During 2002 and 2003 I acted as Programme Director for an exchange programme between a group of women politicians from East and Central Africa and women MPs from the UK, organised by the British Council. Women from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia visited the UK and spent time shadowing UK MPs in Parliament and in their constituencies. Following these visits a number of UK MPs made return trips to visit their exchange partners.

The project aimed to increase awareness and understanding between women politicians in very different situations, to celebrate successes and to share ideas and strategies. My role included:

• Planning and facilitating regional workshops in Nairobi, Kampala and Lilongwe to bring together the East and Central African women MPs before and after their visits to the UK. These workshops combined an opportunity for participants to set objectives for their visits, feedback on their experiences, develop strategies for addressing common problems as women MPs and take part in skills training sessions.
• Developing skills training sessions for the regional workshops in partnership with local trainers in gender budgeting, lobbying and advocacy, dealing with the media and responding to constituents.
• Identifying potential UK participants for the exchange and drawing up a programme of visits and meetings for the women MPs in conjunction with British Council staff to ensure they got the most out of their visit to the UK.
• Researching and writing a British Council Reflections Report - Changing the face of politics - women in leadership
• Interviewing MPs from the UK and Africa for a video documentary about the exchange.

As a result of the exchange the Women MPs from East and Central Africa have been able to form a network to exchange ideas and information within the region. for some the exchange experience between the UK and Africa has resulted in longer term partnerships with pairs of MPs looking for ways to twin schools, colleges and other facilities in their constituencies.