VZCZCXRO2282
PP RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHYN #1220/01 1841246
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 031246Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY SANAA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7439
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SANAA 001220 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KDEM KMPI PREL PGOV YM
SUBJECT: MEPI: PUTTING OUR MONEY WHERE OUR MOUTH IS 
 
SANAA 00001220  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. SUMMARY:  Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) 
funding, combined with our diplomatic clout, has enabled the 
USG to shape Yemen's national reform efforts of the past 18 
months.  MEPI's flexibility, responsiveness to post needs, 
and support for Embassy goals have brought positive change to 
Yemen's civil society and governance.  Crucially, having 
resources available to back up our policy advice has meant 
that our bilateral relationship with Yemen on democratization 
and economic reform has become a productive, pragmatic 
engagement largely unhindered by regional developments that 
have dampened our efforts in other countries in the region. 
Put simply, MEPI allows us to roll up our sleeves and help 
change Yemen -- not just talk about it.  END SUMMARY 
 
-------------------------- 
YEMEN: THE CASE FOR REFORM 
-------------------------- 
 
¶2. As the only republic on the peninsula, Yemen is something 
of a political anomaly in the region.  Elections are held 
regularly, women have been enfranchised since 1993, a 
somewhat unruly media regularly airs government's dirty 
laundry, and civil society organizations operate largely 
unhindered.  That said, things are not perfect.  Electoral 
fraud still occurs.  Women often do not participate as 
candidates.  Some journalists practice self-censorship and 
others claim varying degrees of harassment.  Much work 
remains to be done to improve democratic freedoms in Yemen 
and to continue this country's progress as a model for other 
countries in the region. 
 
¶3. The same has held true for economic liberalization.  While 
Yemen has long since moved away from a command economy, the 
country's GDP per capita hovers around the same level as 
developing countries like Madagascar or Niger.  High 
population growth coupled with diminishing oil reserves 
create the potential for instability if the economy does not 
diversify and grow.  Instability for Yemen's 22 million 
people could also prove threatening to Yemen's rich neighbors 
to the north and east.  Expansion of economic freedom is 
therefore imperative not only for Yemen's own interests but 
for those of U.S. allies in the region as well. 
 
--------------------- 
THE USG STILL MATTERS 
--------------------- 
 
¶4. Fortunately, the United States still holds tremendous sway 
in Yemen.  Telephone calls from President Bush to President 
Saleh are treated as front-page, above-the-fold news in the 
official press.  Words of praise or criticism by the 
Ambassador or DCM are carried prominently in all media, and 
inevitably engender much discussion among Yemen's political 
and economic leaders.  Discussions with government and 
non-government personalities alike routinely focus on Yemen's 
development and specific problems to address, not on the 
situation between the Palestinians and Israelis or the 
conflict in Iraq.  Yemenis frequently ask their Embassy 
interlocutors, "Everyone agrees on what we should do next in 
Yemen, but how can you help us accomplish it?" 
 
-------------------- 
GETTING THE JOB DONE 
-------------------- 
 
¶5. In steps MEPI.  In Yemen, post has been able to call on 
MEPI funding for dozens of projects to advance reform goals, 
push the envelope on freedom of expression, and engage Yemeni 
civil society in debates about how to improve their country, 
not just hold conferences to complain.  There are more than 
34 projects funded by MEPI in Yemen, many of which can be 
considered lynchpins for that particular reform goal.  For 
example: 
 
--  Islamic Preachers' Program:  This project funds a local 
NGO to engage a group of young preachers, both male and 
female, on human rights and democratization issues from a 
religious standpoint.  Presenters conduct workshops to engage 
the preachers in a dialogue and convince them of the 
importance of human rights in development and 
democratization.  The preachers have received and engaged in 
fruitful discussions with Embassy officers and local 
employees as part of the program, thereby opening up channels 
of communication for the Embassy with a group whose influence 
on average Yemenis at the grassroots is immeasurable. 
 
--  Women's Political Participation:  Yemen has no shortage 
of conferences featuring talking heads who rarely leave the 
capital and who claim that this or that magic bullet will 
bring about reform.  This is particularly true of women's 
issues in this traditional, conservative society.  That is 
 
SANAA 00001220  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
why this year in particular, post took a creative approach to 
the problem by directing more than $150,000 in small grant 
funding to women's NGOs all around the country, including in 
tribal areas, to put together television and radio spots, 
broadcast interviews, and engage female preachers on the 
subject of women's political participation.  Several of the 
NGOs will approach the problem from a religious and cultural 
perspective, aiming at breaking down barriers by speaking to 
women -- and men -- in a language they can easily understand. 
 
