI Board Member Gahl Hodges Burt.  “Congresswoman Granger has personally taken on the commitment to mentor Iraqi women who either hold elected positions now in Iraq or are leaders in their own communities.  It is this personal commitment that has set Congresswoman Granger apart.”

Granger spoke about becoming inspired to get involved in mentoring Iraqi women and with the Iraqi Women’s Caucus after hearing that one-third of all those elected, by law, in Iraq would be women.  “We’re going to do whatever we can do to recognize the possibilities and the hardships that women endure.  I will take this award as recognition of all the hard work that many, many women do throughout this world under difficult times and recommit to doing it a little bit better.”

Congresswoman Kay Granger has taken a leading role in women’s issues serving as co-chair of the Iraqi Women’s Caucus.  Formed in 2003, the caucus helps improve the lives of women in Iraq by assisting in ensuring women’s access to education and professional opportunities, encouraging women’s participation in a pluralistic political process, and developing partnerships between Iraq and the U.S. that will further enhance opportunities for women.  In the course of three congressional delegation visits over two years to the Middle East, Granger worked with and mentored Iraqi women who now either hold elected positions or are leaders in their communities.

Long active in local, state and national government as well as civic affairs, Granger is the only Republican woman from Texas to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.  She currently serves as the Ranking Member of the appropriations subcommittee on State-Foreign Operations for the 111th Congress.  Prior to being elected to Congress, Granger served three terms as the Mayor of Fort Worth, leading her city to win the coveted All America City Award.  Granger owned and operated a successful insurance agency for more than 20 years and is also a former teacher.

In 2008, Afghan women from parliament, the business community and civil society formed the Movement of Afghan Sisters.  The women dedicated themselves to the task of organizing and mobilizing women independent voters for the 2009 presidential and provincial elections in Afghanistan.  Their goal: to lead a coalition of independent women toward a national social movement, emphasizing the equality of citizenship, the full participation of independent women as candidates and voters, and advocacy of women’s issues in the national arena.

The movement has elected 12 distinguished women representing all of Afghanistan’s different regions and ethnicities to a national board of directors.  The women have established provincial chapters, commencing with introductory delegations that visited Herat, Jalalabad and Kabul as part of a national outreach campaign.  Delegations have met with religious scholars, cabinet ministers, provincial governors, education officials, youth and senior Independent Election Commission (IEC) officials.  The IEC Chairman heralded their arrival on the national stage as “the single most important women’s initiative for elections in Afghanistan.”  In March, the group will formally convene their first national assembly of independent Afghan women from all 34 provinces.

Along with the award, a scholarship to the Women’s Campaign School at Yale University was awarded to a member of the Movement of Afghan Sisters, chosen by the group.  The scholarship will be sponsored by IRI board member Cheryl F. Halpern.

The Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Award dinner is held as part of the WDN’s International Women’s Day conference.  The theme of this year’s conference is “Women as Mentors.”  During the conference, participants from 17 countries will attend workshops on how to develop successful mentorship programs, looking at tactics, communication strategies, case studies and ‘best practices’ from already established WDN mentorship pairs.  In addition to the workshops, this year’s program will include a day of job shadowing with other professional women working in the greater Washington, DC area, including legislative staffers working for U.S. Senators and Congresswomen and women entrepreneurs. Ambassador Constance A. Morella, who served as Ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and as a Congresswoman representing Maryland’s 8th Congressional District opened the conference on Monday, March 9.

The Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Award, which pays tribute to Dr. Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, recognizes honorees for their commitment to increase women’s political and societal participation within their own communities and on behalf of women worldwide.  A long-time IRI board member, Dr. Kirkpatrick was a strong advocate for women’s participation in politics.  Her career in women’s political participation and foreign policy is an inspiration to women.

The WDN is an initiative established by IRI to foster relationships among women leaders from around the world, providing them with opportunities to share experiences and develop the skills needed for professional advancement.  The WDN encourages and supports women working to advance political, civic and economic participation in their countries, and create regional networks to strengthen their development.

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