VZCZCXRO2614
RR RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHDIR
DE RUEHJI #0446/01 3231249
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 191249Z NOV 09
FM AMCONSUL JEDDAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1609
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHIC/OIC COLLECTIVE
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 8589
RUEHDH/AMCONSUL DHAHRAN 0164
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 JEDDAH 000446 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR S/SRMC, NEA/ARP, NEA/PPD, R, IO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2019 
TAGS: KISL KPAO KWMN PHUM SA SOCI
SUBJECT: LOBBYING FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS SAUDI-STYLE: SPECIAL 
REPRESENTATIVE FARAH PANDITH'S MEETING AT THE JEDDAH 
BUSINESSWOMEN'S CENTER 
 
REF: A. JEDDAH 445 
     ¶B. 06 JEDDAH 446 
     ¶C. RIYADH 1532 
     ¶D. RIYADH 1278 
     ¶E. JEDDAH 424 
     ¶F. JEDDAH 342 
     ¶G. JEDDAH 047 
 
JEDDAH 00000446  001.3 OF 004 
 
 
Classified By: Consul General Martin R. Quinn for reasons 1.4 (b) and ( 
d) 
 
 ¶1. (C) Summary.  As part of her October 31-November 1 visit 
to Saudi Arabia (ref A), Special Representative to Muslim 
Communities Farah Pandith met with Basmah Omair, general 
manager of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry's 
(JCCI) Khadeejah Bint Khuwailed Women's Center (KBKC).  The 
KBKC and JCCI have led the push in Saudi Arabia to remove 
obstacles to women's participation in the economy.  Omair 
attributed the KBKC's success to strong royal and business 
support and a practical, non-aggressive, locally appropriate 
approach to lobbying for change -- and avoiding politics and 
links with foreigners.  Omair praised the King and his 
opening of the King Abdullah University of Science and 
Technology (KAUST), but was less enthusiastic about a women's 
university intended to open new academic fields to Saudi 
women.  End Summary. 
 
 
What do Saudi women want? 
------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) During her first trip to Saudi Arabia, Special 
Representative Farah Pandith was invited to the 
Businesswomen's Center at the Jeddah chamber, which has led 
the Kingdom in promoting women's economic rights, including 
the right to work alongside men, invest in non-traditional 
fields like construction, and serve on company boards.  KBKC 
director Basmah Omair (for background see ref B) told Pandith 
that Saudi women want choices and opportunities beyond 
education and nursing, which -- as in the US during the 
1950s-60s -- are traditionally the only fields open to Saudi 
women. 
 
¶3. (C) The KBKC, with support from the government and local 
businessmen, was established in 2004.  Among the goals then, 
Omair recalled, were having women members on the Shura 
Council and Council of Ministers.  Today Saudi Arabia has a 
female deputy minister (for education), women advisors to the 
Shura Council, and a female deputy minister at the Jeddah 
Municipal Council, she noted proudly.  The Jeddah court 
system has requested the KBKC's help with establishing a 
women's section and identifying better policies and 
procedures for dealing with women.  In order to see how women 
are treated by the court system, Omair told us she recently 
went undercover pretending to request a divorce. 
 
 
Lobbying for women's economic rights . . . 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) The center originally trained women to start and run 
businesses.  But after realizing that these women were being 
prevented by laws and customs from participating in the 
economy, the KBKC switched focus to lobbying against those 
restrictions.  Among its achievements, the KBKC persuaded the 
government to officially declare in writing that women and 
men may work together without violating prohibitions on 
genders "mixing", and distributed copies of this statement to 
businesses to post in their establishments to support hiring 
women. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The KBKC has recently begun looking for ways to 
support women working from home.  Originally the KBKC didn't 
push the concept of working from home, fearing that women 
would be kept at home.  But telecommuting is now a focus 
because there is no day care, no public transportation, and 
women can't drive, and so spend most of their salaries paying 
for transportation and (male) drivers' salaries.  The 
problem, according to Omair, is that Saudi managers do not 
know how to manage workers remotely and so are reluctant to 
allow working from home.  The KBKC is looking for a US 
company to advise them on how it can be done. 
 
 
. . . by playing it politically correct 
 
JEDDAH 00000446  002.3 OF 004 
 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) Omair noted that lobbying in Saudi Arabia is very 
different from lobbying in the United States.  The KBKC 
targets key players, and enjoys strong support from King 
Abdullah and many leading officials and businessmen.  Because 
of this royal support "nobody bothers us" and the opposition 
"looks the other way."  She and other women's rights 
advocates at the JCCI approach issues from a local 
perspective using local ideology to give a "local sense of 
change". In establishing the KBKC they deliberately chose an 
Islamic role model, Khadeejah Bint Khuwailed -- the wife of 
the prophet Mohammed who was also a successful businesswoman, 
religious scholar, and mother -- so conservative fears of a 
western women's movement would die.  Omair, who spent decades 
in Washington, DC during her father's Saudi Embassy 
assignment, commented that as a westernized Arab she had to 
learn to talk the local language.  She and her colleagues are 
careful not to appear aggressive, and never approach 
decisionmakers with just complaints; they go with proposed 
solutions and present common sense arguments.  In lobbying 
against the ban on female clerks, for example, the KBKC 
staged photos of married couples at a store purchasing from 
both women and male shop clerks to illustrate there was no 
prohibited "mixing" occurring.  "We have to play it 
politically correct.  It's all about how you present it," 
Omair concluded. 
 
