Georgetown University: School of Foreign Service in Qatar

Doha, Qatar — From July 13-21, young women from across the Middle East and North Africa gathered at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar for the inaugural Young Women Leaders Academy. The women, ranging in age from 19-28, were selected based on a track record and demonstrated interest in community service. The group included undergraduate and graduate students and activists from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar and Yemen.

Organized by the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the program aimed at providing young Arab women with the intellectual tools, comparative knowledge and practical skills necessary to become leaders in their communities. NDI is a nonprofit organization working to strengthen and expand democracy worldwide.

At the academy, the ladies attended seminars on women’s leadership and social and political issues in the Middle East and North Africa. Each participant came to the academy with the shared desire of strengthening the role of women leaders in their own country.

Marwa Wafsy, a participant from Egypt, has already started an NGO that focuses on advocating rights for women. She will use her newfound skills to make her organization more effective. “We should all work to empower women to take responsibility for participating in the decision-making process, especially in the Arab world,” Wafsy said.

Students also improved their leadership skills through a series of intensive sessions on topics including public speaking, conflict resolution, advocacy and fundraising. During the public speaking training, the young women each prepared speeches on a topic of their choice which were video taped and critiqued by a communications expert.

On Wednesday evening, the women participated in a panel discussion with three successful young women leaders in Washington, DC. The panel took place in Georgetown’s Global Classroom, a unique room that contains a high-definition video connection between Washington, DC and Doha. The technology made the women feel like they were in the same room. The leaders in Washington talked about their work and how they balance careers and a personal life. A participant from Yemen said about the panel: “Amazing, I felt I was in a completely technological environment while at Georgetown…I want to be follow in their footsteps and be like them in the future. It reminded us that nothing can stop us from meeting our goals."

Throughout the week, the women worked in small groups to develop their own political campaign. Each group elected a candidate, a campaign manager, a policy director and a communications/media manager. The groups developed campaign platforms, outreach and media plans that they presented to an audience on the final day of the academy. Following the presentations, the audience voted on which candidate they would elect to office.

“These women are amazing. To be so young and so dedicated to improving the lives of people in their countries has been inspiring for all of us who worked with them this week,” said Katie Croake, the academy’s manager.

Building upon the intensive academic and training components of the program, the participants will participate in internships with parliaments, political parties or civil society organizations when they return to their countries in order to help them utilize their newly acquired political, advocacy and leadership skills. The internship experiences provide the ladies with an opportunity to gain hands-on experience in political processes, build leadership skills, and continue becoming more effective leaders.

According to the participants, the camp was a success. “There is nothing more empowering than a group of young women leaders gathering for a whole week to learn from each other,” said Imane Tounsi, a participant from Morocco.