VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRB #0639/01 0971849
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 071849Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3344
INFO RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 1534
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 8781
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 3897

UNCLAS RABAT 000639 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/MAG, NEA/PI and PDAS CHENEY, DRL 
TUNIS FOR MEPI RO 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID ECON PGOV ETRD EINV KMPI MO
SUBJECT:  MEPI UPDATE FOR MOROCCO 
 
REF: A) Rabat 0399, B) Rabat 2509 
 
¶1.  Summary:  This cable highlights MEPI programs and 
initiatives in Morocco from January 1 to March 31. 
Activities included visits by MEPI Washington and MEPI 
Tunis, a regional conference on the family code, political 
and judicial reform, women's rights, literacy training, 
English ACCESS Micro scholarships, international visitors 
programs, and promoting free trade and economic growth. 
Implementers are partnering with local NGOs at the 
grassroots level to support numerous programs committed to 
reform in the four MEPI pillars.  End summary. 
 
------------- 
MEPI VISITORS 
------------- 
¶2.  Owen Kirby from NEA/PI visited Morocco in January with 
Oliver Wilcox and Carol Saheli of USAID.  They met with the 
International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National 
Democratic Institute (NDI) to review their CEPPS grant on 
political party development.  Later, IRI briefed the 
Ambassador and Mission staff on its political party polling 
results, which had been supported by this grant.  The visit 
resulted in recommending that IRI and NDI coordinate their 
work and align it to political party reform. 
 
¶3.  On February 16-17, David Mulenex and Jackie Johnstone 
from MEPI/PI traveled to Rabat to evaluate Morocco's need 
for media training and reform.  They were joined by Hania 
Oweis, the Beirut-based representative for International 
Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) that will design a MEPI- 
funded media reform program for the MENA region.  The PAO 
and Information Officer accompanied the visitors to meetings 
with leading directors of independent print media, 
representatives of local broadcast media, members of the 
Moroccan national press union, representatives of the High 
Broadcast Media Authority, as well as with the NGO chosen by 
IREX as its subcontractor in Morocco.  Mulenex and Johnstone 
will use the information they gathered during their visit to 
guide IREX as it develops its strategy for supporting media 
reform in Morocco. 
 
¶4.  MEPI's Tunis Regional Officer Deputy Director Kirk 
Wolcott and Information Specialist Faouzi Chaouch visited 
Rabat March 13-17.  The main purpose of their trip was to 
conduct a seminar on a request for applications to members 
of the independent media sector.  Many of the 26 attendees 
stayed well after the conclusion of the seminar, or returned 
later in the week to ask questions about submitting an 
application.  While the program was popular with the 
invitees, it generated much controversy since the Moroccan 
press code forbids media from accepting funding from foreign 
sources.  The national Moroccan press union denounced the 
MEPI project as a USG ploy to control the editorial line of 
Morocco's independent press. 
 
¶5.  The Tunis visitors also met individually with MEPI 
implementers the Financial Service Volunteers Corps (FSVC), 
the International Executive Service Corps (IESC), MTDS- 
Tanmia, the American Bar Association (ABA), attended a 
breakfast hosted by USAID for congressional staffer Michael 
Phelan and approximately 12 MEPI implementers, and met with 
Adala, a new Moroccan NGO specializing in judicial reform 
(see ref A).  They also met with the DCM and emboffs to 
discuss ways of improving coordination efforts in MEPI 
programs. 
------ 
REFORM 
------ 
 
¶6.  The ABA continues to develop its judicial and legal 
training programs throughout the country.  Working with the 
Ministry of Justice and local legal organizations, the ABA 
has had a strong impact on the judicial and legal system. 
As the programs continue, the ABA will expand this impact 
and reach others including legal administrators and court 
officials.  In addition the ABA is working with Adala to 
encourage the development of transparency in the judiciary. 
In March, the president of Adala briefed Mission staff on 
judicial reform in Morocco. 
 
¶7.  On March 29, USAID Democracy and Governance pillar 
members hosted a coordination meeting and roundtable 
discussion with MEPI and USAID implementers to discuss 
activities, successes and challenges in the area of 
democratic reforms.  ABA, IRI, NDI, SUNY and RTI, were 
present at the meeting.  The discussion was wide-ranging, 
including parliamentary reform, local governance programs, 
judicial training and transparency, and freedom of 
information within the Moroccan context.  Recognizing the 
many successes of the programs, the group also raised issues 
relating to the need for constitutional reform and 
continuous training of the legislative and judicial branches 
of the GOM. 
 
--------------------------------- 
WORLD LEARNING/LEADERSHIP FEMININ 
REGIONAL CONFERENCE 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  In February, MEPI implementer World Learning (WL) and 
local association Leadership Feminin sponsored a regional 
conference on challenges to the family code (Moudawana) 
entitled "The Family Code in the Plural: Realities and 
Challenges."  The conference drew participants from Morocco, 
Algeria, and Tunisia representing local and international 
development institutions, human rights and women's issues 
NGO's, press, research centers and the public sector.  The 
two-day conference was attended by a broad range of women's 
activists, Berber NGOs, parliamentarians, lawyers, and 
judges.  Separate breakout sessions included a series of 
workshops focused primarily on implementation challenges for 
the family code.  The conference was a forum for Moroccans, 
Algerians and Tunisians to share and exchange their 
experiences on the family code.  The DCM gave a speech at 
the opening ceremony highlighting Moroccan reforms and U.S. 
efforts to support these reforms.  WL's $770,000 SPA grant 
bolstering family code familiarization ended on March 31. 
 
