VZCZCXRO5525
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DE RUEHRB #0813/01 1241111
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 041111Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6471
INFO RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 3015
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 9283
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 4409
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI 0165
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 2056
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 0471

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 RABAT 000813 
 
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 January 1-March 31.  Activities included the Advancing 
Learning and Employability for a Better Future (ALEF) literacy 
project, pharmaceutical and Agribusiness workshops, preparations for 
the 2007 legislative elections, the International Republican 
Institute's (IRI) activities, a conference on media development, a 
National Colloquium on Judicial Ethics, the Moroccan Center for 
Civic Education (MCCE) and Scholastic's activities, Financial 
Services Volunteer Corps (FSVC) and Global Rights projects. 
Implementers are partnering with local NGOs at the grassroots level 
to support numerous programs committed to reform in the four MEPI 
pillars.  End Summary. 
 
------------- 
ALEF LITERACY 
------------- 
 
¶2. ALEF literacy project held various training workshops for 
literacy teachers in communication and facilitation, instruments for 
monitoring and evaluation. ALEF was invited by the Ministry of 
Education (MOE) to present the Literacy program as part of MOE's 
second national conference on literacy. MOE has confirmed its 
support for the Passerelle program (a bridge from colloquial 
dialects to classical Arabic), introduced with ALEF leadership and 
assistance, to be integrated officially into the government's full 
literacy program in 2007-08. At the Al Akhawayn University in 
Ifrane, the university opened its doors on March 8th to celebrate 
international women's day. The event included a competition on 
knowledge pertaining to the family code, which involved only women 
drawn from ALEF-supported literacy classes. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
PHARMACEUTICAL AND AGRIBUSINESS WORKSHOPS 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. The International Executive Service Corps (IESC), in the 
framework of its Morocco Fast Track Trade program (MFTT), held two 
workshops. First, a pharmaceutical workshop on the FDA's Abbreviated 
New Drug Application as a number of MFTT clients in the 
pharmaceutical sector see a competitive advantage in producing 
medicines for the U.S. market, and several are seeking U.S. 
regulatory approval to enter the American market. Eighteen 
participants attended the workshop that was held on March 19-20 in 
Casablanca. Second, an Agribusiness workshop on "Creating Packaging 
and Labeling for the U.S. Market" as MFTT canvassed clients in the 
agribusiness sector and concluded that this issue was blocking entry 
into the U.S. market. Twenty-four participants attended this 
workshop that was held on March 21st in Casablanca. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
PREPARATIONS FOR THE 2007 LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶4. During this reporting period, the National Democratic Institute's 
(NDI) organized a series of activities to kick off its political 
party strengthening program. Two sets of communication trainings on 
drafting a campaign plan, including communication plan and 
advertising, were organized for the four largest parties: the 
Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP), National Rally of 
Independents (RNI), the Popular Movement (MP), and the Party for 
Progress and Socialism (PPS). The training was based on the results 
of focus groups conducted last December by NDI People's Mirror 
Center. 
 
¶5. With the support of NDI programs, parties are already in the 
process of finalizing their communication plans by developing 
clearer positions vis-`-vis other parties. The focus groups results 
along with the training played an important role in helping parties 
position themselves, they are better able to craft their messages 
and use the appropriate communication and media outreach strategies 
to make sure they target the largest audiences possible. This step 
has become essential for Moroccan political parties, who have long 
been criticized for having generic messages. 
 
---------------- 
IRI'S ACTIVITIES 
---------------- 
 
¶6. According to public opinion research and contacts, the number one 
issue in the minds of Moroccans heading into the September 7 
legislative elections is jobs and the economy.  To assist political 
parties in responding to the priorities of voters, IRI is conducting 
 
RABAT 00000813  002 OF 003 
 
 
a series of Economic Policy Development conferences.  The goal of 
these conferences is two-fold:  the first is to stress the 
importance of the issue and to create ways of expressing a vision 
for job creation and economic development for the upcoming campaign. 
  Second, IRI is assisting the parties in developing a strategy for 
rapidly implementing policies right after the election, quickly 
delivering on campaign promises to build trust with Moroccans that 
the parties are acting in the best interest of the voters. 
 
