VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNK #0099/01 0461348
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 151348Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9107

UNCLAS NOUAKCHOTT 000099 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR S/GWI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KWMN PREL KPAO PHUM AID MR
SUBJECT: MAURITANIA: S/GWI PROJECT PROPOSALS 
 
REF: SECSTATE 132094 
 
¶1.  (U)  Per reftel's instructions, please find below two 
project proposals.  Post prefers the proposal "Mauritania 
Women Speak" by Nedwa because the second proposal, presented 
by the National Democratic Institute and the Reseau pour la 
Promotion de la Citoyennete (RPC), has high consultant, 
indirect, and administrative costs. 
 
 
¶2.  (U)  Proposal #1:  Mauritanian Women Speak by NGO Nedwa: 
 
----------- 
THE PROBLEM 
----------- 
 
¶3.  (U)  Mauritania today is confronted with major challenges 
due to its vast territory, undeveloped human resources and 
struggling leadership.  According to the 2009 UNDP Human 
Development Report, Mauritania is 154th in its Human 
Development Index (HDI).  Women represent nearly 60 percent 
of the population of which most are semi-illiterate and 
economically dependent.  Girls who have completed a secondary 
education represent only 26 percent of the total students. 
Culture, tradition, and certain interpretations of the 
religion have profoundly contributed to these realities, 
limiting women to mostly domestic responsibilities.  In 
addition, the alarming divorce rates in Mauritania have 
contributed to a significant breakdown in family values, 
unity, accountability, and rearing responsibilities. 
 
¶4.  (U)  During the past few years, however, Mauritania has 
made some mild advancement towards the promotion of women, 
such as: 
 
- Initiation of gender based programs in FGM, violence 
against women, and HIV/AIDS. 
- Recognizing international conventions relative to human 
rights and discrimination against women 
- Signing a law that guarantees a minimum of 20 percent women 
among electoral candidates 
 
¶5.  (U)  Nevertheless, despite these initiatives, the overall 
impact remains limited and perceived as good intentions at 
best.  While discussing the challenges of this program, it 
was agreed that the empowerment of women is not only 
dependent on the government's political will, but also on the 
worldview and commitment of its citizens, educators and 
religious leaders.  What is needed to jump-start this 
exchange of thoughts is to develop an educational media 
program with an innovative approach to inspire new dreams 
without rejecting one's religion, traditions, or culture.  A 
successful media campaign based on contextualized models of 
behavior change will have a very significant impact in 
creating the crucial momentum needed for Mauritanian women to 
make significant advances against poverty, ignorance, and 
become models of success. 
 
---------------- 
PROGRAM OVERVIEW 
---------------- 
 
¶6.  (U)  This program is a high-profile nationwide media 
campaign aimed to use both mass and popular media to inspire 
and arouse a positive perspective and perception of women, 
their strengths, potential, and opportunities. 
 
¶7.  (U)  At the program's core, it will highlight 20 of the 
most successful Mauritanian women from all four ethnic groups 
and bring them forth as role models to younger girls and 
women.  In addition, the program will also produce radio 
programs to inform women of their rights and encourage and 
show them how to best participate in civil society.  These 
materials will be written by reliable women journalists from 
around the country who will gather stories, interviews, and 
record songs.  Print materials, radio and TV programs will 
highlight the challenges and victories of each woman. 
Trainin workshops will be organized regionally and 
educational materials will be used at these workshops as well 
as distributed to schools, women NGOs and throught the 
Ministry of Women.  Activities include: 
 
- Production of 20 radio spots in four languages 
- Production of eight longer radio magazines in four 
languages with interviews, testimonies, theater, music, and 
debate. 
- Production and broadcast of four TV programs in four 
languages 
- Production and printing of a training handbook in Arabic 
and French 
- Production and printing of a booklet with the life stories 
of each of the profiled women in Arabic and French 
 
¶8.  (U)  Mauritania Women Speak is a program conceived as an 
awareness campaign to promote women's empowerment and active 
participation in the social development of Mauritania.  It 
builds on the experiences and lessons of the Program "Arab 
Women Speak Out" designed by the Johns Hopkins Center for 
Communication with primary financial support from USAID, as 
well as the successful BBC program in Afghanistan to promote 
women's rights.  Lessons learnt from these programs were 
contextualized to the Mauritanian environment and building on 
the experience of NGO Nedwa, who has produced educational 
materials in Mauritania for over 22 years. 
 
