KUWAIT MEPIC 4: ABOUT 500 YOUNG KUWAITIES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 06 KUWAIT 001224

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/PI, NEA/ARP, NEA/PPD
ABU DHABI FOR MEPI (HWECHSEL, MHOPKINS)

E.O. 12958: DECLAS. 04/08/2016
TAGS: PREL KMPI KPAO KU MEPI
SUBJECT: KUWAIT MEPIC 4: ABOUT 500 YOUNG KUWAITIES
BENEFITING FROM MEPI (MEPI QUARTERLY REPORT)

REF: A) KUWAIT 605
B) KUWAIT 540
C) KUWAIT 436
D) 05 KUWAIT 4144
E) 05 KUWAIT 2732

CLASSIFIED BY CHARGE' D'AFFAIRES A.I. MATTHEW H. TUELLER
FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (SBU) Summary: This MEPI quarterly report covers
key MEPI developments in Kuwait during FY06Q2. During
this period, INJAZ/Junior Achievement in Kuwait
launched its activities targeting almost 300 students
from public and private schools. CineMagic, a small
grants recipient, trained six film students, instilling
in them an appreciation for teamwork and public service.
Nineteen Kuwaitis participated in and/or were nominated
to participate in MEPI exchange programs and/or regional
conferences. During this quarter, almost 500 young Kuwaiti
students are benefiting from MEPI programs (ACCESS,
CineMagic and INJAZ projects). In addition to MEPI
activities in support of the Freedom Agenda, Post
continued its efforts to promote political reform and
there has been considerable progress in several areas
of the Freedom Agenda, with goals for women's political
participation and press reform reaching desired outcomes
well in advance of the target dates. Post will continue
its efforts to promote democratic reform, but regrets
that severe budget cuts have limited opportunities to host
movie nights, teas, and video conferences. End summary.

MEPI Visitors Promote LDF
--------------


2. (U) The Embassy hosted March 28-29, the visit of
Benjamin Orbach, MEPI Deputy Regional Coordinator, and
Dima Toukan, a MEPI Specialist based in the Regional Office
in Abu Dhabi. The MEPI representatives met with Kuwaiti
civil society representatives, MEPI program participants,
the Embassy's MEPI team, Kuwait's Graduates Society, the
Kuwait Environmental Protection Society, and with the
Acting President of the American University of Kuwait.
The focus of the meetings was the recruitment of candidates
for the MEPI Leaders for Democracy Fellowship. Post also
used the opportunity to exchange views with both MEPI
Washington and the Regional Office on how to both strengthen
and streamline MEPI programming. One option, which Post is
now testing, is using the Embassy to convey all invitations
to Kuwaiti participants for all MEPI-related programming.
The intent is to identify new candidates for programs and
confirm their participation well in advance of the start of
any program.

Status of FY05 Small Grants Projects
--------------


3. (U) During the second quarter of FY06, one small
grants project, implemented by CineMagic, was in progress
in Kuwait. Members of the Embassy's MEPI team worked
closely with the grantee to encourage forward movement
on the CineMagic project as well as on the pending LoYAC
project:

a) CineMagic's civic-minded film project continued its
activities into the second quarter of FY06. Six of the
expected ten students completed the film school's
coursework. Four of the six students have nearly completed
their films. The ultimate goal of this project was not only
a high-quality final film product, but also screening of
the films as public service announcements at Kuwait's cinemas
and on television. The production process is as important
a component of this project as are the final products. The
process highlighted teamwork, men and women working together,
and democratic dialogue, all of which had a tremendous
positive impact on the project participants who had never had
the chance to participate in projects requiring teamwork
and the mixing of young men and women. The next four
students are expected to start their training and projects in
April, 2006. Their project will be completed as a short film
of about five minutes, which will take into account several
issues of civic significance in the same work. The project
participants will work as a team to complete the short film.
All remaining CineMagic projects are due to be completed by
June 2006. (Note: Post has requested ESF funds for an anti-
trafficking in persons project that would expand on MEPI
objectives by using CineMagic graduates to produce a series
of public service announcements on labor exploitation. Ref

C. End note.)

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b) The Lothan Youth Achievement Center (LoYAC) project on
summer entrepreneurship training for youth is scheduled to be
implemented in June and July 2006. The Public Affairs
Section has put LoYAC's leadership in contact with
international institutions that will aid the development
of their summer internship projects. LoYAC included the MEPI
logo in its advertising in Kuwait's Arabic and English
newspapers and in its summer program brochure.

