There is an ongoing discourse in development circles regarding the ethics and effectiveness of advancing women's empowerment by giving women affirmative action-type "special treatment." The Near East Foundation (NEF) had an interesting, related experience in Jordan, where it is commonly expected that women need an extra boost to achieve success in the male-dominated arena of public life.

Qudorat means "capabilities" in Arabic and is the aptly named project consolidating 15 years of NEF's capacity-building experience with community-based organizations (CBOs) in Jordan. The project, a multi-year, multi-million dollar partnership among the Jordanian government, a national development organization, the private sector and NEF, challenged all kinds of Jordanian CBOs to compete for the opportunity to become stronger, more independent and sustainable initiators of local development. Out of 300 CBOs applying, 182 entered the first level of competition and assessment. Forty-one progressed to the intensive capabilities training, mentoring and business plan development phase. Thirty-three of the most viable income-generating plans won partial seed money from the Qudorat project -- and one-third of them are run by women.

"Early on, we decided that we had to treat every CBO the same," said Majdi Al-Qorom, NEF's Qudorat program director and one of Jordan's only male gender equity experts. "We developed a completely transparent application and assessment process, whereby any applicant CBO could check its ratings and position on the project website." Women's organizations and charitable societies were rated according to the same criteria as men's agricultural cooperatives, sport clubs and mixed-ownership community organizations. "We didn't give women's groups any handicap points, nor did we excuse them from attendance at project meetings or mixed training sessions," Al Qorom pointed out, because they had to be ready and able to benefit from the training and the whole competitive experience of planning and running a sustainable business. "If we made special conditions for them and they succeeded, how could they know that they could really do it?" he asked. "And worse, if they failed, what would they have learned?"

This level playing field policy seems to have paid off. "The women-owned businesses are among the most successful in the Qudorat portfolio, largely due to their superior commitment to take advantage of every opportunity the program offered," Al-Qorom said. Female participants in the program frequently commented that as they cleared each successive competitive hurdle on their own merits, it increased their commitment and confidence, and, therefore, their performance. In certain locations, women's organizations won over those run by men. "They could enjoy proud ownership of their own achievements because no one 'gave' it to them," Al-Qorom noted. "They liked competing and winning on a level field, and their families and communities also respected their efforts."

Among the successful CBO income and job-generating projects run by the Qudorat women are: several retail operations serving remote rural areas (supermarkets, an appliance and home furnishings store); a recycling center that sells treated agricultural waste as fertilizer; workshops producing frozen vegetables, embroidery, ceramic handcrafts, clothing and household items; and a micro-credit fund.

NEF Qudorat project consultant Kathy Sullivan's article first appeared on the online extension service of "Monday Developments," the magazine of InterAction--the umbrella organization for 170+ U.S. international assistance organizations.