VZCZCXRO4629
PP RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHAD #1458/01 2421534
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 301534Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9620
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ABU DHABI 001458 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/RA, NEA/PPD, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KMPI KPAO SCUL XF AE
SUBJECT: FREEDOM AGENDA UPDATE FOR UAE 
 
Ref:  A) STATE 116832, B) STATE 88465 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  The United Arab Emirates is a relatively 
progressive yet still conservative Muslim state with a large 
and diverse foreign population.  The expansion of Western 
style freedoms is incremental.  Embassy Abu Dhabi and ConGen 
Dubai regularly meet with UAEG officials and the broader 
community to discuss government transparency, greater press 
freedoms, democracy, human rights, trafficking-in-persons 
issues, and other goals set out in the Forum for the Future 
and the Freedom Agenda.  Many of Post's Public Affairs and 
MEPI programs are aimed at directly promoting the President's 
Freedom Agenda.  Although Post actively pursues issues 
related to freedom and democracy with the UAEG, UAE 
authorities and society in general put an even higher 
priority on maintaining stability and a high economic 
standard of living.  Domestic pressure for political change 
is weak; the notion of encouraging an active civil society 
and seeking a broader role for citizens in governance has 
been slow to take hold in the UAE as a result.  NGO's are 
rare (with establishment of new NGO's regulated by the 
government).  Currently, there is only one non-governmental 
human rights organization in the UAE, for example, and its 
activities are rather limited.  On the electoral front, the 
first ever partial vote to the UAE Federal National Council 
was held in December 2006.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The UAE does not have measurable "dissident" or 
"political opposition" populations pressing for reform (aside 
from a few random individuals with whom Post has some 
contact).  It does have a limited number of activists seeking 
progress on human rights and labor issues -- with much of the 
effort conducted by non-Emirati individuals -- with whom Post 
is actively engaged.  Our efforts to help the UAE overcome 
the plight of hundreds of young foreign boys pressed into 
dangerous service as camel jockeys, for example, led to 
extensive engagement with activists, UAEG authorities, and 
other Embassies, resulting in a significant (albeit by some 
reports partial) resolution to a serious human rights and 
trafficking-in-persons (TIP) matter.  Post engagement on TIP 
issues is robust at all levels, continuing the press on camel 
jockeys while keeping a focus on labor and sexual 
exploitation as well. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Building on the UAE Journalist Association's plans 
to propose a draft press law to the Ministry of Information, 
Post facilitated the Association's engagement with the MEPI 
regional office to provide the expertise of a U.S. media 
lawyer to assist in the drafting effort in 2006.  The 
consultant offered detailed feedback and suggested 
amendments.  The Association submitted the resulting draft, 
which would constitute a major liberalization of the UAE's 
press laws if passed.  Post similarly facilitated 
coordination between MEPI and the leadership of the UAE's 
first human rights NGO, the UAE Human Rights Association, 
with whom PolOffs also maintain contact.  MEPI's role has 
broadened the Association's regional contacts, including in 
fora designed to strengthen freedom of association and 
examine strategies for supporting democratic reform via 
regional civil society organizations. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Post also keeps a close eye on the UAE's measured 
progress towards more transparent governance and possibly the 
eventual enfranchisement of the electorate.  The December 
2006 "election" of half of the members of the Federal 
National Council (chosen from and by a limited group of a few 
thousand citizens selected by the governments of each 
emirate) is a small step, but at least a step in the right 
direction.  A promised expansion of the electorate to 
eventually include all citizens, and hopeful evolution of the 
Council itself into a more assertive legislative body, bear 
continued monitoring and encouragement.  UAE officials feel 
that a measured path to democracy matches the aspirations of 
their people while also avoiding a difficult-to-control slide 
towards instability (which many feel was the result in some 
regional votes in which increased power fell into the hands 
of extremists). 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Specific programs have been developed by Public 
Affairs Officers in Abu Dhabi to counter the radicalization 
of Emirati youth and promote the Freedom Agenda, helping pave 
the way for responsible democracy over the long term.  These 
efforts promise to help create a UAE public that appreciates 
American perspectives and culture, and that will be able to 
participate in efforts to build democratic institutions, in 
addition to joining in regional discourse about freedom and 
democracy.  Programs include:  Fulbright, Micro-Scholarships, 
the Virtual Club, Gulf Students in the U.S., Scholastic Book 
distribution, an American Corner for Children, and an 
 
ABU DHABI 00001458  002 OF 003 
 
 
Undergraduate Exchange Program.  These substantive programs 
should, if continued over time, contribute to the perception 
that the U.S. supports Arab aspirations, while also helping 
to counter the radicalization of Emirati youth and promote 
critical thinking and literacy skills. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Effective U.S. programming also creates 
opportunities for Emirati youth to engage others on topics 
such as freedom and democracy, which are concepts familiar to 
them at a superficial level yet in need of cultivation and 
more critical review.  Programs are also designed to provide 
genuine data on American culture and values.  A synopsis of 
select PA programs follows. 
 
--The Public Affairs Section won the Department's commitment 
to create a Fulbright UAE Graduate Student Program.  With 
added UAEG bi-national funding, an MOU was signed to provide 
four grants for UAE students to pursue graduate education in 
the U.S. 
 
--The recently produced "Gulf Students in the U.S.," in 
Arabic, features students on U.S. campuses discussing ethnic 
and religious tolerance and helps brief parents and 
prospective exchange students about the U.S. educational 
experience.  It should also cultivate communication between 
local Americans and Emirati youth. 
 