Call for FY06 Small Grant Program Applications
-------------- --


4. (U) During Q1 and Q2, the Embassy actively recruited
applicants for MEPI Small Grants, meeting with prospective
grantees, promoting MEPI at diwaniyas and through contacts,
and faxing MEPI information to grassroots organizations.
Following the Regional Office's extension of the FY06 Small
Grants deadline, Post also extended its in- country deadline
for Small Grants. As of the first week of April, three
proposals have been received, four more are expected. Small
Grant applications, or proposal ideas, were submitted on a
number of subjects: leadership development training, women's
development in the Arab world, and on a workshop series on
women's legal and political rights in Kuwait. We are also
working with the following organizations on possible
FY06 Small Grant projects: CineMagic, Kuwait Youth
Organization, Lothan Youth Achievement Center, and the
Women's Network.

MEPI In-Country Programs
--------------


5. (U) Two large scale MEPI-funded programs also are
progressing.

a) The MEPI-funded ACCESS microscholarship English-language
program began in November 2005. AMIDEAST is implementing
the program in Kuwait with 200 non-elite Kuwaiti ninth- and
tenth-graders participating in the six-month long English-
language program which is tied in to other Embassy Public
Diplomacy programs.

b) During FY06Q2, INJAZ/Junior Achievement in Kuwait began
implementing its pilot company program, where students
organize and operate an actual business enterprise to
learn how businesses function, about the operation and
benefits of the free-enterprise system, under the mentorship
of active Kuwaiti businessmen and businesswomen. As of
March 2006, 266 Kuwaiti students from three public
schools and five private schools began participating in
the INJAZ pilot program. From the private schools (American
School of Kuwait, American Creative Academy, and Bayan
Bilingual School),155 students are participating. From the
state-operated public schools (including two girls
schools and three boys schools),111 students are
participating.

MEPI Exchanges and Conferences
--------------


6. (U) The Embassy's MEPI team has continued to offer
support to MEPI regional and global activities, exchanges and
conferences by recruiting, selecting, and nominating
appropriate Kuwaiti participants. One area of focus has been
recruitment for the MEPI Leaders for Democracy Fellowship.
The following Kuwaitis participated in or were nominated
for the listed MEPI exchange programs and/or regional
conferences during FY06Q2:


A. Regional Conference Participants:

1) Arab Civitas Conference on Civic Education, Jordan
(February 2006):
- Dr. Wafaa Al-Yaseen, Kuwait University

2) MEPI Study of the U.S. Institutes for Student Leaders
Alumni Conference, Abu Dhabi (February 2006):
- Sulaiman Al-Khayri, Kuwait University


B. Ongoing Exchange Participants:

1) MEPI U.S. Business Internship Program for Young Middle
Eastern Women (November 2005 - April 2006):
- Ms. Alia Al-Mutawa, Assistant in Administration Marketing,
Petrochemical Industries Company
- Ms. Reem Al-Hajri, Senior Investment Officer, KIPCO Asset
Management Company

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2) Middle East Entrepreneur Training in the United States--
MEET U.S. (March - April 2006):
- Hissah Al-Sabah, Managing Director, Dar Al-Funoon
Art Gallery
- Manal Al-Husaini, General Manager and owner of Comtec
Trading Corporation
- Wafa Al-Rasheed, Technical Director at the Kuwait Stock
Exchange


C. Selected Participants:

The following candidates are to participate in the MEPI
Study of the U.S. Institutes for Student Leaders
(summer, 2006):

University Students:
- Mr. Khalifa Al-Azmi, Kuwait University
- Mr. Abbas Kamal, Kuwait University
- Mr. Mohammed Abdulsalam, Kuwait University
- Mr. Abdullah Al-Sharrah, Kuwait University

Recent High School Graduate:
- Ms. Dalal, Al-Wazzan, Bibi Al-Salem High School


D. Nominated Participants (Post is awaiting notification
of their participation status):

1) Democracy and Election Management Institute
(June, 2006):
- Mr. Ali Murad, Director of the Elections Department
at the Ministry of Interior
- Dr. Jassem Karam, Kuwait University
- Dr. Ali Al-Zuabi, Kuwait University

2) MEPI Independent Media Project:
- Mr. Ahmed Al-Ghanim, Thouq Magazine
- Ms. Hadia Ghezali, who want to publish a new
independent magazine focusing on women's issues.

3) MEPI-USPTO U.S. Study Tour for Middle East Region
Public Law Librarians (June 2006):
- Ms. Bashayer Al-Randi, Kuwait University
- Ms. May Al-Kulaib, Kuwait University

SPA Grant Proposals Review
--------------


7. (U) On February 11, 2006, the Embassy's MEPI team
met to evaluate the Kuwait- related SPA Grant proposals.
Two organizations' proposals were given high rankings:
IFES (proposal number 530),and the Kuwait Environmental
Protection Society (proposal number 466). The proposal
from the Arab Organization of Disabled People (proposal
number 522) was medium-ranked. The IFES, KEPS and AODP
proposals each suggested a probability of success and
included the appropriate target audiences (such as
youth),and themes (such as democratization and
environmental civic activism).


