Middle East Partnership Initiative

People in the broader Middle East seek greater freedom and opportunity, and a growing community of reformers in the region has emerged with new energy and ideas to make these aspirations a reality.

The United States strongly supports the reformers who are working to build a more peaceful and prosperous Middle East. One tangible demonstration of support is President George W. Bush's Middle East Partnership Initiative, which helps democracy to spread, education to thrive, economies to grow, and women to be empowered.

Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) funding goes directly to partners such as non-governmental organizations, businesses, and universities. In five years, MEPI has devoted more than $430 million to over 350 projects in 17 countries and territories through its offices in Washington, Tunis, and Abu Dhabi. MEPI investments are in addition to billions of dollars in bilateral assistance the U.S. provides annually to the Middle East.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice describes transformational diplomacy as the use of both diplomatic power and foreign assistance to help citizens better their own lives and build their own nations. MEPI is transformational diplomacy in action.

MEPI is structured in four reform areas: political, economic, education, and women's empowerment. Read more about the goals for these pillars and examples of success stories.

First Lady Visits MEPI Program Sites 
First Lady Laura Bush traveled to the Middle East October 21-26, 2007, to raise awareness about breast cancer and talk about ways to prepare the children of the Middle East to be future leaders. During her trip, the First Lady highlighted the US-Middle East Partnership for Breast Cancer Awareness and Research program in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. She also met with breast cancer survivors that are courageously breaking the silence and stigma around this disease and inspiring other women in their communities to advocate for change. According to Mrs. Bush, “Breast cancer does not respect national boundaries, which is why people from every country must share their knowledge, resources and experience to protect women from this disease.” Mrs. Bush is hopeful that the partnership will bring friendship, research collaboration, and maybe even one day, a cure for breast cancer.

Another MEPI program highlighted during Mrs. Bush’s visit to Kuwait was the English Access Micro Scholarship program, which is designed to target non-elite secondary school-aged students in the region and provide them with civics-based English language instruction. Mrs. Bush emphasized the value of the micro scholarships, explaining that “by helping students in the Middle East and in other regions improve their skills in English, micro scholarships equip young people to compete for better jobs, achieve higher degrees, and compete for scholarships in universities around the world.”

Online Forum Supports Algerian English Teachers
MEPI’s Partnership Schools Program (PSP) is helping the Algerian Ministry of Education meet its goal of improving English language teaching and learning. As part of this initiative, MEPI and its partners launched Blackboard Academic Suite, an online forum that supplements English-as-a-Foreign Language (EFL) teacher training by building a community among teachers situated in different regions of the country who otherwise would have little to no interaction with each other.

Through this tool, teachers are sharing strategies about language teaching techniques with other EFL teachers in the country. Blackboard has enabled teachers to focus on techniques to motivate students and enhance the classroom experience. Teachers have discussed topics that range from how to correct students without discouraging them to managing large classes. After Blackboard training, one teacher commented that “The shining point of this training is that I have learned a lot of strategies that enable my students to communicate. Now my students can speak freely, without being shy of making mistakes.”

Publication honors courageous Lebanese Judges
With support from a MEPI small grant, a local NGO in Lebanon is helping raise public awareness on verdicts handed down by Lebanese judges. As part of its Magistry Monitor project, the Lebanese Foundation for Permanent Civil Peace (LFPCP) recently published a book titled “Judicial Sentences as Norms to Advocate Democracy, Freedoms, and Human Rights.” The publication builds on LFPCP’s continuing effort to encourage judges and others to make decisions based on the law rather than as a result of outside pressures or influences.

The 500-page book includes more than 50 sentences rendered by Lebanese magistrates that LFPCP believes set standards for freedoms and human rights advocacy. LFPCP hopes that law professors, faculty members, and legal students will use this and other books published by the group as judicial research references, while members of civil society will be mobilized to recognize publicly judges' courageous decisions and to denounce any punitive actions wrongly taken against these judges.