BAHRAIN: UN DEMOCRACY FUND PROJECT UPDATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000315

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/04/2017
TAGS: EAID KDEM KPAO PGOV PREL UN NGO OIIP BA
HUMRIT
SUBJECT: BAHRAIN: UN DEMOCRACY FUND PROJECT UPDATE

REF: STATE 19781

Classified By: DCM Susan L. Ziadeh for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) In a meeting with UNDP Program Analyst Mohamed Al
Sharif March 28, Poloff inquired about the status of a UN
Democracy Fund (UNDEF) project being conducted by the UNDP in
cooperation with the Bahrain Institute for Political
Development (BIPD). Al Sharif explained that the project has
undergone much revision from what was initially proposed due
to delays in project approval. Initially a significant part
of the project's activities were devoted to election-related
capacity building to be conducted during the fall before the
November 2006 parliamentary and municipal elections.
Although the initial concept proposal was approved and a
detailed proposal submitted in November, there was not time
to hold pre-election activities.


2. (SBU) The overall title of the UNDP/BIPD project is
"Supporting Democratic Governance through Democratic and
Political Education and Strengthening the Capacity of Newly
Elected Members of Parliament." The intended outcomes are an
increased culture of democracy with a knowledge of governance
and democratic values and development of an improved and
effective parliament exhibiting skills of deliberation and
oversight. The project will draw on the experience of the
Oslo Governance Center in planning and conducting activities.

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Project Focus
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3. (SBU) The project has three areas of focus. The first is
democratic education programs. The project proposes to hold
a series of events for the general public and for political
societies on political participation. Topics include
constitutional rights and freedoms, political systems, the
importance of political participation, respect for human
rights, the role of civil society to protect human rights and
democracy, and the role of education and the media in a
democracy. The target is to hold ten educational activities
for the public, NGOs, and political societies.


4. (SBU) The second area is building skills related to
legislative and oversight responsibilities for both members
of parliament and municipal councilors. Foremost is an
orientation activity about how to initiate and draft
legislation that is based on sound information and research.
Also included are activities on budgeting, mainstreaming
gender issues, international conventions, and partnership
with civil society. The project's target is to conduct five
training activities for MPs and five for municipal
councilors. In addition, the project will organize exchange
visits to Asia and Europe to create networks and share
experiences.


5. (SBU) The final area of focus is on both the development
of political leaders and their skills, and general political
empowerment of citizens through a national dialogue on unity
and social harmony. The project's targets in this area are
to conduct five workshops on political skills development, to
organize three activities to empower women in politics, to
present five high-profile seminars on national unity, and to
commission five research papers on indicators of national
unity and social harmony.

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Timeline Unspecified
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6. (SBU) According to Al Sharif, UNDP is coordinating the
proposal closely with the UNDEF, which gave the UNDP
indications the proposal would be approved officially in
coming weeks. Al Sharif said that approval will set in
motion steps to bring together a steering committee composed
of the BIPD Chair, BIPD Executive Director, and the UNDP
Resident Representative. The project manager, to be chosen,
will also be an ex-officio member of the steering committee.
The steering committee will approve a proposed workplan and
review progress frequently. The project will also form a
consultative committee made up of stakeholders (up to 25
members) who are not implementing partners, but may be
participants in some project activities.

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Perception of Project
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7. (C) The project implementers have a very close
relationship with the government. The BIPD is a

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quasi-governmental organization that receives its budget from
the government and whose activities are reviewed by a board
of trustees that is appointed by the king. Therefore
perception and support of the project by the government is
positive. On the other hand, there has been skepticism about
BIPD's early activities from political societies and civil
society groups alike. These activities were seen to be of
little practical benefit to them. Many oppositionists view
the establishment of the BIPD as another step toward
monitoring and controlling the activities of political
societies and NGOs and chipping away at their independence
and freedom.


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