8. (U) The following Kuwait-related proposals were
low-ranked: 490 - American University, 514 - The Middle
East Media Research Institute (MEMRI),513 - The
Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, and 487 -
Andalus Institute for Tolerance and Anti-Violence Studies.
Proposals from the following organizations were not
recommended for funding: 450 - Arab Center for the
Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession,
469 - Arab Program for Human Rights Activists, and 492 -
Arab Penal Reform Organization. The rejected proposed
projects tended to be vague, with unclear measurements
of success or were just not needed in Kuwait. The
proposals did not adequately match the Embassy's
priorities in the field of reforms related to MEPI and
the Freedom Agenda.

The Next Year of MEPI in Kuwait: New Targets, New Focus
-------------- --------------


9. (SBU) Many of the Embassy's political reform goals
and MEPI benchmarks have been met, including women gaining
full political rights, and progress on the horizon for
electoral constituency reform. MEPI projects now need
to focus more on in-country programming. Kuwait is
now entering an election year. Kuwaiti women ran for
elected office and voted for the first time on April 4
in a Municipal Council by-election; the first
parliamentary elections in which women will vote and run,

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is scheduled to be held in July 2007. This time-frame
will limit the ability and willingness of Kuwaitis to
participate in out-of-country or long-term MEPI
exchanges or training projects between now and July,

2007. Kuwaiti civil society leaders and political
participants will not be able to afford to spend time
away from the country when campaign preparations and
grassroots organizing will be required of candidates
(prior to the spring of 2007),and particularly not when
campaigning will be most intense (from March 2007 onward).
Second, overt visits to the United States for campaign
training too close to the elections and under the
microscope of an election-year-energized press will have
the undesired effect of tainting candidates as
"American candidates," diminishing their chances for
success. Furthermore, training or development workshops
far from Kuwait would also, in the view of some
conservative elements in Kuwait's political spectrum,
lack transparency and further increase distrust in
American-trained candidates. Such an outcome would
certainly be counterproductive.


10. (U) MEPI should therefore increase its focus on
in-country democracy training and campaign support.
The Embassy also has had a significant budget cut
for FY06. Thus, the ability of the various Embassy
sections to support MEPI has been hit as have all other
programs. MEPI financial support for Post's MEPI
outreach efforts, including for representational
events, and for Post-run MEPI projects, would have a
distinct positive impact on furthering the reach of
MEPI and the Freedom Agenda in Kuwait.


11. (U) One additional issue of note is the
consequences of recycling MEPI participants. The trend
has been to offer MEPI training and program opportunities
to the same persons. This phenomenon limits the
audience of new contacts and provides experienced
participants little new in follow-on workshops or
seminars. We need to diversify the base of participants
in democracy-building workshops, and develop more
advanced and focused training topics and methods for
past participants in MEPI training programs and seminars.

Freedom Agenda Report Card: Gold Star for Women's
Participation
-------------- --------------


12. (C) In addition to advances in MEPI programs,
there has been considerable progress in several areas
of the Freedom Agenda, with most goals reaching the
desired outcome well in advance of the target date.
For example, Post set December 2006 as the target
date for the registration of female voters and in
December 2005, the GOK began the automatic
registration of female voters through their civil
identification numbers, registering 195,000 by February

2006. At least eight women have expressed an interest
in running for Parliament in 2007 and one, journalist
Aisha Al-Reshaid, has launched an aggressive campaign.
In early March, she received a threatening letter
which authorities immediately and publicly investigated.
The unidentified author later admitted his grievance
was against women's political participation in general
and not specifically against Al-Reshaid. He had a
personal stake as well; his brother, a former MP,
lost in the 2003 elections and the author feared an
expanded voter and candidate pool would further
erode his brother's chances for re-election.


13. (SBU) The appointment of Municipal Council member
Abdullah Al-Muhailbi to a ministerial position opened
the field for women to run for office in special
elections to fill the vacant seat. Among the eight
candidates were two women who both wear the hijab
and hail from Kuwait's minority Shi'a population.
Their campaigns attracted daily press attention and
all eyes were on the 28,000 voters in the fifth
constituency (of which 58 percent are women) and
how they would vote. Most did not expect them to be
successful; nevertheless their campaigns bode
well for women's political participation. Their
campaign tents attracted male and female audiences
and the women have used websites and logos to overcome
cultural sensitivities about using women's pictures on
campaign posters. One male candidate, to reach female
voters, enlisted his female relatives to campaign on
his behalf. The by-election was held April 4 and

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one of the women finished in second place which
Kuwait is celebrating as a clear victory for women's
rights.