 
The pace of change 
------------------ 
 
¶7. (C) Asked by Pandith if the pace of change is fast enough, 
Omair said sometimes it is, sometimes it is not depending on 
the issues.  Saudi Arabia is at tip of change with more to 
come.  Sometimes she feels frustrated, Omair acknowledged, 
when she considers that the year is 2009 and that the 1970s 
were more open. 
 
 
How can the US support Muslims respectfully? 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) In response to Pandith's question about how the United 
States can be supportive and helpful without appearing to be 
pushing something on Muslims, Omair suggested working with 
local people and organizations to find out what is needed and 
would add the greatest value.  For example, four years ago 
the British consulate did a program on elections at the JCCI, 
but the JCCI wasn't ready for it.  The US can support 
research, organizational experiences, develop hands-on 
programs, and connect organizations.  Omair cautioned that 
linkage with the US could compromise local activists, 
referencing several Kuwait ladies who went to the United 
States on a program and "lost the election because they were 
seen as working for the Americans.  Americans thought they 
were supporting women; Arabs though they were bringing in 
western ideology." 
 
¶9. (C) Pandith took time to talk about the new frame and 
foundation of engagement articulated by the President and the 
Secretary.  Her job is to reach out to the next generation 
and build long-term partnerships and relationships.  Omair 
agreed with the idea of working on projects together as 
humans, observing that everyone wants the same thing for 
their kids, such as health and education.  She also suggested 
programs involving Saudis who have studied overseas would be 
a good starting point.  Over the past two to three years 
80,000 Saudi students have traveled overseas for education. 
When they return "the older generation won't be able to hold 
them in." 
 
 
No politics, please 
------------------- 
 
¶10. (C)  Reacting to suggestions of possible partnerships, 
Omair stated flatly that she and other JCCI activists are 
"not willing to risk what we've achieved with government and 
business."  The KBKC is "not affiliated with any 
international organization" and deliberately avoids politics. 
 "We're picky about who we work with because some women are 
very aggressive."  In terms of the idea of building a network 
of businesswomen in the Middle East, "We know of each other," 
Omair replied, adding that the Yemeni Chamber of Commerce 
 
JEDDAH 00000446  003.3 OF 004 
 
 
visited the KBKC last week and the Kuwaiti women are too 
aggressive.  Omair was reluctant to work with groups like the 
Muslim women's leadership network at Wellesley College's 
Center for Women saying it has ladies who "are really 
political."  "My target audience is men." 
 
¶11. (U) The KBKC is working with the World Bank and the 
International Finance Corporation (IFC) to research obstacles 
and opportunities for businesswomen in Saudi Arabia.  The 
JCCI approached the organizations after reading their report 
on women's entrepreneurship in other countries of the Middle 
East and North Africa (MENA) region.  "It's best to use a 
study that has been done for other countries." 
 
 
Representing Saudi Arabia abroad: 
--------------------------------- 
"We won't be window dressing" 
----------------------------- 
 
¶12. (C) Omair mentioned that she and other women at the JCCI 
get requests all the time to join all sorts of delegations to 
represent Saudi Arabia overseas -- largely because there are 
no Saudi women in many sectors.  They only accept meaningful 
assignments. "We won't be window dressing."  Omair 
acknowledged that Saudi agencies are hesitant to send out 
women, and that sometimes those chosen for overseas 
delegations are not the most qualified.  "A couple years back 
we suggested some names to attend a human rights meeting in 
Geneva.  Those women that went were not good.  Some facts 
(about conditions in Saudi Arabia) nobody can deny." 
 
 
Engaging media carefully -- getting on Oprah 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) Pandith observed that there are stereotypes about 
Saudi Arabia and that perhaps by connecting Saudi and western 
media organizations to the next generation, a new reality 
could be created.  Asked by Pandith if she would be 
interested in introductions to journalists, Omair described a 
bad experience with BBC.  The KBKC put together a group of 
intellectual Saudi women to discuss conditions, and the only 
clip BBC used was "we're happy the way we are."  Worried 
about inaccurate edits, Omair now prefers to go live.  Omair 
and her colleagues have been trying to get on Oprah.  "We 
have a good story to tell." 
 
 
Saudi education: KAUST - "breaking all the rules" 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶14. (C) Pandith, who had just visited the new King Abdullah 
University of Science and Technology (KAUST), asked Omair 
about the thinking behind the creation of KAUST.  Saudi 
Arabia chose a different model from other Gulf states by 
building KAUST from scratch, rather than bringing in a 
foreign university franchise as other GCC countries have 
done.  Omair lauded the king, saying his approach was better 
because that way it seems like change is coming from within 
-- change had to be local.  KAUST is an expression of the 
King's personal vision, she continued.  "He's a reformist. 
He believes in education and the subjects at KAUST are 
related to Saudi Arabia's needs.  He broke all the rules in 
establishing KAUST." (For more on KAUST see refs C,D,E,F,G.) 
 
 
 
and a new women's university -- mediocre despite the monorail 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------- 
 
¶15. (C) Omair was less enthusiastic about the giant new 
university being built for women outside Riyadh (Princess 
Nora Bint Abdulrahman University for Girls), despite modern 
facilities including a monorail.  Headed by a member of the 
royal family, the Princess Nora University is designed to 
allow more than 30,000 Saudi women to study previously 
unavailable fields.  Omair commented that Saudi girls and 
women need dynamic teachers, and a women's college must have 
an excellent faculty in order to be competitive with men's 
institutions.  Currently, there are no Saudi women qualified 
to manage the university, and it is unlikely to attract the 
best and the brightest from overseas, as with KAUST, because 
instruction will be in Arabic, Omair observed. 
 
 
JEDDAH 00000446  004.3 OF 004 
 
 
¶16. (U) SRMC Pandith has cleared this message. 
QUINN