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FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8068
INFO RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 3850
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 9483
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 4648
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI 0254
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 2272
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 0533
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 1924

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 RABAT 000089 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/MAG, NEA/PI AND DAS KPATTON, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID ECON PGOV SCUL EFIN KMPI MO
SUBJECT:  MEPI UPDATE FOR MOROCCO 
 
REF: A) 07 Rabat 1724 
 
¶1.  Summary:  This cable highlights MEPI programs and initiatives in 
Morocco from October 1-December 30.  During the quarter, two 
representatives from MEPI's Washington offices visited Morocco. 
Highlights from existing programs include activities by the 
Advancing Learning and Employability for a Better Future (ALEF) 
literacy project, the MEPI Alumni Network, the American Bar 
Association (ABA), the Moroccan Center for for Civic Education 
(MCCE), the Adala Association and the Financial Services Volunteer 
Corps (FSVC). Implementers are partnering with local NGOs at the 
grassroots level to support numerous programs committed to reform in 
the four MEPI pillars.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. MEPI's North Africa Desk Officer, Saira Saeed, visited Morocco 
December 12-15.  In Casablanca, she met with education grant 
implementer Arab Civitas; a small grant recipient working on youth 
and election issues, 2AJ; and Consulate personnel.  In Rabat, Saeed 
held meetings with the Ambassador, the DCM, members of post's Reform 
Committee, and USAID.  In addition, she met with MEPI implementers 
National Democratic Institute (NDI), ABA, Tanmia and FSVC, and 
members of the MEPI Alumni Network.  She also joined the IREX team 
-- Matt Shelley, MENA Media Director, Hania Oweis, IREX Deputy 
Director, and Christine Prince, Senior Program Officer -- for 
several of their meetings with embassy officers, representatives of 
the Moroccan media, members of the advertising sector and civil 
liberties proponents.  The IREX team's goal was to evaluate the 
existing MENA Media program and to develop a new strategy for media 
programming in Morocco. 
 
¶3. Kit Bartels from MEPI Washington traveled to Rabat November 12-15 
on a familiarization visit and to conduct monitoring work.  She met 
with ABA to discuss future programs including a potential court 
clerks training course.  She also attended the introduction of ABA's 
training program for judges.  Bartels met with the MEPI Alumni 
Network and Demos Consulting to get an update on their activities. 
She also met with Global Rights to discuss its activities, though 
the NGO does not currently have MEPI funding.  Global Rights' 
Director, Stephanie Bordat told Bartels that it was unfortunate that 
MEPI funds for women's related issues have decreased, because with 
the passing of the Family Code there is increased need for programs 
to ensure full implementation of the code.  Bartels met with Taly 
Lind from USAID, who emphasized USAID's hope for additional funds 
for the national role-out of the literacy curriculum of the recently 
completed ALEF program.  Finally, Bartels discussed with Emboffs 
ways to improve coordination efforts in MEPI programs. 
 
------------- 
ALEF LITERACY 
------------- 
 
¶4. ALEF has been selected by the Casablanca regional chapter of the 
National Initiative for Human Development (INDH), an influential GOM 
program, to teach 24,000 Moroccan women how to read and write.  The 
Casablanca Regional Academy for Education and Training will use the 
MEPI-funded ALEF literacy program criteria, developed and tested 
with the Directorate for the Fight Against Illiteracy between 2005 
and 2007 with 10,100 women in four of Morocco's 16 regions.  This 
innovative program, designed with the State Secretariat for Literacy 
and Non-formal Education and 28 local civil society organizations, 
is based on a pre-literacy approach that trains women first in the 
basic competencies of reading and writing the Arabic alphabet using 
their native Arabic and Berber dialects.  The program derives its 
content from Morocco's Family Code, focusing on a functional 
approach to help women use the Code to improve their lives and those 
of their families.  The Casablanca region selected the ALEF program 
in particular because it has achieved attendance and retention rates 
of over 90 percent during the pilot phase, compared to Morocco's 
national average of approximately 70 percent. 
 
------------------------------ 
MEPI ALUMNI NETWORK ACTIVITIES 
------------------------------ 
 
¶5. Throughout the quarter, the MEPI Alumni Network organized 
numerous activities targeting the differing needs of MEPI Alumni. 
In November the network organized a conference entitled "Leadership 
Fminin au Maroc" (Women's Leadership in Morocco) that brought 
together three influential Moroccan women leaders working in three 
different fields (politics, entrepreneurship and social 
development): Boutaina Iraqui-Houssaini, who is a MEPI Alumni and 
also a recent member of the parliament; Aicha Echenna, a renowned 
figure in Morocco who defends single mothers; and Rachida Tahiri, 
who is a women's rights activist and currently a Counselor to 
 
RABAT 00000089  002 OF 003 
 
 
Minister of Social Development, Family and Solidarity Nouzha Skalli. 
 The conference was attended by 130 participants representing 
different MEPI Alumni groups.  The network also organized a series 
of workshops to enhance the professional and personal development 
skills of the MEPI Alumni.  These workshops had 15 to 20 alumni and 
focused on the skills they acquired during their initial 
participation in MEPI programs. 
 
