Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative Makes Progress

The G8 Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative (BMENA) was launched at the Sea Island Summit hosted by the United States in 2004. In addition to the seven BMENA initiatives below, the G8 agreed to establish with regional partners a Forum for the Future to further reform. The first historic Forum for the Future was held in Morocco in December 2004 and has become the centerpiece of the BMENA partnership by providing an international venue to support the reform voices in the region. The second Forum will be held in Bahrain in November 2005, co-hosted by the Bahrain and the United Kingdom as G8 President. The U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Middle East Partnership Initiative are funding several of the BMENA initiatives.

Democracy Assistance Dialogue (DAD): A key initiative under the BMENA umbrella, the Democracy Assistance Dialogue held its first meeting June 20-21, 2005 as 120 women civil society leaders throughout the BMENA region met in Istanbul to discuss issues of women’s participation in public life hosted by a Turkish non-governmental organization (NGO). On July 20-23 in Venice civil society leaders from across the region will come together to prepare an agenda on political participation and elections to guide the Dialogue meeting with governments in October in Rabat. The Rabat meeting will represent the first joint session of governments and civil society. DAD activities focus on women’s empowerment, rule of law, and transparency. U.S. and other G8 support will enable the DAD to become a critical regional forum for civil society and governmental partnerships.

Entrepreneurship: With a grant from the U.S. Middle East Partnership Initiative, two training centers to develop local entrepreneurship are being established in Bahrain and Morocco. The Governments of Morocco and Bahrain plan to host inaugural events for their centers in September and November, 2005, respectively.

International Finance Corporation (IFC): The IFC has established its regional Private Enterprise Partnership to support the growth of small- and medium-sized businesses. The U.S. has pledged $15 million toward the G8’s goal of $100 million over three years. The IFC is inaugurating activities across the region and is now active in 13 countries and the West Bank/Gaza.

Network of Funds: The Arab Monetary Fund has taken the lead in establishing the Network, which will bring together regional and multilateral finance institutions and advise governments.

Literacy and Education: U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings joined her G8 and BMENA counterparts at the first Education Ministerial at the Dead Sea on May 23, 2005. Ministers agreed to a Framework for Progress that outlined the importance of education reform to the prosperity of the region. Ministers also adopted the BMENA Framework for Literacy Action with the goal of increasing literacy by an addition 20 million people in 2015, with a special emphasis on female literacy and assisting the region to halve the illiteracy rate by that date.

Task Force on Investment: The private sector Task Force, led by the Arab Business Council, met at the Dead Sea on May 21, 2005. It will advise governments and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on barriers to investment in the region.

Microfinance: At Sea Island, the G8 asked the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) to develop a training center to help promote microfinance for the broader Middle East and North Africa. GCAP set up this "Center of Excellence" in Jordan this spring and has conducted microfinance assessment missions to several countries in the region.