ALGERIA AND MEPI - MOVING FORWARD

C O N F I D E N T I A L ALGIERS 000415 SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA/PI, NEA/EX TUNIS FOR JSCHMONSEES E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/26/2019 TAGS: KMPI PREL KPAO KDEM AG SUBJECT: ALGERIA AND MEPI - MOVING FORWARD REF: A. SECSTATE 30428 ¶B. DAUGHTON/ANDREWS EMAILS 15-16 APRIL ¶C. ALGIERS 366 ¶D. 07 ALGIERS 966 Classified By: Ambassador David D. Pearce; reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (U) MEPI remains a valuable tool in Algeria, both to continue existing programming and to focus future programming on new opportunities we identify. In response to refs A and B, this cable outlines what programs work in Algeria, today and tomorrow, and why. MEPI programs support USG goals of counter-radicalization via education and training, promotion of democratic values, and economic and social development. To support this ongoing and developing effort, Embassy Algiers requires establishment of a dedicated MEPI LES support position. END SUMMARY. MANAGING MEPI AT POST -------------- ¶2. (U) Our most immediate concern is holding onto the existing MEPI management structure we have been successfully using for the past two years. We manage MEPI through a combination of American FSO coordinators and one dedicated EFM position -- effectively, a MEPI administrator. Originally contracted through Creative Associates, the EFM position comes to an end with the departure of the incumbent in June. Replacing the EFM position with a dedicated LES MEPI Administrator will be necessary for us to maintain the status quo in terms of our support for MEPI programs in Algeria. The MEPI LES can provide institutional memory, admin support, language ability and a certain amount of evaluation. The position would cost approximately USD 23,000 per year for an FSN 10, including all benefits and start-up and recurring costs (less than half the cost of the EFM position it replaces). Obtaining funding for the position and staffing it are our immediate priorities, and we will require Department and MEPI support to realize them. REALITY AND OPPORTUNITY -------------- ¶3. (C) Constraints on freedom of association are the core obstacle to all work on political and economic reform in Algeria. Under the State of Emergency in effect since 1992, civil society and other organizations are rarely granted legal status. This leaves them subject to local officials' interpretations of statutes and the vague right of associations to interpret 90 days of Interior Ministry silence in response to a request as permission to operate. Even then, an organization will not have a document attesting to its legal status, which then makes it nearly impossible to open a bank account and handle foreign assistance grants. Meanwhile, as we have observed previously (ref D),in a bureaucratic culture in which personal relationships are crucial, our most successful programs are those with a sustained presence of their own or linked to an organization that offers these relationships. If we can find the right vehicles, Algeria's massive youth demographic makes MEPI a tool to position ourselves and Algerian society for the inevitable arrival of generational change of leadership. ¶4. (C) Even before the demise of MEPI's formal pillar structure, the stagnant political and economic reform environment in Algeria had led us to focus our programming efforts on education programming and activities targeting women. The nature of the youth demographic described above highlights the urgency of our focus on large-scale educational engagement. In addition, we believe an opportunity now exists in Algeria for a program testing the viability of public-private partnerships. We have compiled a list of private businesses and business organizations who are willing to partner with MEPI programs, including offering apprenticeships and business opportunities for university and program graduates. Finally, new potential partners such as the Muslim Scouts and Iqra are worth testing with initial programming, given their focus on youth and women, as well as their reach across virtually the entire country. WHAT WE HAVE NOW -------------- ¶5. (C) Current MEPI programs in Algeria include the following: - American Bar Association (ABA): ABA's MEPI funding covers two programs in Algeria. The first, through an MOU with the Ministry of Justice, is a program to create e-learning modules for the Ecole National de la Magistrature (ENM). the modules cover Algeria's family law code. As all judges must complete continuing education annually at the ENM, the modules reach both current students and sitting judges. The second ABA program is aimed at strengthening regional bar associations. ABA has worked with the bars of Blida, Constantine and Sidi Bel Abbes to develop legal aid clinics. (Justification: MSP 09 goal 2, democracy promotion.) - National Council of State Legislatures (NCSL): NCSL had a program with the National People's Assembly (APN, the lower house of parliament) that conducted 18 