THURSDAY, 2 SEPTEMBER 2004
301 Training Workshops Inspire Cote d'Ivoire Women To Run For
Office
(Ambassador Sauerbrey participates in U.S. leadership program in Abidjan)
(600)
302 Republicans Focus on Compassion of Party, President
(First lady, Schwarzenegger praise Bush's strength as leader) (580)
*AEF301 09/01/2004
Training Workshops Inspire Cote d'Ivoire Women To Run For Office
(Ambassador Sauerbrey participates in U.S. leadership program in Abidjan) (600)
By Jim Fisher-Thompson
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- Taking inspiration from an innovative leadership training program sponsored by the United States Embassy in Cote d'Ivoire that aimed to encourage women to become more active in the political arena, 25 participants in the program have announced they will stand for office in the upcoming national elections.
The August 15-21seminar called on the talents of politician-turned-diplomat Ambassador Ellen Sauerbrey, U.S. Speaker Dr. Josie Bass of the ALVA Consortium, and Odette Nyiramilimo, a member of the Rwanda Senate and founder of the Rwanda Women Leaders Caucus, to share insights on power sharing, grassroots mobilization and elections techniques with 150 members of the Coalition of Women Leaders of Cote d'Ivoire (CFeLCI), a non-governmental organization.
Besides direct support from the U.S. Embassy, which called on the State Department's Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP) to recruit Ambassador Sauerbrey and Dr. Bass, whose organization has provided election education training to women politicians in several African countries, the program was funded through the U.N. Development Program (UNDP) and received moral backing from the highest levels of the Ivorian government.
President Laurent Gbagbo, first lady Simone Ehivet Gbagbo, and the secretary-general of the prime minister's cabinet, Yao-Kouame Yves, welcomed the U.S. trainers before the program began. Following the program, the Embassy reported, President Gbagbo indicated he would discuss with his party a proposal that the party list for the 2005 parliamentary elections contain at least 30 percent women. He also said he would work with his party on the long-term goal of getting more women elected in Cote d'Ivoire.
According to a document furnished by the U.S. Embassy in Abidjan, the trainers brought a wealth of experience in empowering women for leadership to the program, which drew a broad spectrum of participants from non-elective government offices, non-governmental organizations and agencies, universities, the media and business. The goal was to increase the number of women elected to public office by teaching them how to campaign and win in 2005 polls.
Before President Bush named her to be U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women, Ellen Sauerbrey was a politician, serving as a leader in the Maryland House of Delegates (state legislature) and as the Republican Party's nominee for governor in the 1988 and 1994 elections.
In the early 1990s, as national chairman of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the largest organization of state legislators in America, Sauerbrey launched "Project Freedom" to help spread democracy and open markets to emerging democracies.
The training program itself was divided into eight segments that addressed such key topics as: building strong campaigns to win elections; informing women about obstacles in the political arena such as time, money, political infrastructure and weaknesses in management; and developing a good working relationship with the press.
The media workshop included helpful tips on how to conduct interviews and panel discussions, how to write press releases and how to appear effectively on television. Speakers and participants addressed the importance of building a winning organization in a campaign staff, developing a financial plan (including fund raising), projecting a positive image and learning how to reach voters to ensure victory.
Most of the discussion dealt with practicalities, but underlying it all was the need for women to understand the current political crisis in the country and the need for them to step forward and do something about it. Twenty-five took up the challenge at once and declared their candidacies.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs,
U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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*AEF302 09/01/2004
Republicans Focus on Compassion of Party, President
(First lady, Schwarzenegger praise Bush's strength as leader) (580)
By Judy Aita
Washington File Staff Writer
New York -- President Bush received the formal nomination of his party August 31. The delegation from Pennsylvania, a state in which the vote is predicted to be close, announced the votes that put Bush over the 1,255 tally needed to officially win the nomination.
Also on August 31, the second day of the Republican National convention, the delegates gathered in Madison Square Garden to hear first lady Laura Bush, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, other Bush family members, and prominent Republican women and minority leaders speak on compassionate conservatism.
Following the political convention tradition of families presenting a more personal view of the qualities and character of the candidates, Mrs. Bush talked about why voters should elect her husband president for a second term.
"George and I grew up in West Texas, where the sky seems endless ... and so do the possibilities. He brings that optimism, that sense of promise, that certainty that a better day is before us to his job every day -- and with your help, he'll do so for four more years," Mrs. Bush said. "These are times that require an especially strong and determined leader. And I'm proud that my husband is that kind of leader."
The three years since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have been difficult ones for Americans, bringing both hope and grief and demanding perseverance, the first lady said.
"We've learned some lessons we didn't want to know -- that our country is more vulnerable than we thought, that some people hate us because we stand for liberty, religious freedom, and tolerance," she said. "But we have been heartened to discover that we are also braver than we thought, stronger, and more generous."
The most exuberant speech of the night was from Schwarzenegger, the action-hero actor who entered politics last year to win the governorship of California. He presented his own life's story as proof that "the American Dream" is not a myth.
"I was born in Europe," the governor said, "and I've traveled all over the world. I can tell you that there is no place, no country, more compassionate, more generous, more accepting, and more welcoming than the United States of America."
"We're the America that sends out Peace Corps volunteers to teach village children. We're the America that sends out missionaries and doctors to raise up the poor and the sick. We're the America that gives more than any other country to fight AIDS in Africa and the developing world. And we're the America that fights not for imperialism but for human rights and democracy," Schwarzenegger said.
Demonstrating the principle of conservative compassion, all 55 Republican delegations spent the day doing community service projects in and around New York City such as helping at food banks, homeless shelters, boys and girls clubs, and with park cleanup. The New York delegation participated by packing kits of needed school supplies for "Operation Iraqi Children," a grass-roots program through which Americans have been supporting U.S. soldiers' efforts to help the Iraqi people.
Mark Pfeifle, the convention's communications director, said the different themes for each day were chosen "to reflect what the party stands for and what it believes in."
Both parties will begin vigorous campaigning during what has become the official start of presidential campaign seasons, Labor Day holiday weekend, which this year begins September 4.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs,
U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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