--To energize our outreach to a youth audience, the American 
Corner at the UAE University is being transformed into the 
first "American Corner for Children" in the Middle East. 
Using USG and privately donated funds, post is purchasing a 
children's collection and training a director to create the 
first public library service in the city of Al Ain. 
 
--Through the NEA-SA Undergraduate Exchange Program, ten UAE 
candidates were selected to spend one or two semesters at 
American universities. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Freedom Agenda goals are also actively pursued 
through MEPI programming small grants; the Embassy is 
directing concrete assistance through local partners to help 
cultivate a culture of democracy and put in place building 
blocks for future democratic reform.  New MEPI small grants 
in 2007-2008 target women, youth, education reform, and 
strengthening independent reporting: 
 
--A program entitled "The 21st Century Emirati Woman: My 
Future as a Citizen and Leader" encourages women's 
participation in public life and raises awareness of the 
important role of all citizens.  This project provides 
communication skills training through workshops and 
one-on-one sessions, culminating in a public speaking contest 
about the Emirati woman's role as a citizen and leader. 
Contest winners will receive additional leadership training 
and take on roles as student leaders and mentors in Zayed 
University's new Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Center for 
Leadership (the patron and namesake being the wife of UAE 
founder Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan and the respected "mother of 
the UAE"). 
 
--Student leaders are the focus of a program to establish and 
operate an elected student council at Ras Al Khaimah Men's 
College, offering training to current student 
representatives, those interested in running for office, 
faculty advisors, and other students to help them appreciate 
the role of elected councils.  Participants will be taught 
how to form, organize, and operate a student council, and how 
to run an election.  The teaching phase would be followed by 
implementation of an election. 
 
--A poll of Emirati university students from all major 
institutions of tertiary education in the Northern Emirates 
will assess the attitudes and views of Emirati students 
toward democracy, the future of democracy in the UAE, and the 
UAE's first national level elections.  Thirty political 
science and sociology students will be involved and trained 
in the polling process.  Poll results will be analyzed and 
faculty participants will lead discussion of the poll and its 
implications to a wider group of students.  The poll results 
and the professors' analysis will also be disseminated to the 
media and posted on university websites. 
 
--In a program designated "From English Skills to Leadership 
Skills: Tools for Tomorrow's Leaders," UAE high school 
seniors who completed an English Micro-scholarship program 
compete in an essay contest on leadership and citizenship. 
Winning essays are disseminated to all Micro-scholarship 
students through an on-line club, and publicized widely in 
the media.  The ten winning drafters receive additional 
English classes, leadership, communication, and public 
speaking skills training, and are invited to apply to 
 
ABU DHABI 00001458  003 OF 003 
 
 
participate in the region-wide, MEPI-funded Student Leaders 
Program. 
 
--Deepening parental engagement in education will be pursued 
by setting up model parent-teacher councils  in six schools, 
training the new participants to improve parental engagement, 
assisting in the development of council action plans, and 
facilitating the sharing of participant experiences and best 
practices with additional councils. 
 
--Strengthening independent journalism is the goal of a MEPI 
program on civic engagement through investigative reporting 
-- building the investigative capabilities and 
professionalism of UAE-based journalists to cover key 
political, social, and economic issues affecting their 
readership.  In addition to equipping UAE journalists with 
professional skills, and seeking the publication of several 
in-depth investigative articles in UAE papers, the program 
also seeks to develop the professional ethics of 
participating journalists and editors. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) In addition to these locally-generated MEPI 
projects, the Embassy has successfully implemented the 
region-wide, MEPI-funded English Access Micro-scholarship 
Program, from which over three hundred students graduate 
every year.  The program achieves dramatic improvement in 
English scores and brings students into ongoing contact with 
Americans.  Embassy Abu Dhabi has sought to forge ties with 
participating students through trips to the Embassy and 
focus-group discussion with U.S. Foreign Service Officers. 
To enrich the micro-scholarship experience beyond the 
classroom, post created "The Virtual Club," an on-line space 
that keeps former students engaged with their American 
teachers, provides information on study in the U.S., and 
builds an on-line community to further improve English skills. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Post has also made a concerted effort to distribute 
Scholastic books and link UAE officials to the Scholastic 
program to build children's critical and creative thinking 
skills.  "My Arabic Library" (MAL) books have been 
distributed to American Corners (Al Ain and Fujeirah), and to 
local schools.  We find great local interest in MAL's 
potential to improve Arabic literacy.  This distribution is 
part of a larger effort to promote USG-funded Arabic 
translations of American children's books. Through book fairs 
and outreach to schools, PAS staff have placed 8,700 books 
into classrooms, libraries, and cultural centers. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Looking ahead on the education reform front, post 
has endorsed and is ready to support efforts to launch a new 
MEPI civic education program later this year.  Finally, in 
response to Mohammed Bin Rashid's announcement of a $10 
billion foundation to fund programs aimed at bolstering 
education and employment to counter the appeal of extremism 
for youth around the region, post has engaged the 
foundation's leadership and offered to facilitate cooperation 
with successful organizations and programs already working in 
these areas. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Comment:  The UAE is not poised for an "Orange 
Revolution" in the near term, yet it is conscious of the 
inevitable march towards demands for greater public 
participation, enhanced government transparency, and improved 
education standards.  Post seeks to focus programming and 
official engagement with UAE officials to encourage 
irreversible steps in the direction cited in the Freedom 
Agenda.  End comment. 
QUINN