VZCZCXRO3464
RR RUEHTRO
DE RUEHRB #0272/01 0401606
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091606Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5816
INFO RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 2651
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 9205
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 4317
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI 0138
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 1974
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 0464

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RABAT 000272 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/MAG, NEA/PI and PDAS CARPENTER, 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) 06 Rabat 2509 
 
¶1.  Summary:  This cable highlights MEPI programs and initiatives in 
Morocco from October 1-December 30.  Activities included the 
publication of a new guide for NGOs' advocacy, Arab Civitas and 
International Republican Institute (IRI) activities, teaching Arabic 
through local languages, Financial Services Volunteer Corps (FSVC) 
projects, an e-learning curriculum on women's rights, a Global 
Rights outreach program and preparations for the 2007 legislative 
elections.  Implementers are partnering with local NGOs at the 
grassroots level to support numerous programs committed to reform in 
the four MEPI pillars.  End Summary. 
 
----------------------------- 
A NEW GUIDE ON NGOS' ADVOCACY 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2. MEPI implementer MTDS-Tanmia, in partnership with Demos 
Consulting, has published a new guide on NGO advocacy. This 
reference guide seeks to reinforce the capability of NGOs to 
advocate more efficiently for changes in their field of 
intervention. The guide teaches NGOs new concepts enabling them to 
organize their activities within a more coherent and systematic 
framework. 
 
¶3. From December 10-17, MTDS-Tanmia organized the last of four 
MEPI-funded "Time to Get Online" workshops planned for 2006. A total 
of 53 NGOs/associations from various regions in Morocco attended 
two-day workshops. The participating organizations were selected 
from a large pool of applicants interested in this activity.  The 
Time to Get Online module focuses on how NGOs can use the Internet 
to strengthen their organizations through better access to 
information and for communication, advocacy and networking. 
 
----------------------- 
ARAB CIVITAS ACTIVITIES 
----------------------- 
 
¶4. The Moroccan Center for Civic Education (MCCE), Arab Civitas' 
partner, is extending Project Citizen and Foundations of Democracy 
implementation to public and private schools in eight of sixteen 
regions of Morocco. MCCE has begun partnerships with teacher 
training institutes to introduce civic education to teacher 
training. MCCE will also establish strong civic education programs 
in close partnership with the Ministry of Education, Regional 
Academies for Education and Training and NGOs. The goal is to work 
on institutional support for program continuity. 
 
¶5. In November and December 2006, a number of training workshops 
were conducted for the benefit of teachers from around the country. 
The workshops featured intensive training on two main programs 
designed by the Center for Civic Education, and translated into 
Arabic by Arab Civitas. The programs were as follows: 
 
 Project Citizen: a curriculum in which high-school  students work 
in advocacy groups to select a public  policy problem, research the 
problem and various policies  to deal with it, select or develop a 
policy to advocate,  and develop an action plan to enlist 
authorities to adopt  their policy. 
 
 Foundations of Democracy: a curriculum used with primary  school 
pupils. It is based on concepts fundamental to an  understanding of 
politics and government such as  authority, privacy, responsibility 
and justice. The  rationale behind this program is to promote civic 
competence and responsibility among elementary school  students. 
 
---------------- 
IRI's ACTIVITIES 
---------------- 
 
¶6. IRI assisted Moroccan political parties to formulate internal 
election campaign strategies and conducted preliminary party 
coordination meetings on a regional basis. IRI also held its ongoing 
monthly Women's Network Roundtable and hosted the executive meeting 
of the Women's Network as part of its efforts to bolster the 
influence of activists in party decision making and campaigning. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
PREPARATIONS FOR THE 2007 LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶7. During this reporting period, the National Democratic Institute 
(NDI) organized several events to enhance the capacities of parties 
to compete effectively, communicate with voters, and better 
 
RABAT 00000272  002 OF 002 
 
 
represent the interests of Moroccans in the 2007 elections.  Events 
included a training of trainers for political party members designed 
to provide participants with a set of basic skills to use in their 
future work as trainers in their respective parties. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
TEACHING ARABIC THROUGH LOCAL LANGUAGES 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. In December, the Advancing Learning and Employability for a 
Better Future (ALEF) literacy project began training 8,000 new 
beneficiaries using the new "Passerelles" pre-literacy strategy 
(that teaches the reading of classical Arabic through local 
languages/dialects).  A committee of representatives from the 
Secretariat of State for Literacy and Non-Formal Education, the 
 
SIPDIS 
Royal Institute for the Preservation of the Amazigh (Berber) Culture 
(IRCAM), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), and 
instructors from literacy NGOs are continuing to develop training 
manuals. 
 
------------- 
FSVC PROJECTS 
------------- 
 
¶9.  During this quarter, FSVC implemented three projects in Morocco. 
First, FSVC provided an assessment of the operations of Dar 
Ad-Damane, the private credit guarantee fund established by Moroccan 
banks. The assessment focused on operational management policies in 
underwriting guarantees to SMEs, portfolio management, and overall 
corporate governance, as well as capital adequacy and financial 
needs of the company. FSVC also recommended necessary reforms. 
Second, FSVC helped Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM) develop a financial 
conglomerates supervision framework that will enable bank examiners 
to perform comprehensive analysis of conglomerates' risk exposure. 
As a result of the consultations, BAM will be able to develop an 
effective way to analyze and regulate banking conglomerates in 
Morocco. Finally, FSVC volunteers provided commentary on the private 
equity/venture capital regulatory framework with the Moroccan 
Private Equity Association (AMIC).  The commentary on alternative 
approaches to regulatory structures, legal approaches and tax 
frameworks for private equity and venture capital will feed into 
AMIC's official response to the government's proposed legislation. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
AN E-LEARNING CURRICULUM ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶10. Beginning in October, the American Bar Association (ABA) 
launched a program to develop a standardized judicial curriculum on 
the Family Law and women's rights in Morocco.  Developed with the 
Institut Superieur de la Magistrature (ISM) Morocco's national 
judicial training institute, the program will create a series of 
interactive, e-learning modules which will be administered by ISM 
for all new and sitting judges as part of its national judicial 
curriculum.  The objective of the program is to provide a 
standardized curriculum that will enable Moroccan judges to receive 
comprehensive instruction on applying provisions of the Family Law 
and other international women's rights provisions to which Morocco 
is a party. 
 
------------------------------ 
GLOBAL RIGHTS OUTREACH PROGRAM 
------------------------------ 
 
¶11. Global Rights along with their partner NGOs in the Young 
Activists Network project launched an initiative in December to 
conduct outreach about human rights education for young women 
journalists in six regions.  This seeks to integrate the journalists 
into the network, gain publicity for the partner NGOs, and enhance 
reporting on women's rights issues in the press through a human 
rights perspective.  Among the activities performed were a series of 
open house days in the NGOs for young women journalists and a 
tailored program of women's human rights education that specifically 
addressed journalists by focusing on topics such as the legal 
sources of human rights, stereotypes of women in the media, and 
reporting on women's human rights violations. 
 
¶12.  A detailed description of MEPI programs in Morocco can be found 
on the Mission unclassified Internet web page at www.usembassy.ma. 
 
RILEY