Arab Network for Civic Education (ANHRE) concluded its fieldwork to the 18 kitchen meetings attended by 312 women, which were considered a main component to collect local data for the local Women Empowered for Leadership Project that ANHRE is implementing in local communities in nine governorates in Jordan - three in the north, three in the middle and three in the south.

 

Before the kitchen meetings started, ANHRE chose the specific communities for reasons as being in remote or marginalized urban areas or because they consist of people with a minority status or disabilities. From these communities a total of 18 women leaders (two from every governorate) came together in Amman for eight days to design their local initiatives. These leaders were decided upon by their own community and ANHRE because of their ability to transfer the acquired knowledge and skills to other women and to mobilize and engage them.

 

Fotouh Younes, the executive Director of ANHRE clarified that “A kitchen meeting is a way of engaging different stakeholders such as citizens, community mobilizers, youth, etc. who want to be involved in a local diagnostic or in developing a local action plan. Specifically, this tool can be used to facilitate discussions in a small group setting about a specific issue in a low-key atmosphere.”. She added “This mobilization method aims to: promote discussion among stakeholders in a small group setting; create a low-key environment with a flexible structure to encourage discussion among participants; and stimulate individual and collective learning”.

 

The good factors of this tool are that: it gives a strong sense of involvement and ownership of the process; it targets small group setting which allows each participant to express themselves; it creates affinity between participants which stimulates conversations and discussions; and finally, the schedule is flexible so more people can participate.

 

Kitchen meetings are useful to gain a better understanding of the approach and context proposed by the women leaders in the 9 local communities targeted in ANHRE’s project. In this sense, it is used as part of a planning process to carry out a local diagnostic of the local initiatives that will be conducted by the women leaders soon. The model involves holding multiple kitchen meetings to compile various ideas to work toward the final objective. This tool is particularly useful for residents who often cannot attend the more formal meetings, such as house wives, that major stakeholders can participate in. Kitchen meetings increase the sense of involvement participants feel, which will then push them to make more concrete commitments, unlike a more traditional meeting format.

 

“Kitchen meeting is a new tool to engage women and assess their needs through providing them a platform to express their needs and ambitions,” said Arab Network for Civic Education’s (ANHRE) project coordinator, Tasneem Homouze. Specifically, for women in remote and conservative areas this tool is necessary as “the conservative culture, and stereotypical ideas are factors that force women to live according particular roles, as they remain housewives and are not able to participate in the community. These women are unable to express their needs or convey their voices to decision makers, ANHRE used this tool to create a link between these women and local decision makers” Tasneem argued.

 

Kawthar Krishan, one of the women leaders from Jerash said “We give them the opportunity to meet their neighbours and organize themselves from within the domestic sphere. They had the chance to express themselves, and we value the data we collected from them”. Added Kawther “Through the kitchen meetings our project is more comprehensive and inclusive and we – the focal points – can create a deeper understanding of the communities, and reach the unreachable women” Kawther stated, adding that “even when working women cannot participate in the morning kitchen meetings they can join in evening meetings specially organized for them”.

 

Abla Alhajia, President of Ladies of Al-Hassa Charitable Society in Tafila leaders said: “Some men fear that the women leaders might influence their wives, so they don’t allow them to participate in any activities conducted by us as community-based organization.”

 

Sozan Sawalha, another woman leader from Irbid said "participating in the facilitation of kitchen meetings alerted me on the importance of considering the voices of housewives who can't participate in community activities, we managed to be a bridge between these women and local decision makers which will contribute to make our initiative more comprehensive and more successful as it will address the needs of women".

 

The main aim of ANHRE's project is to empower women and support them in becoming leaders. Obstacles that women face to their leadership are “discriminatory laws and governance structures, socio-cultural norms, practices and traditions and women’s knowledge and capacities,” as is identified in ANHRE’s project. ANHRE recognizes and respects the various local socio-cultural contexts by “being on the ground” in different parts of Jordan. Azraq’s women differed from Ma’an’s as they had other national and tribal backgrounds. Furthermore, they raised different issues as Azraq’s women expressed the wish to see their daughters working in the tourism sector, which is currently preserved for males, while in Ma’an the core issue was the improvement of maternity care in the region.

 

Now that the kitchen meetings are finished, the communities will continue 38 local or local events aimed at facilitating networking and advocating for issues determined during the programme. Moreover, nine community-based initiatives are ready now to be launched with the goal to reach more women, stimulate the integration of gender issues in governmental plans and change societal perceptions of and attitudes towards women.

 

Hivos is an international organization guided by humanist values. Together with local civil society organizations in developing countries, Hivos wants to contribute to a free, fair and sustainable world. A world in which all citizens – both women and men – have equal access to opportunities and resources for development and can participate actively and equally in decision making processes that determine their lives, their society and their future. Hivos trusts in the creativity and capacity of people. Quality, cooperation and innovation are core values in the business philosophy of Hivos. Hivos is committed to poor and marginalised people in Africa, Asia and Latin America. A lasting improvement in their situation is the ultimate measure of our work. One of the guiding principles of our philosophy is strengthening the social position of women.

 

ANHRE was selected by Hivos as one of its partners in Jordan to implement Women Empowered of Leadership Program (WE4L). WE4L aims at achieving four main goals that are More women participating fully and effectively in politics and public administration at sub-national level; Female leaders, linked with women’s rights organisations, have more influence on political and societal developments and on public opinion; civic organizations such as trade unions and political parties promote full and equal participation of women in leadership positions and demonstrate a significant change in their own policies and practices; and more recognition and support from the general public for women in leadership positions.

Arab Network for Civic Education (ANHRE) is a regional network in the Arab region that works towards the enhancement of citizenship values and promotion of culture of human rights with a focus on mainstreaming gender equality, and rights of persons with disability and vulnerable groups, through coordination of efforts and capacity building.

 

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