The U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative: Expanding Political Opportunity

The U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) will support the expansion of political opportunity throughout the Middle East. The Initiative is designed to support men, women, and youth in the Middle East in their bid for democracy, civil liberties, and the rule of law. Programs encouraging democratic reform, free press and free expression, good governance, and free and fair judiciaries have already begun.

The Initiative has dedicated $13.6 million to democracy and civil society programs in FY 2002. Approximately $37 million will be spent in FY 2003 and $47 million in FY 2004. The continual increase in funding demonstrates this Administration's commitment to freedom worldwide.

Campaign Training

The Initiative's funds are one of the only sources of training and information in the Middle East for political candidates. Many countries in the region are holding elections for the first time and there are no experienced politicians. The Initiative is filling the gap by providing training and networking opportunities, particularly for women, in a series of regional campaign schools.

• The campaign schools will be held first in the Arabian Gulf with later expansion to the Levant and Maghreb regions projected in successive years.
• Candidates will be taught skills necessary for running efficient and effective campaigns. Current legislators will be trained in effective leadership and representation. Local capacity to run these schools will be built to ensure sustainability of these trainings and long-term skill building in the region.

A free, professional media is a requisite for an open, democratic society. The media provides both an information source on the activities of the government, ensuring accountability and transparency, and a voice through which the people can peacefully communicate dissent to the government.

• The Initiative is beginning a broad-based media training and media law reform project throughout the Middle East. The countries participating include Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Morocco.
• A small grants Open Media Fund will also be set up to provide material support and capacity-building for new information channels as opportunities arise.

Civil society provides an avenue for the governed to advocate to the government for change and to take peaceful action to effect change for themselves. The creation of non-government organizations is central to the building of educated citizenry actively participating in their own governance.

• The Initiative is inaugurating a regional civic education initiative in Jordan, Egypt, West Bank/Gaza, Bahrain, Lebanon, Morocco, Yemen, and Tunisia.
• It will implement selected "best practice" civic education programs in all eight countries at the elementary through secondary levels, increase the capacity of Arab educators to create and implement effective civic education programs in their own schools and provide networking/information opportunities for Arab educators throughout the region.

The Initiative will also support programs to encourage the establishment of free and independent judiciaries, to promote transparency and good governance.

• Under the Initiative, we have set up numerous training programs for parliamentarians, other elected representatives, and their staffs.
• We are working with Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and the Government of Bahrain to launch a regional forum on judicial reform. The forum will focus on issues of judicial training, selection, and ethics. We will also support regional training centers providing ongoing training for jurists and will replicate additional successful projects in areas such as courts administration.

In the economic arena, MEPI supports improving transparency and anti-corruption measures and reforming the corporate governance sector in the Middle East. The Initiative strives to establish regional networks and knowledge banks of corporate governance experience in the Middle East and North Africa and build greater business community awareness and support for corporate governance principles.