workshops and several study trips for MPs and parliamentary staff. (FY09 MSP 09 Goal 2, Democracy Promotion.) - National Democratic Institute (NDI): Despite its well-known visa setback in late 2006, NDI has been able to maintain steady engagement with the spectrum of Algerian political parties through local staff. NDI is able to respond to parties' requests for training in specific areas by bringing in third-country experts or holding workshops outside Algeria. NDI's existing relationship with the Muslim Scouts organization has opened up a new possibility for engagement in several key regions of Algeria. (FY09 MSP 09 Goal 2) - International Executive Services Corporation (IESC): As part of the MENA Economic Initiatives - Trade Capacity Building Program, IESC was to provide an independent evaluation of the Algerian WTO accession process, conduct a series of WTO awareness and stakeholder engagement seminars, and provide training to Algerian firms interested in exporting to help them be competitive in gobal markets. IESC made an initial visit last fall to conduct the first of those activities, after a long delay in obtaining approval from the Ministry of Commerce. IESC's expertise is formidable; the problem is a lack of consensus among the Algerian leadership about the desirability of WTO accession. (FY09 MSP 09 Goal 3, Promoting Economic Growth and Prosperity) - Vital Voices (VV): The VV Global Partnership has partnered with the Association of Algerian Women Managers and Entrepreneurs (AAME),tying AAME into the BMENA businesswomen's network. AAME has already proved to be an effective local partner, and initial participation in VV seminars and conferences throughout the region will begin in May. (FY09 MSP 09 Goal 3) - International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX): IREX has conducted one training session on investigative journalism with Arabic-speaking journalists and plans a similar session with French-speaking journalists at the beginning of May. Other planned activities include working with representatives of Algerian media, justice and communications on reforming the existing media law, developing an initiative on acccess to information, and parliamentary training together with NCSL on relations with the media. (FY09 MSP 09 Goals 2 and 5, Democracy Promotion and Public Diplomacy) - Partnership for Schools Program (PSP): Our largest MEPI program, consisting of three components: improving the quality of English as a Foreign Language instruction, using technology to create a more participatory curriculum, and creating linkages between U.S. and Algerian high schools. Although the school linkages component is no longer part of MEPI, thus far 35 schools have been linked. (FY09 MSP 09 Goals 2 and 5) - Financial Services Volunteer Corps (FSVC): Through its regional director based in Morocco, FSVC has continued to provide injections of expertise to the Central Bank and Ministry of Finance, targeted in cooperation with our resident Treasury Department advisor at the Central Bank. (FY09 MSP 09 Goal 3) LOOKING AHEAD IN ALGERIA -------------- ¶6. (C) The following are our recommendations for MEPI FY09 funding for Algeria, in response to ref B: - Access Microscholarships: There are currently nine Access schools and 580 students have participated in the program to date. MEPI has agreed in principle to provide FY 09 funding for Access. Access is our top programming priority, and since it is modular and can be expanded, we request MEPI increase the funding level already under consideration. (MSP MSP Goals 2 and 5) - Strengthening local legislative governance: NCSL's two-year grant extension should seek to engage local legislatures in Oran, Annaba, Ghardaia and Tamanrasset, pending approval we have solicited from the Ministry of the Interior. Future NCSL projects with either house of the national parliament should not focus (as past efforts have) on capacity-building measures such as debating finance laws and proposing amendments, because the parliament is an ineffective institution that has been marginalized by the presidency. Despite parliament's continuous requests for a braod range of assistance, NCSL should focus on areas such as constituent relations and media training, seeking to create a public expectation of a higher degree of responsiveness and transparency from government institutions. (FY09 MSP 09 Goal 2) - Trade capacity building activities related to WTO accession: IESC's next visit, aimed at launching a WTO awareness campaign, should go forward, but further engagement must be contingent on whether the GOA facilitates the campaign and demonstrates a willingness to take small steps aimed at removing some of the barriers to WTO accession. Separately, we should continue to work directly with banks and business associations on more fundamental elements of eocnomic reform, led by implementers such as FSVC. FSVC's work should continue at current funding levels that will enable it to provide quarterly training sessions with visiting experts focused on areas designated