-------------- 
ABA ACTIVITIES 
-------------- 
 
¶6. During this reporting period, the Institut Superieure de la 
Magistrature (ISM), with the assistance of the ABA, finalized a 
series of new computer-based training courses for student and 
sitting judges on the Family Code and international standards of 
women's equality.  The courses, which will be available to judges 
throughout Morocco via the ISM's website, are at the cutting edge of 
efforts in the region to provide uniform and systematic training to 
judges.  The series of eight training modules is being integrated 
into the ISM's core training program and is expected to lead the way 
to further computer-assisted judicial training in the future, both 
in Morocco and elsewhere in the region. 
 
¶7. Morocco is on the path to adopting a new charter of judicial 
conduct in 2008 and at the same time developing a more effective 
judges' association.  The Widadiya Hassania, the nascent Moroccan 
judicial association, initiated a series of national roundtables in 
December to seek judges' views on the adoption of a national 
judicial ethics charter.  With technical assistance from the ABA, 
the Hassania expects to seek adoption of a national ethics charter 
at the conclusion of the series of roundtables, first held in the 
northern city of Tetouan last spring and recently held in Oujda, 
east of Morocco.  At the same time as spearheading the drive for an 
ethics charter, the Hassania is strengthening its institutional 
capacity as an active judge's membership organization.  In November, 
the executive board of the Hassania met with an institutional 
strengthening expert to develop an ambitious organizational 
strategic plan, which is expected to lead to a more active and 
responsive judges' association for Morocco. 
 
------------- 
MCCE PROJECTS 
------------- 
 
¶8. During the quarter, MCCE activities included a Project Citizen 
workshop for 107 new administrative staff members assigned by the 
Academy for Education and Training to various schools in Casablanca. 
 A second Project Citizen training event was organized for 20 NGOs 
operating thought Morocco and it successfully attracted significant 
media coverage on both radio and TV. 
 
-------------- 
ELECTIONS 2007 
-------------- 
 
¶9. Abdelaziz Nouaydi, head of former MEPI grantee Adala, was one of 
the featured speakers at an NDI and the Consultative Council for 
Human Rights (CCDH) conference to report on the recent election 
observation efforts in Morocco.  Nouaydi recently gained notoriety 
as the only Moroccan lawyer to publicly agree to defend a group of 
men accused of conducting a homosexual wedding in November.  Nouaydi 
accepted the case despite threats of violence and possible adverse 
professional consequences. 
 
------------- 
FSVC PROJECTS 
------------- 
 
¶10. In November, FSVC organized a four-day study tour to South 
Africa for BMCE Bank (Banque Marocaine pour le Commerce Exterieur) 
Senior Management studying on-site innovations in low-income 
financial product development.  Host institutions, which included 
NedBank, African Bank Investment Limited, FinMark Trust, Africap 
Fund and Wizzit Telephone Banking discussed and presented hands-on 
operational issues for the BMCE management team, which included the 
Executive Managing Director, Mohamed Bennani, a member of the Board 
of BMCE.  As a result of this study, and a prior study tour in May 
2007 with other banks, BMCE intends to introduce "within the year" a 
new range of financial products and services for Morocco's extensive 
low-income and informal sectors. 
 
¶11. From December 3-7, FSVC organized a workshop for Groupe Banques 
Populaires (BP) regional bank credit officers on the best banking 
 
RABAT 00000089  003 OF 003 
 
 
practices and techniques of small-to-medium size enterprises (SME) 
lending.  The workshop focused on comparative approaches to SME loan 
application evaluation, and solutions to loan disbursement and 
monitoring.  Also in December, FSVC held two consultations with 
Morocco's Central Bank, Bank Al Maghrib (BAM) on supporting key 
reforms at BAM.   The first, December 10-14, reviewed payment 
systems oversight plans that confirmed BAM's best practice approach 
and added insights on better use of system user contracts to achieve 
financial stability and supervision objectives.  The second, 
December 17-20, reviewed BAM's total business continuity planning as 
a service to the financial sector.  The results confirmed the 
benefits of a best practice approach and the substantial reforms 
that MEPI has supported at BAM since 2004. 
 
¶12.  A detailed description of MEPI programs in Morocco can be found 
on the Mission unclassified Internet web page at www.usembassy.ma. 
 
 
JACKSON