--  Judicial Reform:  The USG and other donors pushed 
exceptionally hard over the past two years for the ROYG to 
sever executive control of the judiciary.  When the President 
dramatically removed himself from the Supreme Judicial 
Council (SJC), the body that governs the judiciary, the only 
donor standing ready with immediate funds to help the new, 
reform-minded head of the SJC was the United States.  Through 
MEPI's rule of law funding, the Embassy offered study tours, 
training courses, a computer network, and a website for the 
new SJC leadership.  This support has in turn emboldened the 
SJC.  Since Saleh stepped down from his judicial role, dozens 
of judges have been fired, retired, or put under 
investigation for corruption or incompetence.  A woman has 
been named to the Supreme Court for the first time.  The 
Higher Judicial Institute has a new, modern curriculum and 
has also opened its doors to women for the first time. 
 
Meanwhile, the Embassy has silenced critics who claimed that 
the USG was only interested in funding the ROYG, which some 
derided as a "payoff" for support in the GWOT.  We provided 
$50,000 in funding to one of the staunchest critics of the 
ROYG and USG, which is also the most highly respected human 
rights organization in the country -- HOOD.  Their project 
will culminate in the writing of and lobbying for a new draft 
Judicial Authority law, which aims at further enhancing the 
independence of the judiciary. 
 
--  Economic Reform:  The largest single provider of 
contracts in the country is the Yemeni Government.  The 
official procurement system, however, is a complicated, 
politicized process that is often circumvented in favor of 
"sweetheart deals."  When the USG and World Bank pushed for a 
comprehensive new law as a critical part of the country's 
reform strategy, our words were heeded because we offered 
immediate expert assistance through Booz Allen Hamilton 
consultants funded by MEPI.  On three occasions, Booz Allen 
experts came to Yemen to help Yemeni reformers draft a strong 
new law, and persuade key parliamentarians to adopt it.  Even 
Yemen's brightest, most committed reformers admit that the 
law would have died in the conception phase if the Embassy 
had not been able to send experts each time the Yemenis 
needed them. 
 
¶6.  MEPI programs have also provided important leverage when 
we needed it.  For example, when the Yemeni Customs Authority 
(YCA) refused to support legislative and regulatory changes 
to help Yemen move further along the path of WTO accession, 
the Embassy successfully induced the YCA to change directions 
by threatening to end a MEPI-USAID customs training program. 
The YCA in turn pulled draft legislation that was not WTO 
compliant from the Parliament and replaced it with amendments 
that it has asked the USG to review before they are submitted 
to the legislature. 
 
-------------- 
WHERE TO NEXT? 
-------------- 
 
¶7.  In the coming years, post looks forward to continuing to 
use MEPI's toolbox to keep the engine of reform running 
strong in Yemen.  As the MEPI program evolves, post 
encourages the Department to continue funding it robustly, 
and to consider providing even greater country-specific focus 
for individual reform goals.  For example, while media reform 
may be a worthwhile regional goal, we have found that Yemen 
is enough of an outlier that it cannot benefit from many 
regional programs, either because it does not have enough 
English speakers, or because its training needs are often 
more basic than for other countries with more developed 
media. 
 
¶8.  Similarly, an expansion of the small grants program could 
provide post with even more options for testing creative 
ideas.  Some of post's small grants from previous years have 
grown into full-fledged NGOs who have begun to export their 
ideas.  For example, the Children's Parliament -- a program 
in which high school students from across the country meet to 
debate both with each other and government officials about 
issues of the day -- is now being shared with Bahrain and 
Kuwait.  We believe that more funding to experiment with 
small projects such as this could yield even more expandable 
 
SANAA 00001220  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
and exportable ideas, given Yemen's diverse and underfunded 
civil society sector. 
 
--------------------------- 
MEPI: THE SWEAT OF OUR BROW 
--------------------------- 
 
¶9.  If thinking about traditional diplomacy conjurs images of 
suits, ties and shined shoes, the kind of diplomacy that we 
are able to practice thanks to MEPI should evoke images of 
Americans with their sleeves rolled up, standing side-by-side 
with government reformers and civil society activists.  MEPI 
has allowed political and economic officers to evolve from 
relying on moral suasion as their primary tool of engagement 
to having experts, funding, and technical advisors at the 
ready to support USG goals.  This, coupled with concerted 
diplomatic support from senior Embassy and Washington 
officers, has helped us move reform in Yemen from a question 
of "if" to a question of "how," which is the very essence of 
transformational diplomacy. 
KRAJESKI