news

U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12) hosted a community forum entitled “Challenges and Opportunities: A discussion about Arab Women in public service.” She hosted members of the Empowering Kuwaiti Women in Politics (EKWIP) program with local leaders and officials to discuss the persistent barriers facing women seeking public office in the U.S. and around the world and the important role women play in shaping public policy.

“Women bring a unique and important perspective to the policy-making dialogue – whether it’s in the United States, Kuwait or elsewhere around the world,” said Dingell. “While we’ve made progress in increasing the number of women in public service, much work remains to ensure our governing bodies are truly representative of our diverse communities. It is my hope that by bringing emerging women leaders together for conversations like this one, we can help break down barriers and improve women’s representation in public service around the world.”

“Participating in the forum was both rewarding and enlightening,” said Dearborn City Council President Susan Dabaja. “I look forward to those opportunities where I can share my experience and knowledge as a woman in politics in hopes that I can encourage other females to forge forward and continue the fight for equal voice and opportunity.”

“The EKWIP future leaders meeting with Representative Dingell was both inspiring and illuminating,” said Dr. Alanoud Alsharekh of Ibtkar Strategic Consultancy. “Her frank discussion of the challenges she faced demonstrated that the cultural differences are not as important as the entrenched patriarchy in most political systems.”

In addition to Dabaja and Alsharekh, Dingell was joined by Alyaa Mugaddas of the Empowering Kuwaiti Women in Politics program, State Representative Abdullah Hammoud, Ghida Dagher of United Way Southeast Michigan, and Rana Elmir of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The Empowering Kuwaiti Women in Politics program is a State Department initiative hosting 15 Kuwaiti women in the U.S. who are eager to break into Kuwaiti politics. Kuwaiti women were granted the right to vote and stand for parliamentary and municipal elections beginning in 2006. There is currently only one female representative in the country’s 65-member governing body.