---------- 
OBJECTIVES 
---------- 
 
¶9.  (U)  The project will highlight activities and messages 
that will primarily support the following objectives: 
 
- Offer access to new ideas, information, and resources that 
can help women expand their life options, including those 
affecting their economic, social, legal, and health status. 
- Promote diverse economic opportunities that move beyond 
women's traditional income-generating activities. 
- Facilitate the process of obtaining credit and loans. 
- Foster social support for women's education, personal 
development, and active participation in public life. 
- Help project compelling, realistic depiction of proactive 
women that offer inspiring examples and counter inaccurate 
stereotypes. 
- Help women better understand their legal rights and how to 
obtain them. 
- Build on the strengths of social networks to provide 
outreach and support to women. 
- Help women safeguard their health by becoming informed 
about their needs and their rights to appropriate and 
adequate services. 
- Seek women's active participation in decision-making about 
project design and approach. 
 
----------------------------- 
APPROACH AND MESSAGE STRATEGY 
----------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (U)  Role models:  Role models assist us in the process 
of formulating our notions of who we are and how we should 
act.  These women have the potential to stand as powerful 
role models for thousands of women because these stories 
reflect the concerns, conditions, obstacles, and 
opportunities facing the average woman.  These examples may 
well inspire the belief that, "if she can do it, so can I." 
 
¶11.  (U) Empowerment:  Empowerment education is mostly 
initiated at the grassroots level.  Women identify the 
central issues of their lives in group dialogue and, in so 
doing, allow other women to consider a wider range of 
options.  Empowerment is integral to development, which we 
define as a process that increases choices, improves access 
to services and goods, and enhances the capacity of 
individuals.  It is not just about having more but also about 
being more.  Although women already function as teachers, 
passing down important traditions and knowledge to the next 
generation, they may not recognize the significance of their 
roles or see them as a path to empowerment.  Often women 
think, "It's nothing. I do it all the time," or "It's just 
part of being a woman."  Empowerment education helps them 
recognize their own strengths and skills as well as their 
contributions to the family's welfare.  Equally important, 
empowerment education helps women become aware of all the 
options open to them and their potential consequences, on the 
assumption that informed and self-confident women can make 
their own decisions. 
 
-------------------------- 
THE SOCIO-CULTURAL CONTEXT 
-------------------------- 
 
¶12.  (U)  The women profiled in this project view their 
achievements within the context of their families and their 
communities.  In Mauritanian culture, the individual is more 
deeply embedded in a closely connected social network than in 
most Western contexts, and becomes reaffirmed by being part 
of and working for the well-being of that group.  Rather than 
being measured by Western standards of personal success and 
individual gratification, achievement is recognized chiefly 
through contributions made within this familial and social 
context.  As noted by Jacobson, "Western notions of autonomy 
based on the concepts of privacy and individual rights, for 
example, may be less relevant to Muslim women who value the 
interdependence of individuals, families and communities." 
Except under extreme conditions, these women do not want to 
jeopardize their marriages or compromise their roles as 
wives, mothers, daughters, and daughters-in-law.  They are 
constantly engaged in resolving the tensions between their 
personal needs and domestic responsibilities, individual 
aspirations and social obligations, and household duties and 
participation in public life.  The result is a complex 
blending of respect for and resistance to established 
traditions.  On the whole, these women do not perceive 
themselves as revolutionaries who seek to challenge social 
norms.  Most of them comply as much as possible with 
prevailing customs in order to fulfill the traditional roles 
and deflect unwanted social judgement. 
 
