VZCZCXYZ0005
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRB #0103/01 0341819
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031819Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9615
INFO RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 4957
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 0580
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 2490
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 9769
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 4479

UNCLAS RABAT 000103 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA - DAS SPIRNAK, NEA/PI AND NEA/MAG 
TUNIS FOR MEPI REGIONAL OFFICE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID ECON PGOV SCUL EFIN KMPI MO
SUBJECT: MEPI 1ST QUARTER UPDATE FOR MOROCCO 
 
REF: 08 Rabat 1724 
 
¶1.  Summary: This cable highlights the MEPI programs 
and initiatives undertaken in Morocco from September 
1 - December 31, 2008.  During the quarter, MEPI's 
Tunis Regional Office Deputy Director Kirk Samson 
visited Morocco and post approved two new local 
grant proposals.  Highlights from existing programs 
included activities by the Advancing Learning and 
Employability for a Better Future (ALEF), 
Association Action Jeunesse (2AJ) and MIT Media. 
Implementers are partnering with local NGOs at the 
grassroots level to support numerous programs 
committed to reform in the four MEPI pillars.  End 
summary. 
 
------------- 
MEPI VISITORS 
------------- 
 
¶2.  MEPI Tunis Regional Office Deputy Director Kirk 
Samson visited Rabat October 15-18, 2008 to meet 
potential recipients for MEPI local grants.  In 
Casablanca, Samson met Consul General Elisabeth 
Millard and two local grant recipients:  2AJ, 
working with youth and election issues; and MIT 
Media, offering training of trainers on e-journalism 
subject matter.  In Rabat, Samson held meetings with 
Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) Robert Jackson, 
members of Mission's Democracy Working Group and 
USAID representatives.  He also discussed MEPI Local 
Grant funding opportunities with potential 
recipients as well as MEPI implementers such as the 
National Democratic Institute (NDI), the American 
Bar Association (ABA), the State University of New 
York (SUNY), and MTDS-Tanmia.  Members of the 
Morocco MEPI Alumni Network and local MEPI 
implementers attended a reception in honor of Samson 
hosted by the DCM.  Samson also met with Emboffs to 
discuss ways to improve coordination efforts in MEPI 
programs. 
 
--------------------- 
NEW MEPI LOCAL GRANTS 
--------------------- 
 
¶3.  In October, the Mission approved two new MEPI 
local grants totaling USD 98,173.  The first 
recipient, the Moroccan Education and Resource 
Network (MEARN), will initiate a community service 
project to help students and youth take actions in 
their communities.  In the second, the Association du 
Nord pour le Developpement Educatif et Economique 
(ANDEE) will promote public participation in 
education and boost social corporate responsibility 
awareness by supporting three high schools in 
creating partnerships with community businesses and 
the private sector to sponsor and support school 
programs. 
 
--------------- 
ALEF ACTIVITIES 
--------------- 
 
¶4.  During this reporting period, ALEF launched 
activities in support of literacy program delivery 
in six regions, working with over 140 local 
associations and reaching in excess of 30,000 women 
and men (less than 10 percent of whom were men) and 
with over 1,100 trained literacy trainers.  ALEF 
emphasized to us that the main purpose of the 
program is not to attain great numbers but rather to 
develop the training manual and program and to help 
the Ministry of National Education revise its 
learners' manual.  ALEF is making progress but is 
constrained by the fact that the government has yet 
to authorize the new literacy agency.  Specific 
activities included:  a training workshop on 
management procedures of the literacy program in 
September, a training of trainers workshop on the 
Passerelles (Pre-literacy programs) model in 
October, and a workshop on the production of a 
"training of literacy trainers" CD-Rom. 
 
-------------------- 
MIT MEDIA ACTIVITIES 
-------------------- 
 
¶5.  On October 30 and 31 Information Officer David 
Ranz and Information Resource Center Director Malika 
Baiz attended the opening of the first in a series 
of MEPI-funded "E-journalism and new media" training 
sessions for young, primarily regional, journalists. 
Seventeen journalists, most of them at the beginning 
of their careers, had the opportunity to learn new 
media techniques, such as blogging and podcasting. 
A second session took place in Agadir on November 15 
and 16, with 19 local journalists present. 
Participants expressed their appreciation for the 
program, and these sessions have received positive 
press coverage on the internet. 
 
-------------------------- 
ALMOSTAQBAL PROJECT LAUNCH 
-------------------------- 
 
¶6.  On December 20, 2AJ launched its recently 
approved MEPI local grant in Casablanca.  The event 
gathered representatives of two local NGOs from each 
of the six cities where the program will be 
implemented.  The participants at this launching 
event discussed the program agenda and ways to best 
implement this project in the selected high schools. 
2AJ, a grantee with an excellent track record, will 
repeat the successful local high school election 
program in six cities throughout Morocco.  It will 
work with NGOs from each city, train them in the 
process and assist them in conducting these 
elections.  The students will also have the 
opportunity to interact with local officials through 
office visits and discussions. 
 
¶7.  A detailed description of MEPI programs in 
Morocco can be found on the Mission unclassified 
Internet web page at www.usembassy.ma. 
 
JACKSON