MEPI 1ST QUARTER UPDATE FOR MOROCCO

UNCLAS RABAT 000103

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA - DAS SPIRNAK, NEA/PI AND NEA/MAG
TUNIS FOR MEPI REGIONAL OFFICE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID ECON PGOV SCUL EFIN KMPI MO
SUBJECT: MEPI 1ST QUARTER UPDATE FOR MOROCCO

REF: 08 Rabat 1724


1. Summary: This cable highlights the MEPI programs
and initiatives undertaken in Morocco from September
1 - December 31, 2008. During the quarter, MEPI's
Tunis Regional Office Deputy Director Kirk Samson
visited Morocco and post approved two new local
grant proposals. Highlights from existing programs
included activities by the Advancing Learning and
Employability for a Better Future (ALEF),
Association Action Jeunesse (2AJ) and MIT Media.
Implementers are partnering with local NGOs at the
grassroots level to support numerous programs
committed to reform in the four MEPI pillars. End
summary.

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MEPI VISITORS
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2. MEPI Tunis Regional Office Deputy Director Kirk
Samson visited Rabat October 15-18, 2008 to meet
potential recipients for MEPI local grants. In
Casablanca, Samson met Consul General Elisabeth
Millard and two local grant recipients: 2AJ,
working with youth and election issues; and MIT
Media, offering training of trainers on e-journalism
subject matter. In Rabat, Samson held meetings with
Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) Robert Jackson,
members of Mission's Democracy Working Group and
USAID representatives. He also discussed MEPI Local
Grant funding opportunities with potential
recipients as well as MEPI implementers such as the
National Democratic Institute (NDI),the American
Bar Association (ABA),the State University of New
York (SUNY),and MTDS-Tanmia. Members of the
Morocco MEPI Alumni Network and local MEPI
implementers attended a reception in honor of Samson
hosted by the DCM. Samson also met with Emboffs to
discuss ways to improve coordination efforts in MEPI
programs.

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NEW MEPI LOCAL GRANTS
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3. In October, the Mission approved two new MEPI
local grants totaling USD 98,173. The first
recipient, the Moroccan Education and Resource
Network (MEARN),will initiate a community service
project to help students and youth take actions in
their communities. In the second, the Association du
Nord pour le Developpement Educatif et Economique
(ANDEE) will promote public participation in
education and boost social corporate responsibility
awareness by supporting three high schools in
creating partnerships with community businesses and
the private sector to sponsor and support school
programs.

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ALEF ACTIVITIES
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4. During this reporting period, ALEF launched
activities in support of literacy program delivery
in six regions, working with over 140 local
associations and reaching in excess of 30,000 women
and men (less than 10 percent of whom were men) and
with over 1,100 trained literacy trainers. ALEF
emphasized to us that the main purpose of the
program is not to attain great numbers but rather to
develop the training manual and program and to help
the Ministry of National Education revise its
learners' manual. ALEF is making progress but is
constrained by the fact that the government has yet
to authorize the new literacy agency. Specific
activities included: a training workshop on
management procedures of the literacy program in
September, a training of trainers workshop on the
Passerelles (Pre-literacy programs) model in
October, and a workshop on the production of a
"training of literacy trainers" CD-Rom.

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MIT MEDIA ACTIVITIES
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5. On October 30 and 31 Information Officer David
Ranz and Information Resource Center Director Malika
Baiz attended the opening of the first in a series
of MEPI-funded "E-journalism and new media" training
sessions for young, primarily regional, journalists.
Seventeen journalists, most of them at the beginning
of their careers, had the opportunity to learn new
media techniques, such as blogging and podcasting.
A second session took place in Agadir on November 15
and 16, with 19 local journalists present.
Participants expressed their appreciation for the
program, and these sessions have received positive
press coverage on the internet.

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ALMOSTAQBAL PROJECT LAUNCH
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6. On December 20, 2AJ launched its recently
approved MEPI local grant in Casablanca. The event
gathered representatives of two local NGOs from each
of the six cities where the program will be
implemented. The participants at this launching
event discussed the program agenda and ways to best
implement this project in the selected high schools.
2AJ, a grantee with an excellent track record, will
repeat the successful local high school election
program in six cities throughout Morocco. It will
work with NGOs from each city, train them in the
process and assist them in conducting these
elections. The students will also have the
opportunity to interact with local officials through
office visits and discussions.


7. A detailed description of MEPI programs in
Morocco can be found on the Mission unclassified
Internet web page at www.usembassy.ma.

JACKSON