---------------------------------- 
THE LEGAL AND RELIGIOUS DIMENSIONS 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶13.  (U)  Reactionary movements, which have gained 
considerable momentum in recent years, seek to limit women to 
a few home-based activities, the most important of which are 
child-bearing; taking care of infants, children and elderly 
family members; managing the household; and attending to 
husbands' needs.  Women are allowed to participate in other 
activities only to the extent that such undertakings do not 
detract from their primary duties, thus perceived.  Such 
gender constructions contradict Qur'anic texts, in which no 
distinction is made between men and women with respect to 
belief and practice and therefore with respect to the 
determination of the individual's worth from the perspective 
of the Almighty. 
 
¶14.  (U)  Lessons and conclusions from other programs greatly 
reflect and confirm the inseparable nature of women's 
multiple roles as producers and entrepreneurs, teachers and 
trainers, home managers and health workers, community 
organizers and political activists, wives and mothers. 
 
---------------- 
TARGET AUDIENCES 
---------------- 
 
¶15.  (U)  All women:  All women between the ages of 13 and 65 
can benefit from these messages of inspiration and positive 
change.  These include literate/ illiterate, 
rural/urban,married/single, employed or not. 
 
¶16.  (U)  Family members:  Research shows that people are 
more likely to adopt a new behavior when they believe that 
other people will approve, especially those whose opinions 
they value.  Immediate family members, such as parents, 
grandparents, siblings, and spouses, can be especially 
important sources of inspiration, persuasion, motivation, and 
support.  If they oppose a behavior, they can be equally 
important sources of discouragement, disagreement, and 
resistance. 
 
¶17.  (U)  Parents and grandparents:  Parents and grandparents 
impart basic values, beliefs, and attitudes to their 
daughters and grand-daughters during childhood.  They also 
control girls' access to education, work and marriage. 
Fathers exercise a strong influence on their daughters and 
are key sources of their social awareness and desire to help 
the community. 
 
¶18.  (U)  Decision makers and advocacy:  Popular 
participation in social change is just one goal of 
empowerment education.  It also aims to influence and shape 
policy, because social and economic policies can either 
inhibit or promote women's empowerment.  For this reason, the 
materials and findings of this project will be shared with 
the policy-makers who influence social development and family 
welfare policies.  The information will also be shared with 
the individuals and organizations who shape project planning, 
including donor agencies, to encourage them to actively 
promote and support projects that reflect the diversity of 
women's capabilities. 
 
-------------------- 
WOMEN TO BE PROFILED 
-------------------- 
 
¶19.  (U)  A variety of grassroots organizations, including 
NGOs, reproductive health centers, and social development 
agencies, will help to identify women who have expanded their 
roles beyond the hearth, are admired within their 
communities, and act as agents of change.  The women will be 
predominantly married of reproductive age who already have 
children and who come from modest backgrounds.  The diverse 
mix of women will be rural as well as urban, community 
activists as well as entrepreneurs, teachers as well as 
farmers. 
-------- 
PARTNERS 
-------- 
 
¶20.  (U)  In order for this program to succeed, full 
participation from the government and civil society groups 
must be engaged.  Meetings to discuss this program have 
already taken place with: 
 
- Ministry of Women 
- Ministry of Communications and Relations with Parliament 
- UNFPA 
- UNICEF 
- International NGOs 
- Local NGOs working for the promotion of women 
- Women cooperatives 
- Syndicate of Journalists in Mauritania 
- Sociologists 
- Teachers 
- Media producers 
 
--------------------- 
SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES 
--------------------- 
 
¶21.  (U)  Radio spots: Twenty radio spots will be produced in 
all four languages.  These will be inspired from interviews 
and testimonies taken from the field and edited into short 
spots of 45-60 seconds each.  These testimonials are very 
powerful peer-to-peer tools for positive change.  These 20 
spots will be broadcast at least 200 times during prime time 
on national radio. 
 
