KUWAIT MEPIC II: INCREASING MEPI'S PUBLIC OUTREACH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 004144 SIPDIS FOR NEAR/PI, NEA/ARPI, NEA/PPD,IIP/G/NEA; ABU DHABI FOR MEPI E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/20/2015 TAGS: PREL PGOV KMPI KDEM ECON KWMN KU MEPI SUBJECT: KUWAIT MEPIC II: INCREASING MEPI'S PUBLIC OUTREACH REF: A. KUWAIT 4047: JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT UPDATE ¶B. SECSTATE 163043: USPTO DECEMBER PROGRAM ¶C. SECSTATE 152168: RULE OF LAW CONFERENCE ¶D. SECSTATE 133351: DEMOCRACY ASSISTANCE DIALOGUE ¶E. SECSTATE 124591: BUSINESS INTERNSHIP PROGRAM ¶F. KUWAIT 2732: FIRST QUARTERLY MEPIC ¶G. SECSTATE 94876: USPTO PROGRAMS ¶1. (C) Summary: Ambassador chaired Post's September 14 MEPI committee meeting -- with representatives from the Front Office and Commercial, Economic, Political and Public Affairs sections -- to review quarterly accomplishments and discuss upcoming projects for inclusion in the quarterly report (coined the MEPI epic or "MEPIc"). During the third quarter (July-September),Embassy Kuwait: received approval for two additional small grants, worked with on-going MEPI programs, increased participation in public diplomacy initiatives, invited Kuwaitis to an array of regional conferences, boosted MEPI's public image through media coverage and responded to project assessments, while meeting all deadlines. The committee suggested targeting future program work on two Freedom Agenda priorities: full political participation for women and promotion of more responsible journalism. End summary. 2Q05 Follow Up: Focus on Small Grants and PD Initiatives -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) Post submitted five FY05 small grants proposals. Two were approved during 3Q05 bringing the total to four green-lighted projects. CineMagic's grant will provide scholarship support for underprivileged youth to attend film training courses with the goal of producing civic-minded short movies for mass screening. Meanwhile, the Lothan Youth Activities Center will conduct a summer civic education program in 2006 to increase political awareness among the largely apathetic Kuwaiti youth. The amount of committed FY05 small grants funds now totals $60,460, a 71% increase over FY04. ¶3. (C) Two on-going programs made progress during the quarter. INJAZ, the Amman-based Junior Achievement affiliate, formed its board, appointed a local director and recruited voluntary instructors to inaugurate its program this fall (ref A). The National Democratic Institute (NDI) launched the second phase of its women's political rights program, this 
time focusing on campaign training, which supports the Freedom Agenda goal of fully integrating women into the political process. NDI representatives Kelley Jones and Lynsey Kryzwick arrived in August to prepare the September 25-28 "Partners in Participation" conference, an event designed for women to interact with colleagues from around the region in workshops on campaign strategy, voter outreach and media relations. Ambassador is slated to open the conference with brief remarks. Also scheduled to attend are Minister of Planning and Minister of State for Administrative Development Dr. Ma'souma Al-Mubarak and U.S. Representative Jane Harman (D-CA),among others. Ambassador will host a September 26 reception for the participants. ¶4. (U) The Public Diplomacy initiative to translate the "Journal of Democracy" into Arabic has been delayed since, as Post understands, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) abandoned its translation effort in June. With MEPI concurrence and funding, we would be prepared to approach an experienced local translator to complete the project. Post requested additional funding for the ACCESS microscholarship program to increase the enrollment of non-elite Kuwaiti youths in 2005-2006 to 200 from 105 the previous academic year, a 90% increase. AMIDEAST is the local program implementor and could only handle 180 due to space limitations at their facility, thereby capping Post's participation. Quarterly Recap: Kuwaitis Attend Regional Events -------------- --- ¶5. (U) Post invited Kuwaitis to a host of regional conferences during the quarter. In addition to the names provided by Washington, Post suggested three additional candidates for the BMENA-related Democracy Assistance Dialogue in Venice in July (ref D). Post received confirmation of the attendance of one Kuwaiti, Dr. Rola Dashti, who also spoke at the event. In response to a request for U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) intellectual property rights training candidates (ref G),we submitted the names of two Kuwaiti judges for the August and September programs in the U.S. The USDA held its September 13-16 "Global Trade" conference, a MEPI-funded technical assistance workshop, in Kuwait in conjunction with the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources. In response to ref C, Post submitted the names of four Kuwaitis to attend the September 26-27 BMENA-related rule of law conference in Amman. For the December USPTO IPR academy (ref B),we forwarded the names of three GOK officials. Post's submissions met MEPI deadlines. We request that NEA/PI inform us when invitations to Post-suggested candidates are sent so we can encourage their participation as well. ¶6. (U) Kuwaitis have actively participated in regional programs. Two students returned from the MEPI Study of the U.S. Institutes held during the summer. Post participated on the Business Internship Program (BIP) selection