------------------------------- 
CONFERENCE ON MEDIA DEVELOPMENT 
------------------------------- 
 
¶7. Media Professionals from fifteen countries in the Middle East and 
North Africa (MENA), Europe, and the U.S. gathered in Marrakech 
January 14-16 to discuss media development in the region. The 
conference also discussed the Media Sustainability Index, a newly 
released study of the state of the media prepared by the 
International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX) and MENA region 
media professionals. Mark Whitehouse, Director of Media Development 
at IREX, noted the changes in the region, "While there has been much 
discussion of the role of Pan-Arab Satellite television, other 
technologies and approaches such as blogging and on-line journalism 
are having a dramatic impact on the media and practice of 
journalism." 
Topics of discussion included new media (internet, mobile phone 
messaging (SMS), on-line journalism, blogging), local news, 
children's programming, the legal environment, and journalism 
education. As media rapidly develops and responds to rapid 
technological change, media must increasingly share experiences and 
lessons learned to help form the basis of further media 
development. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
NATIONAL COLLOQUIUM ON JUDICIAL ETHICS 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. More than forty judges and leading representatives of the 
Moroccan Judges' Association, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), the 
Judicial Training Institute "Institut Superieure de la 
Magistrature"(ISM), the High Judicial Council "Conseil Superieure de 
la Magistrature" (CSM), and the Supreme Court met in Tangier on 
March 30, to discuss adopting a national ethics charter for the 
profession.  The colloquium was organized by the national judges' 
association, the Amicale Hassaniya, with support from the American 
Bar Association and MEPI. The colloquium was the first-ever 
gathering of Moroccan judges to discuss adoption of a national 
judicial code or charter, no such code currently exists.  As a 
result of discussions at the Tangier colloquium, a majority of 
Moroccan judges and the leadership of the MOJ, the CSM, the ISM and 
the Supreme Court appear ready to support adoption of a professional 
ethics code. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
THE MOROCCAN CENTER FOR CIVIC EDUCATION'S ACTIVITIES 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶9. During this quarter, a number of training workshops were 
conducted for teachers, supervisors, university students, teachers 
in training and administrators in various cities. The workshops 
featured intensive training on Project Citizen and Foundations of 
Democracy programs. Hundreds of students from different institutions 
have been working in teams to identify community problems, gather 
information, examine alternative policies and propose a public 
policy in order to develop an action plan that they will present 
during the local, regional and national showcases before a panel of 
judges in May and June, 2007. 
 
----------------------- 
SCHOLASTIC'S ACTIVITIES 
----------------------- 
 
¶10. During this reporting period, Scholastic's representative in 
Morocco visited eight Regional Academies of Education (AREF). During 
these visits, she met with the teachers, the schools' principals, 
and representatives of the delegations, and of the parents' 
associations.  She visited 46 primary schools and had activities 
with the children. She received extensive support from regional 
authorities who provided her logistical assistance so that she could 
visit the schools in remote locations. She launched training 
sessions within the Delegation of Education of Kenitra and within 
two delegations in Marrakech. 
 
------------- 
 
RABAT 00000813  003 OF 003 
 
 
FSVC PROJECTS 
------------- 
 
¶11. FSVC continued its collaboration with Morocco's central bank, 
Bank Al Maghrib (BAM), focused on strengthening BAM's capacity in 
banking supervision and risk management. In January 2007, volunteers 
from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and the Bank of Canada 
provided training and consultations on best practice approaches to 
internal operational risk management for central banks, advancing 
BAM's work on evaluating its operational risk and unit plans for 
risk mitigation. FSVC also organized in February a study tour for 
BAM supervision staff to Switzerland, following up on in- country 
consultations. The program focused on supervision and reporting 
standards for financial conglomerates, an area of key concern for 
BAM given a system where 80% of the banking sector is part of a 
larger conglomerate. The consultations helped the bank further 
develop its financial conglomerates supervision framework, including 
supervisory tools and reporting methodologies for financial 
conglomerates. Both projects continued U.S. assistance to BAM in 
building up its capacity to effectively take on its newly 
independent role as supervisor and policy setter for the financial 
sector. 
 
---------------------- 
GLOBAL RIGHTS PROJECTS 
---------------------- 
 
¶12. Under the Ensuring Access to Justice for Women through Court 
Accompaniment Initiative the Global Rights Morocco field office held 
a three day training workshop for representatives of local NGOs in 
Agadir. The workshop included the topics of Court Accompaniment: 
Staff Training and Management; Legal Orientation and Counseling: 
Systems and Strategies; Violations of Women's Human Rights: Court 
Monitoring, Documentation and Advocacy; Law Related Strategies: 
Advocacy Preparation and Tools; and Strategic Litigation: Elements 
of a Test Case Strategy. Under the Promoting Women's Human Rights 
through a National Young Activists Network Initiative, the Morocco 
field office developed and held a three-day training workshop in 
Agadir for representatives of local NGOs.  The workshop focused on 
the practical elements of managing organizations focused on women's 
rights such as operationalizing values, integrating beneficiaries, 
working in networks, and fundraising in networks. 
 
¶13.  A detailed description of MEPI programs in Morocco can be found 
on the Mission unclassified Internet web page at www.usembassy.ma. 
 
RILEY