¶22.  (U)  Radio programs:  In radio magazine format, these 30 
minute programs in all four languages will include highlight 
messages from the field, testimonials, interviews, music, 
theater, and host educators.  Constructive debate will frame 
the style of the shows, and using the enter-educate models, 
the program will both be entertaining and educational. 
 
¶23.  (U)  TV Programs:  Four TV programs in all four 
languages will be broadcast for 50 minutes each.  As in the 
radio programs, these shows will also include field, 
testimonials, interviews, music, theater, and host educators. 
 These will be broadcast at high audience hours. 
 
¶24.  (U)  Training handbook: A twenty page training handbook 
will be published and distributed in both Arabic and French 
on ways to lead discussion groups in a positive and 
constructive manner.  Included in the handbook is a powerful 
introduction and context, a copy of the video and women 
profiled, pre and post questionnaires, role play suggestions 
and illustrations. 
 
¶25.  (U)  Booklet including all profiled stories:  The 
stories of all 20 profiled women will be compiled in a book 
in a simple story telling fashion.  Lessons learnt and 
personal insights will be highlighted throughout the stories. 
 The booklet will be used in regional workshops, in 
classrooms and to NGOs. 
 
¶26.  (U)  Training module: The project includes a training 
module to be used as a tool for groups to discuss the key 
factors that have contributed to the success of the women 
profiled in the project.  The module includes 
process-oriented learning exercises designed to help women 
strengthen their self-confidence, develop their negotiating 
skills and network-building skills, and identify sources of 
information and support.  It also includes a viewer's 
discussion guide to promote the critical review of the way 
women are depicted in other media.  Workshops will be 
organized regionally using the training module. 
 
¶27.  (U)  Poster: a full color and large poster will be 
conceived and printed aimed to initiate discussion and serve 
as reminder of the issues.  Posters will be distributed to 
schools, NGOs, and government offices. 
 
--------- 
NGO NEDWA 
--------- 
 
¶28.  (U)  Nedwa, an Arabic word meaning meeting place for 
dialogue, is a Mauritanian NGO founded in 2004 and working in 
the field of communications for educationl development.  It 
is officially recognized by the Mauritanian Ministry of the 
Interior.  The staff of Nedwa has almost 20 years of 
experience in the field of information, education, and 
communication activities and health campaigns in Mauritania. 
It gained this experience under World Vision's Social 
Mobilization for Health program between 1987-2004.  The Nedwa 
team comprises 15 Mauritanians and one US citizen.  NEDWA has 
worked in partnership with the US Embassy and USAID in 
Counterterrorism projects.  It has also partnered with 
prestigious organizations like World Vision, UNICEF, UNDP, 
FAO, UNFPA, WHO and WFP. 
 
------ 
BUDGET 
------ 
 
¶29.  (U) The total budget for the program is as follows: 
 
Program, media products and materials: USD $67,000 
Consultants and Program Director USD $20,000 
Administrative fees USD $13,000 
 
Total: USD $100,000 
 
 
---------------- 
GRANT MANAGEMENT 
 
---------------- 
 
¶30.  (U)  This grant would be managed by the Public Affairs 
Officer at US Embassy Nouakchott. 
 
 
 
¶31.  (U)  Proposal #2: Supporting Women's Advocacy 
Initiatives by the National democratic Institute for 
International Affairs (ND) 
 
----------------- 
PROBLEM STATEMENT 
----------------- 
 
¶32.  (U)  In the decade since Mauritania formally adopted the 
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination 
against Women (CEDAW), the treaty has yet to translate into 
concrete improvements in the lives of Mauritania's women. 
The government still maintains a reservation precluding the 
adoption of CEDAW principles deemed contrary to Islamic 
sharia and has failed to implement or even address the more 
controversial elements of the convention, frequently bowing 
to pressure from influential clerics.  Mauritanian women 
continue to face profound discrimination in law and in access 
to the meaningful political participation which CEDAW is 
meant to support. 
 
