VZCZCXRO9407
RR RUEHIK RUEHPOD RUEHYG
DE RUEHFR #4352/01 2981632
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251632Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0912
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUEHMRE/AMCONSUL MARSEILLE 1918
RUEHSR/AMCONSUL STRASBOURG 0499

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 004352 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR G/IWI, EUR/WE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SCUL PHUM KWMN KPAO PREL FR
SUBJECT: PARIS NOMINEE FOR 2008 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN OF 
COURAGE AWARD 
 
REF: SECSTATE 126072 
 
PARIS 00004352  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Sensitive but unclassified, please protect accordingly. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Per reftel action request, Embassy Paris nominates Fadela 
Amara, Secretary of State for Urban Policies and founder of the NGO 
"Ni Putes Ni Soumises" for the 2008 Secretary of State's Annual 
Award for International Women of Courage (IWOC). Born in France to 
an impoverished family of Algerian descent, who lived in a housing 
project, Amara has fought for two decades for the rights of women 
and minorities at the grassroots level. "Ni Putes Ni Soumises" 
("Neither Prostitutes Nor Submissives"), whose name was/is intended 
both to shock and to mobilize, was founded in response to violence 
targeting women, particularly in the suburbs and housing projects of 
France's larger cities.  The group focuses, particularly, on 
fighting sexual abuse, pressure to wear the hijab (Islamic head 
scarf), pressure for girls to drop out of school, or to be compelled 
to marry against their wishes.  On June 19, 2007, Amara was named in 
a surprise appointment by President Sarkozy to be Secretary of State 
for Urban Policies. Embassy points of contact for this nominee are 
Human Rights Officer Stephen Wells and Cultural Affairs Officer Lora 
Berg ( WellsWS@state.gov, BergLJ@state.gov , 33 1 43 12 27 85). 
 
¶2.  (SBU) NAME: Fadela Amara 
TITLE/ ASSOCIATION: Secretary of State for Urban Policies 
DATE OF BIRTH: 04/25/1964 
COUNTRY OF BIRTH: France 
CITIZENSHIP:  French 
ADDRESS/ TELEPHONE/ EMAIL: Secretary of State for Urban Policies, 3, 
place de Fontenoy, 75007 PARIS; 01 44 49 80 00 
PASSPORT NUMBER: ? 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Amara has actively devoted her life to fighting for the 
rights of women from underprivileged backgrounds, including, but not 
restricted to, Muslim women in the French suburbs. One of eleven 
children born to an Algerian family in an impoverished housing 
project in France, Amara became politically active at an early age. 
She attributes her activism to the experience at 14 of watching 
police defend a reckless driver who had hit and killed her younger 
brother. She founded her first organization, the "Women's 
Association for Intercommunal Exchange," at the age of 18. In 1986 
she became an activist with the civil rights organization, "SOS 
Racisme." In 1989 she established a women's empowerment association 
called the "Women's Commission," and in 2003 the organization "Ni 
Putes Ni Soumises" ("Neither Prostitutes nor Submissives"). 
 
¶4. (SBU) Many French suburbs are composed of immigrant and lower 
income communities, whose residents have become increasingly 
marginalized.  Crime, unemployment and tension between traditional 
values and modern French society have placed Muslim women in a 
difficult and sometimes even dangerous environment.  In 2002, Amara 
founded "Ni Putes Ni Soumises" following a spate of "honor killings" 
and attacks on young Muslim women.  After one particularly brutal 
killing of a young Muslim girl, Amara, along with 2,000 other men 
and women, took part in a silent march. She then organized 
gatherings at which girls and women could speak openly about 
violence in their districts. In February 2003 she initiated a "March 
of Women from the Suburbs". This march went through a total of 23 
cities and drew the nation's attention to the repression of young 
women in the French suburbs. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Today "Ni Putes Ni Soumises" has more than 6,000 members in 
60 local committees. The organization campaigns for gender equality, 
women's empowerment and the end of violence against women.  The 
organization founded by Amara is fighting to break the law of 
silence that tacitly permits the continuation of violence against 
women in the suburbs. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Amara's grassroots work eventually drew the attention of 
French society and French government authorities. In 2004 she was 
appointed a member of France's Consultative Committee for Human 
Rights, and in 2005 she was named to the "High Authority for the 
Fight Against Discrimination" by then-President, Jacques Chirac.  In 
2007 she was appointed Secretary of State for Urban Policies by the 
Sarkozy administration, and she now is working on government 
solutions to the problems of the suburbs.  "SOS Racisme" expressed 
its support for Amara's nomination in a June 19 press statement: 
"Fadela will devote her experience to the betterment of a project 
that France has neglected for too long - the battle against 
ghettoization and multiple discriminations that afflict inhabitants 
of the country's underprivileged neighborhoods."  Beyond a doubt, 
Fadela Amara is an international woman of courage, who is leading 
the way both as an activist, as a role model, and now as a high 
ranking government official for the new generation of young women in 
France to grow to their full potential.  In our view, her selection 
as an international woman of courage would further signal to girls 
and young women in the suburbs of France that their full 
 
PARIS 00004352  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
participation in society is both needed and welcome. 
 
Stapleton