committee, chaired by AMIDEAST, to identify local candidates (ref F). During the September 14 selection meeting, two Kuwaiti women were chosen from the 16 applicants. The candidates' names were sent to Washington for final approval. Regarding the 2006 MEET-U.S. program, Post contacted a variety of GOK ministries and private company representatives to solicit applications and distributed program information, including website links, to interested candidates. Application information is posted on our internet site in both Arabic and English to encourage widespread participation, particularly among women. Quarterly Recap: Successes with Public Outreach -------------- -- ¶7. (U) Public Affairs arranged media opportunities for MEPI program participants, garnering significant press coverage. A June 26 press roundtable for two Kuwaiti Study of the U.S. Institutes participants received coverage from all of Kuwait's eight daily newspapers, five Arabic and three English. The roundtable included a meeting between Ambassador, the students and their families. Soumaya Al-Jassem, the 2004 BIP participant, appeared August 7 with AMIDEAST, the local BIP administrator, at a media roundtable and described her positive experiences in an effort to generate interest in the 2005 program. Again, all eight dailies featured the event prominently. ¶8. (U) Post encouraged media contacts to highlight MEPI programs and facilitated the development of a potential media event. Mohammed Al-Jassem, host of the weekly Gulf affairs television program, "Al-Majlis," on Al-Hurra TV, approached Public Affairs for an interlocutor to discuss MEPI programs such as BIP. Post contacted MEPI Abu Dhabi and put Al-Jassem and the Regional Office in contact; a program focusing on MEPI is now in the works. (Note: Since Soumaya is Al-Jassem's daughter, he preferred to invite a regional MEPI representative on his program to avoid a conflict of interest. End note.) Al-Jassem said that his goal is to encourage participants of MEPI and other U.S. exchange and training programs to speak publicly about their experiences in an effort to remove a perceived, regionwide stigma against U.S.-sponsored training. ¶9. (U) Ambassador hosted a September 12 reception for members of the democracy and human rights communities. Post invited several MEPI contacts including small grants recipients, a visiting NDI representative and women's rights activists. Ambassador addressed the gathering and highlighted MEPI's involvement with democracy and women's issues. Quarterly Recap: Project Proposal Assessments -------------- ¶10. (U) Post received four requests for project proposal assessments during the quarter. The women's empowerment review in July included two proposals incorporating Kuwait from Freedom House and International Republican Institute (IRI). We noted that the Freedom House program to compile laws that discriminate against women mirrored one of the FY05 small grant projects as well as a proposed UNDP project. The same month, Post reviewed six independent media proposals focusing on advocacy, law, reform and training. Only one of the political reform proposals in August, NED's political participation workshops in 2006, pertained to Kuwait. Post recommended in August that NDI's draft program on women's political participation focus on coalition building. Again, Post's submissions met all MEPI deadlines. Future Planning: Supporting the Freedom Agenda -------------- - ¶11. (C) NDI has mentioned interest in making its program work, which supports our Freedom Agenda priority of full political participation for Kuwaiti women, more long-term rather than dependent on consultants. We support this idea, which would help to prepare women for the 2007 legislative elections, both as candidates and activists. PolChief is scheduled to meet with Dr. Samar Al-Roomi regarding her ideas for projects designed to incorporate more women into the political process. Al-Roomi had previously met with NEA/PI in January (ref F). She also is interested in female participation in the media, which supports a second Freedom Agenda goal of creating a more responsible media. ¶12. (C) To support the GOK initiative to reduce the number of voting districts in a bid to combat electoral corruption, we discussed approaching local universities' political science departments regarding possible political geography and polling projects. A related program could also compile historical voting and public opinion trends for statistical modeling purposes. We also suggested inviting experts from the U.S. or holding a DVC between American and Kuwaiti political analysts. New MEPI Intranet Site, Post Coordinator -------------- ¶13. (U) The MEPI Committee launched an intranet site in August to educate the entire mission about MEPI and provide a resource for committee members. The website already provides MEPI's history and objectives, an overview of BMENA in addition to submitted small grants applications. Once completed, users will be able to search regional conferences and programs, past and present, including the names of Kuwaiti participants. ¶14. (U) The role of post MEPI Coordinator will transition to new PAO Tanya C. Anderson on October 1. Please include her on all correspondence regarding small grants, conferences, on-going programs and project proposal assessments. Her email is andersontc@state.gov. ********************************************* Visit Embassy Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website ********************************************* LEBARON