¶33.  (U)  Prior to the 2008 coup, Mauritanian women were 
making significant strides in promoting women's leadership 
and political participation.  In 2006, for example, the 
National democratic Institute (NDI) supported the efforts of 
a group of women from civil society organizations, political 
parties, and government who coalesced to successfully 
advocate for the adoption of a 20 percent quota for women for 
legislative elections.  As a result of the campaigns and 
advocacy surrounding the quota, Mauritanian women achieved 16 
percent representation in the National Assembly and 34 
percent in municipal councils.  Some of these women's groups 
went on to draft "watchdog"-style reports, monitoring the 
extent to which government implemented CEDAW provisions 
following Mauritania's signing in 2007. 
 
¶34.  (U)  Many of these hard-won victories were eroded by the 
most recent coup.  Currently, there are no women hakems or 
walys, the Ministry of Women and the Family was 
decommissioned, the few women who are elected receive little 
party support, and the recent nomination of a woman for 
Minister of Foreign Affairs was initially blocked by an 
influential imam.  Mauritanian society, particularly in the 
country's rural areas, is organized according to strict 
tribal hierarchy that is dominated by men and in which women 
continue to grapple with the persistence of deep-seeded 
cultural norms and customary traditions, including forced 
early marriage and school abandonment, which hinder women's 
ability to actively participate in public life. 
 
¶35.  (U)  The overarching challenge of effectively engaging 
women in politics in Mauritania crystallizes into three main 
themes: access to opportunities; information; education; 
awareness of women about their rights and responsibilities; 
and transcending restrictions to women's full participation 
in political, civic, and social life. 
 
¶36.  (U)  The women of Mauritania are far from passive - the 
country's vibrant civil society and plethora of women's 
rights NGOs demonstrate that Mauritanian women want to raise 
awareness of women's issues and work together to create 
opportunities for political leadership and favorable policy 
change.  Although there are few female mayors, in many 
communities women are the leaders and managers because most 
male representatives do not even reside in the constituency 
they are supposed to represent.  Recent activism on the issue 
of female genital mutilation (FGM), for example, demonstrates 
that there is urgency and interest in the women's rights 
agenda in Mauritania by political, civic, and government 
actors. 
 
¶37.  (U)  These efforts constitute a promising step forward, 
but require the support and coordination of women in 
politics, government, and civil society.  Due to the 
country's size and scattered population, women's groups face 
difficulty in connecting with one another and fostering vital 
linkages, with women in political parties and government 
administration.  The relative political stabilization since 
election in July, 2009, provides an opportunity for women to 
aggregate their voices. 
 
--------------------------- 
SUMMARY OF PROPOSED PROGRAM 
--------------------------- 
 
¶38.  (U)  NDI proposes a 12-month program with the following 
objectives: 
 
- Strengthen the ability of a diverse group of women to 
cooperate on the development of advocacy initiatives on 
issues of concern to Mauritanian women; 
- Assist a coalition of women party and civic activists to 
organize and engage Mauritanian women to better understand 
their political rights; and 
- Enhance the public perception of women as leaders capable 
of developing policy recommendations and advocating at the 
national level for reform. 
 
¶39.  (U)  NDI would work with an informal, but established 
group of women MPs, political party members and civil society 
organizations to build a flexible coalition structure aimed 
at increasing women's political participation in Mauritania. 
The Institute would also seek to draw on Mauritanian 
resources and experience, by partnering with the Reseau pour 
la Promotion Citoyennete (RPC), a national network of civic 
organizations with demonstrated experience in convening 
community dialogues on citizen rights and responsibilities. 
NDI would engage the RPC to both share their experience with 
this nascent women's coalition, and also leverage their 
contacts to raise the profile of the coalition and its aims. 
 
------------------- 
PROPOSED ACTIVITIES 
------------------- 
 
¶40.  (U)  A core group of Mauritanian women would take part 
in t a pilot program to create the tentatively named, 
"Mauritanian Women's Coalition" comprising women leaders 
representing the spectrum of political parties and civil 
society organizations across the country.  many of these 
women have worked with NDI on previous initiatives to support 
women's political participation - including oversight of 
governmental implementation of CEDAW - and represent a wide 
range of political perspectives.  NDI staff and the 
Institute's partner, the Reseau pour la Promotion Citoyennete 
(RPC), would develop training modules designed to build the 
capacity of women's leadership skills. 
 