----------------------- 
EXTENDING GLOBAL RIGHTS 
----------------------- 
 
¶9.  POL/USAID visited a local Global Rights (GR) project in 
the southern Moroccan village of Zagora in December to 
assess its impact and effectiveness.  The Development 
Association for the Draa Valley (ADEDRA) is the regional 
coordinator in the Zagora area for the implementation of the 
GR program on human and legal rights education for women. 
Emboffs visited a session for illiterate women learning 
about their rights and the new family code and a training 
session for literacy facilitators who work to incorporate 
women's rights training into their literacy sessions.  Both 
sessions demonstrated the strength of the GR methodology of 
building capacity amongst local NGOs who are best placed and 
can most appropriately carry out the training programs.  The 
Embassy has advocated for continued funding of GR projects 
in Morocco. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
ENGLISH ACCESS MICROSCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  Post's Cultural Affairs Officer presented certificates 
of participation to 25 English ACCESS Micro scholarship 
students at the Foundation AGEF de l'Oriental in Oujda on 
December 29.  Afterwards, the students gave short 
presentations in English and thanked the American people for 
their scholarships.  On January 15, the Regional English 
Language Officer visited AMIDEAST in Rabat to present three 
short films to nearly 100 ACCESS students, followed by a 
lunch at McDonalds.  On February 4, American violinist Jack 
Glatzer performed before 150 ACCESS students. After the 
concert, the visiting Cultural Specialist was showered with 
questions from curious students, who benefited from the 
opportunity to engage a real American in conversation. 
 
¶11.  The English ACCESS Micro scholarship program provides 
support to youth from disadvantaged parts of the world to 
study English and learn about American culture and values. 
It began in Morocco in 2003 and is now found in more than 40 
countries. A total of 573 scholarships have been awarded in 
Morocco for FY 2005-06 to study at the 10 American Language 
Centers, AMIDEAST Casablanca and Rabat, and the AGEF de 
l'Oriental in Oujda. 
 
------------------------------- 
SHARING THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE 
------------------------------- 
 
¶12.  On March 3, Dar America hosted a forum discussion with 
Moroccan participants in the MEPI-funded International 
Visitor Leadership Programs (IVLP) "Young Leaders: Effecting 
Social, Political and Economic Change" (July 5-22, 2005) and 
"Student Leaders and Civic Responsibility" (Sept. 9 - 
October 7, 2005) with 70 university students and civil 
society activists.  Younes Naoumi, President of "Action 
Jeunesse," an NGO that promotes civic education in 
economically depressed areas; Abdassamad Oussayeh, President 
of "Association de Jeunes Contre Le Sida," an organization 
that promotes AIDS awareness; Sanaa Bouzit, Secretary 
General of "Tamaynut," an association that calls for the 
preservation of Berber language and culture; and Lamia 
Chahbi, President of the Rabat English Club, briefed the 
audience on their participation in the IVLP program.  The 
presenters gave an overview of their IVLP programs and 
detailed their impressions of the U.S.  They experienced 
surprise at the racial, ethnic and religious diversity of 
the U.S. and were impressed by the importance of 
volunteerism in American society.  Each participant praised 
for the "smooth way that American democracy works" and 
several predicted Morocco will only have economic and social 
stability when "it fully embraces democracy."   When asked 
how he would apply what he learned in America to Morocco, 
Addassamad responded, "We need to continue sharing what we 
have learned with others and push the government to empower 
civil society."  During interviews with RTM Television and 
Moroccan Radio following their presentations, the presenters 
praised the U.S. for its commitment to civil society and 
thanked the Mission for the opportunity to take part in the 
IVLP program. 
 
-------------------- 
FREE TRADE AGREEMENT 
-------------------- 
 
¶13.  Mission Morocco's MEPI Economic Growth Pillar committee 
thoroughly considered proper use of $1 million MEPI free 
trade agreement (FTA) technical assistance provided to the 
Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP).  In close 
consultation with Moroccan FTA negotiators and coordinated 
through multiple internal meetings, the interagency MEPI 
Economic Growth Committee set out mission priorities for 
technical assistance that will maximize the benefits of 
CLDP's work.  In March, CLDP Deputy Senior Counsel Marc 
Tejtel met with the Committee.  He agreed to design a work 
plan consistent with the GOM's and the Committee's emphasis 
on transparency, assistance for customs, and textiles- 
related obligations.  The transparency provisions will 
contribute to good governance goals in addition to proper, 
timely FTA implementation.  MEPI Washington and the MEPI 
Economic Growth Committee will review CLDP's draft work plan 
before implementation begins. 
 
--------------- 
ECONOMIC GROWTH 
--------------- 
 
¶14.  Between January and March, FSVC implemented three 
projects in Morocco, all of which related to FSVC's core 
areas of activity - strengthening the banking sector and 
facilitating greater access to finance for small and medium 
sized enterprises (SME's).  In February, three SME bankers, 
the head of the SME Federation and the head of the textile 
business association spent one week in the United States on 
an FSVC-arranged visit during which they met U.S. SME 
bankers and small business associations.  FSVC is now 
working with the SME Federation and the bankers to find ways 
to transmit the knowledge and insights gained on the study 
visit to a wider audience in Morocco.  FSVC's other recent 
programs entailed work with Bank al-Maghrib (the Central 
Bank) managing of "operational risk" in the banking system. 
FSVC also worked with two of the largest banks to upgrade 
internal credit rating systems (BMCE bank), and check 
processing (Attijariwafa Bank).  Improving access to 
financing, especially for SMEs, is a key challenge to 
accelerate economic growth and create jobs to keep Morocco 
on a smooth path of economic growth, political reform and 
social stability.