Sian MacAdam and Megan Brown report on WLP's First Roaming Institute for Women's Leadership.

Women's Learning Partnership for Rights, Development, and Peace (WLP) recently brought together 17 women leaders from Afghanistan/Pakistan, Cameroon, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Palestine, and Uzbekistan for a week-long conference on enhancing women's rights, leadership, and political participation in the Global South.

WLP's first Roaming Institute for Women's Leadership was held at the Bolger Center for Leadership Development in Maryland from June 22-27, 2002. The Institute was a multimedia leadership learning meeting during which participants strategized about ways to empower women in diverse Muslim societies to take on leadership roles within their communities and to develop the skills to become better advocates for women's equal participation in decision-making and civil society. "This was an excellent opportunity to network with other organizations, improve our facilitation and communication skills, and strategize about ways to collaboratively empower women in our communities," commented Mishka Mojabber of Lebanon at the conclusion of the Institute.

WLP's concept that inclusive, horizontal, and participatory leadership empowers women and leads to the development of gender equitable and democratic societies forms the basis of the Roaming Institutes for Women's Leadership and is described in WLP's collaboratively developed manual Leading to Choices: A Leadership Training Handbook for Women. Trainers from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East simulated scenarios on conflict-resolution and negotiation, women's political participation, and gender-sensitive leadership styles. The simulations enhanced participants' facilitation skills and emphasized country-specific successes and challenges experienced when implementing this alternative leadership concept. For example, WLP's partners in Afghanistan conducted a role-play scenario that encouraged participants representing diverse Afghan ethnic groups to communicate and negotiate across cultural barriers to achieve a shared goal for girls' education and advancement. WLP's Jordanian partners facilitated a session in which participants analyzed challenges to women's involvement in local and national elections, and strategized on ways to motivate women at the grassroots level to become politically active.

The Institute also focused on skills training necessary to plan and conduct media campaigns, communications strategy ...