¶41.  (U)  NDI has already proposed the women's coalition 
concept with an established network of women activists, 
politicians and journalists in Mauritania.  Based upon those 
discussions, inaugural members of the women's coalition might 
include the following women: 
 
- Aminetou Mint Maouloud, ADIL Party, Aleg district MP 
- Kadiata Malick Diallo, Union des Forces du Progres (UFP), 
national list MP 
- Mariem Mint Bilal, Rassemblement des Forces Democratiques 
(RFD), national list MP 
- Aminetou Mint Moctar, Association des Femmes Chefs de 
Famille (AFCF) 
- Sy Lalla Aicha, Comite de Solidarite avec les Victimes de 
la Repression (CSVR) 
- Mariem Mint Haimoud, l'Union Pour la Republique (UPR), Atar 
district MP 
- Fatimetou Min Mohamed Yarba, l'Union Pour la Republique 
(UPR), Nema district MP 
- Mintata Mint H'Deid, le Parti Republicain pour le Renouveau 
Democratique (PRDR), Nouakchott district MP 
- Aichetou Mint M'Haiham, Public Administration staff 
- Maalouma Mint Bilal, ADIL Party, national list MP 
 
¶42.  (U) Coalition Establishment and National Launch:  NDI 
would organize three sessions where the women within the 
proposed coalition would gain the skills necessary to 
identify obstacles to women's participation in Mauritania and 
to develop strategies to overcome these challenges.  Examples 
of other successful collective approaches to be studied would 
include the Moroccan moudawana reform process, Jordan's Women 
Helping Women organization and NDI's "Win with Women" 
initiative. 
 
¶43.  (U)  Session One - Coalition Structure:  This session 
would facilitate the development of the coalition structure 
through the formation of a steering committee for the 
coalition which would serve as the focal point for organizing 
and outreach.  Other topics for the session would include: 
examples of coalition structure and decision-making; 
strategic planning; internal and external communications; 
consensus building and conflict resolution; and managing 
resources and fundraising.  At the end of this session, the 
coalition should have: coalition bylaws; communications 
strategies; and membership recruitment criteria.  Coalition 
members would also design an action plan that will provide 
the basis for informing women about the coalition and 
recruiting action teams across the country. 
 
¶44.  (U)  Session Two - Strategies for Sustainability:  NDI 
staff and RPC leadership would work closely with the 
coalition leadership throughout the duration of the program, 
providing guidance for further developing the organizational 
structure, including fundraising to encourage sustainability. 
 This assistance would be outlined in a Memorandum of 
Understanding (MoU) between NDI and the coalition leadership. 
 As part of its support to the coalition,, the NDI would 
provide access to its resource facility, opened in 2006 to 
create a space for political parties and CSOs to share 
information, network, find resources and participate in 
NDI-sponsored workshops.  The center provides NDI's partners 
with access to computers equipped with high-speed Internet, 
printers and photocopying services.  A French and Arabic 
library houses manuals on political party management, 
organizational development, conflict-resoulution and advocacy 
along with other related reference and news materials.  NDI 
would also provide support through two online tools - the 
Aswat portal for activists and reformers in the Middle East; 
and iKNOW politics, an online workspace designed to serve the 
needs of elected officials, candidates, political party 
leaders and members, researchers students and other 
practitioners interested in advancing women in politics. 
 
¶45.  (U)  Session Three - Roadmap for Action:  The coalition 
would officially launch following a third strategy session 
which would provide practical training in leadership skills, 
strategic communications, advocacy, message development and 
delivery and media relations.  At the end of the session, 
coalition members would have a draft action plan that would 
provide the basis for dialogue with government officials, and 
acts as a road map for project implementation. 
 