in cooperation with our resident Treasury advisor at the Central Bank. (FY09 MSP Goal 3) - Strengthening business associations: Working with Vital Voices and the AAME is an effective form of engagement, and should continue. However, we believe there is also room in Algeria for public-private partnerships using a model such as Education for Employment (EFE),active elsewhere in the region. We need MEPI assistance in identifying an organization such EFE that will enable us to take advantage of the public-private partnership efforts we have begun, tying them to other MEPI programs and eventual Public Diplomacy tools such as the International Visitor Program, the Fulbright Exchange Program, and others. In addition, we have requested MEPI funding for a Solidarity Center project working with Algeria's labor unions, as well as a small grant for SNAPAP, Algeria's largest autonomous (i.e., non-government-affiliated) labor union. The Solidarity Center is currently the best vehicle for sustained engagement with autonomous unions, but the SNAPAP small grant exercise is an effort to build the organizational and fund-raising capacity of a union with little or no previous experience in either area. If successful, the SNAPAP grant might lead to larger direct engagement, albeit in the distant future, without a MEPI implementer as intermediary. (FY09 MSP Goal 3) - PSP: PSP has received additional funding for FY09, and we view PSP as a natural bridge to the University Linkages program currently being launched with ESF and USAID funding. PSP's next goal is to carry the experience it has had redesigning the secondary school English curriculum to the university level. The University Linkages program includes an important component of teaching EFL instruction at the undergraduate and graduate levels, so PSP's work will directly benefit it. (FY09 MSP Goals 2 and 5) - IREX: IREX's grant is due to end in June. The grant should be extended and modified to include the possibility of retaining an American journalism expert to provide journalism training at Algerian universities, something we found to be effective during the work of a previous MEPI implementer. (FY09 MSP Goals 2 and 5) - NDI: NDI's current regional grant covers the continuation of working-level political party engagement, as well as initial engagement with the Muslim Scouts. We should continue to test the waters through the Algerian Embassy in Washington to see if American NDI staff might once again receive visas to visit Algeria. Otherwise, any expansion of the program should be contingent upon the success of the initial Scouts engagement. (FY09 MSP Goal 2) - ABA: We have recommended MEPI approve two projects for FY09 funding, one to expand the e-learning modules into other subject areas such as the newly-adopted judicial code of ethics (which was developed as part of an earlier MEPI ABA program),and the other to provide training for journalists in covering court proceedings. The latter would also help judges develop better skills in briefing the press. (FY09 MSP Goals 2 and 5) - Women's Literacy: We have identified the basic literacy of girls and young women as an important area for engagement, along with a willing and seemingly able local partner whose reach extends to all of Algeria's 1451 municipalities. We request MEPI assistance in identifying an appropriate program and implementing partner to work with Iqra, a nationally-recognized Algerian women's literacy organization, towards these goals. (FY09 MSP Goals 2, 3 and 5) SMALL GRANTS -------------- ¶7. (C) In general and given the formidable Algerian bureaucracy, small grants require a level of effort and local support that often outweighs the benefit they provide, even when much of the administrative support is provided by the MEPI regional office in Tunis. However, small grants also offer an invaluable opportunity for a swift programmatic response to a specific need, and the rapid turnaround time MEPI has demonstrated recently has dramatically increased their potential value. On May 2, 2008, a small grant funded an event by the National Journalist's Syndicate (SNJ) and featured a highly-publicized speech by the Ambassador on the occasion of International Press Freedom Day. Our support for the CDDH, a small human rights NGO in Annaba, to sustain a focal point for NGOs without legal status, was also processed quickly and efficiently through a MEPI small grant. Our SNAPAP small grant proposal enables us to push through a new open door, to see if we find fertile ground for larger, more sustained engagement. And small grants also enable us to reach other parts of the country; another grant in process is aimed at supporting a breast and cervical cancer center in the desert city of Laghouat. The Muslim Scouts are planning a rally for civil society organizations in June, bringing together some 160 NGOs from across the country; we are discussing small grant support for this unusual event, offering a rare opportunity to strengthen the embattled civil society movement in Algeria. PEARCE