14. (SBU) Despite the successes, women still have
far to go before the 2007 parliamentary elections.
Training programs for both candidates and the
electorate remain a priority. Local groups, including
the Women's Cultural and Social Society and the Kuwait
Teacher's Association have embarked on training programs,
but still welcome U.S. expertise. Post looks forward to
the return to Kuwait of NDI and recommends that its
Kuwait program include a strong focus on fundraising,
non-traditional campaigning, and developing a coherent
political platform and a broad support base. Some of the
women running for office have made personal status issues
-- housing for divorced women, transmission of citizenship
by women to their children, and the status of Kuwaiti
women married to non-Kuwaitis -- key aspects of their
campaigns. Post applauds them for highlighting social
inequalities, but by doing so, they have only attracted
the support of a small group of women, but have not
identified issues that resonate among the larger society,
including both men and women who support full political
participation.


15. (C) Post has used movie nights, teas, DVC exchanges,
and holiday celebrations to engage women and other Kuwaiti
contacts on political participation. Several MEPI- funded
projects have further advanced this goal. Despite the
low-key, but persistent approach, many maintain the U.S.
played a direct role in the May 16, 2005 decision to
grant women full political rights. Ministry of Education
Undersecretary Dr. Rasha Al- Sabah, at an International
Women's Day luncheon hosted by Mrs. LeBaron and PAO,
acknowledged the support of the U.S. to Kuwaiti women
in the struggle to achieve their political rights.
Post deeply regrets that severe budget cuts have virtually
eliminated funding for such events, which are often the only
time that Kuwaiti women from different political spheres and
socioeconomic groups come together. To offset Post's
inability to fund local activities, the Embassy strongly
recommends that MEPI funds be used to immediately initiate
a regional program targeting those countries where elections
will take place. With elections in Kuwait only a year away,
it's essential to conduct as many training activities as
possible in-country in order to appeal to and attract a
broad base. An ideal program would consist of one or
two-seminars for both women and men and include as speakers
American and Arab women who have run, successfully or not,
for public office. Lessons learned type programs are well
received and it is important to reinforce that failure to win
an election does not equate with failure to influence the
process or affect change.

Solid B on Press Freedom
--------------


16. (C) Post also set December 2006 as a target date for
passage of a new Press and Publications law. On March 6,
the National Assembly passed a new law which, while
not perfect, is a welcome change from the 1961 legislation
that had been in effect. Although the new law increases
the penalties for publications that violate the law's
religious clauses, most observers believe it affords greater
protections for press freedom. Post engaged heavily with
Government officials, Members of Parliament, and media
representatives on the benefits of the new law. We will
continue to closely monitor the press; include journalists
and editors in International Visitor Programs and other
projects to strengthen their abilities and promote
responsible journalism; and track the launching of new
publications.

An "Incomplete" for Political Reform
--------------


17. (C) Another December 2006 target was GOK introduction
and debate on the establishment of political parties. The
GOK has identified electoral constituency reform as a
prerequisite to the establishment of parties and has
initiated a dialogue with Parliament on the desired
number and geographical boundaries of the constituencies
following a reduction in their numbers. Formal debate
is scheduled for April 17. There is consensus on the
need for reform and its importance to transparency and the
participation of women, but there is lack of agreement
on how best to achieve that goal. GOK officials have publicly

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called for constituency reform, but many parliamentarians
and political strategists have questioned the sincerity of
the GOK, arguing that if the GOK were serious about reform,
it would press harder for reducing the number of
constituencies. MP Mohammed Jassem Al-Sager recommended
the U.S. exert greater pressure on the GOK to redraw
constituencies. The Ambassador and EmbOffs continually
raise electoral reform with Kuwaiti contacts, insisting
that without it, there will be no meaningful political
reform in Kuwait. Post will continue to press for reform
and also remind that GOK that in order for Kuwait to be an
active participant in Community of Democracies meetings, it
must establish political parties. Post has also nominated
three candidates for the MEPI-funded American University's
Center for Democracy and Election Management Institute.
Post would welcome additional programs and DVCs targeting
the importance of electoral reform to political reform.

Coming Up Next Quarter
--------------


18. (U) The next quarter for MEPI in Kuwait is expected
to be robust. Post will review FY06 Small Grant proposals,
begin one outstanding FY05 Small Grant project and complete
another FY05 Small Grant project. Additionally, first
results from the INJAZ/Junior Achievement project ought
to be available and summer projects will begin.

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Visit Kuwait's Classified Website:
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TUELLER