¶46.  (U)  Raising Awareness and Identifying Concerns: 
Following launch, the women's coalition would conduct visits 
to key districts throughout Mauritania.  During these 
outreach visits, coalition members would engage community 
leaders to build support for coalition priorities and women's 
participation generally.  Women from the coalition would also 
conduct roundtables with women from each community to: 1) 
present principles of CEDAW and Mauritanian laws pertaining 
to the rights of women; 2) consider practical application of 
key legislation and other factors influencing women's 
political participation, and 3) discuss the main priorities 
of women and key challenges they face in participating in 
public discourse.  Participants would be limited to 30 per 
rountable and would include women MPs and municipal council 
members, women political party activists, as well as heads of 
local branches of women's organizations.  The roundtables 
would occur every other week and would take place in a 
different district or area each time.  Exact venues would be 
determined based on the community's interest level as well as 
availability of local centers and meeting places.  RPC 
members would work with the women's coalition to identify 
local civil society partners who could co-sponsor 
roundtables, help recruit participants, and share successful 
techniques for facilitating community dialogue.  In addition 
to directly addressing the lack of information available to 
Mauritanian women in rural areas, these roundtables would 
allow women to voice their opinions about their roles in 
communities - an important step to building confidence and a 
key building block for building women's leadership potential. 
 
¶47.  (U)  Following each roundtable, the women's coalition 
leadership would compile information gathered in the session 
to build a centralized collection of information which would 
provide a snapshot of women's concerns throughout Mauritania. 
 Over the three months during which the roundtables would be 
held, the coalition leadership would gain the skills needed 
to advocate and advance women's interests in issues in their 
local communities collectively, strategically, and 
effectively.  The emergence of common ground and shared 
intentions among the participants of these events will build 
confidence and creative energy within the coalition 
leadership. 
 
¶48.  (U)  Setting priorities and Advocating for Reform: 
Taking into consideration the legislative timetable, NDI 
would aid the coalition to conduct a public outreach campaign 
and national conference in Nouakchott.  This conference, 
which would be scheduled to overlap with the fall 
parliamentary session, would convene parliamentarians, senior 
government officials, political party heads and national 
civic leaders to provide a venue for the coalition to present 
a report detailing outcomes from the national roundtable 
series.  In this two-day conference, plenary sessions on key 
challenges facing women would be followed by presentations by 
international experts on tested policy remedies for these 
challenges, with closing remarks from coalition leadership 
with their recommendations for reform.  This conference will 
be held in cooperation with RPC and the United Nations 
Development Programme (UNDP), which are currently working on 
an advocacy initiative to raise the quota for women on 
national lists to 30 percent.  Following the conference, RPC 
would disseminate the report to its network of civic 
associations throughout the country and encourage local 
support for advocacy efforts undertaken by the coalition in 
Nouakchott. 
 
¶49.  (U)  Coalition members would also engage in a series of 
meetings and presentations to parliamentary groups and 
relevant commissions to share recommendations for policy 
reform.  Such interaction would not only raise the profile of 
women's issues within the parliament, but would also increase 
women's access to the parliamentary elite who dominate the 
debate on issues such as the economy and finance, defense and 
security and international relations.  At the same time, 
coalition leadership would hold meetings with political 
parties to allow members to demonstrate their ability to 
contribute to the party and provide a vehicle to not only 
promote the inclusion of women but also build their 
structures/platforms on broader issues that the coalition is 
addressing.  At the end of the parliamentary session in 
February 2011, NDI will assist the coalition in organizing a 
national information day, coinciding with International 
Women's Day on March 8.  The event will include women from 
throughout the country who took part in the outreach 
roundtables.  They will share progress made during the three 
previous months of advocacy efforts in the capitol and NDI 
and RPC will work with the coalition leadership to garner 
national and local media for broad coverage, with a focus on 
radio and television given their national reach. 
 
---------- 
EVALUATION 
---------- 
 
¶50.  (U)  Objective 1: Strengthen the ability of a diverse 
group of women to cooperate on the development of advocacy 
initiatives on issues of concern to Mauritanian women 
 
- Women from political parties, civil society organizations, 
and government form a coalition to create political space for 
women, engage them in constructive policy dialogue, and 
ensure their input in political decision-making.  NDI would 
sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the coalition 
and evaluate through on-site observation, training and 
workshop reports, and media monitoring. 
 
- The coalition develops into a self-sustaining structure 
that can continue to advocate for women and raise awareness 
of key women's issues beyond the grant period.  NDI would 
evaluate this based on ongoing communication with 
participants and media monitoring of coalition activities. 
 
¶51.  (U)  Objective 2:  Assist a coalition of women party and 
civic activists to organize and engage Mauritanian women to 
better understand their political rights. 
 
- Coalition leadership work across sectors to raise awareness 
of the CEDAW principles, application in Mauritania, and 
methods for enhancing its enforcement in the country. 
- Program participants identify priority issues on which 
women want to advocate for change, through regional 
roundtables on CEDAW and women's issues. 
- Information gathered at regional roundtables is used to 
inform action plans and strategies for outreach. 
 
¶52.  (U)  Objective 3:  Enhance the public perception of 
women as leaders capable of developing policy recommendations 
and advocating at the national level for reform. 
 
- Coalition leadership organize campaigns through public 
outreach including media and direct contact employing such 
tactics as letter-writing campaigns, letters to the editor, 
interviews and roundtable dialogue events. 
- National media outlets cover the Coalition launch and 
national events convened to highlight the priorities of women 
and key reform points. 
 
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NDI TECHNICAL AND MANAGEMENT CAPACITY 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶53.  (U)  The National democratic Institute for International 
Affairs (NDI) is a nonprofit organization established in 1983 
working to strengthen and expand democracy worldwide. 
Calling on a global network of volunteer experts, NDI 
provides practical assistance to civic and political leaders 
advancing democratic values, practices and institutions.  NDI 
works with democrats in every region of the world to build 
political and civic organizatins, safeguard elections, and 
to promote citizen participation, openness and accountability 
in government. 
 
¶54.  (U)  The Reseau pour la Promotion de la Citoyennete 
(RPC) is a national network consisting of 16 Mauritanian 
civic organizations representing human rights groups, 
syndicates, press associations, professional associations and 
service provision organizations.  The RPC's goals are to 
provide civic education through a community dialogue format 
throughout the country and to raise awareness on the part of 
Mauritanian citizens about their rights and responsibilities 
as citizens. 
 
¶55.  (U)  This twelve-month program would build on the 
foundation of NDI's previous support of women's initiatives, 
civil society an political parties in Mauritania.  Thought 
its work, the Institute has established relationships with 
and identified women politicians, activists and journalists 
from whom the Institute would be able to select a core group 
that NDI will work closely to develop the Mauritanian Womn's 
Coalition and carry-out its activities. 
 
¶56.  (U)  Program Management:  NDI's Country Director and 
existing staff in Nouakchott would have primary 
responsibility for managing the program, coordinating 
communications between NDI and Coalition leadership, 
conducting outreach and creating an action plan.  In 
addition, NDI would engage RPC leadership as well as other 
NDI experts in the region with expertise in promoting women's 
political participation who would support the establishment 
of the Women's Coalition.  The Institute's headquarters in 
Washington DC< would provide additional administrative 
support. 
 
---------------- 
GRANT MANAGEMENT 
---------------- 
 
¶57.  (U)  This grant would be managed by Embassy Nouakchott's 
Political Officer. 
 
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BUDGET 
------ 
 
¶58.  (U)  The budget proposed for the following program is as 
follows: 
 
Administrative $14,864 
Contractual $27,597 
Programming $37,603 
NDI Indirect rate $19,936 
Total :  $100,000 
 
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CONTACT 
------- 
 
¶59.  (U)  For any questions regarding these proposals, please 
contact Nitza Sola-Rotger, Political Officer, at 
sola-rotgern@state.gov. 
BOULWAR