US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT4144

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 004144 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR NEAR/PI, NEA/ARPI, NEA/PPD,IIP/G/NEA; ABU DHABI FOR MEPI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/20/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, KMPI, KDEM, ECON, KWMN, KU, MEPI 
SUBJECT: KUWAIT MEPIC II:  INCREASING MEPI'S PUBLIC OUTREACH 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 4047: JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT UPDATE 
     B. SECSTATE 163043: USPTO DECEMBER PROGRAM 
     C. SECSTATE 152168: RULE OF LAW CONFERENCE 
     D. SECSTATE 133351: DEMOCRACY ASSISTANCE DIALOGUE 
     E. SECSTATE 124591: BUSINESS INTERNSHIP PROGRAM 
     F. KUWAIT 2732: FIRST QUARTERLY MEPIC 
     G. SECSTATE 94876: USPTO PROGRAMS 
 
1. (C) Summary: Ambassador chaired Post's September 14 MEPI 
committee meeting -- with representatives from the Front 
Office and Commercial, Economic, Political and Public Affairs 
sections -- to review quarterly accomplishments and discuss 
upcoming projects for inclusion in the quarterly report 
(coined the MEPI epic or "MEPIc"). During the third quarter 
(July-September), Embassy Kuwait: received approval for two 
additional small grants, worked with on-going MEPI programs, 
increased participation in public diplomacy initiatives, 
invited Kuwaitis to an array of regional conferences, boosted 
MEPI's public image through media coverage and responded to 
project assessments, while meeting all deadlines. The 
committee suggested targeting future program work on two 
Freedom Agenda priorities: full political participation for 
women and promotion of more responsible journalism. End 
summary. 
 
2Q05 Follow Up: Focus on Small Grants and PD Initiatives 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
2. (U) Post submitted five FY05 small grants proposals. Two 
were approved during 3Q05 bringing the total to four 
green-lighted projects. CineMagic's grant will provide 
scholarship support for underprivileged youth to attend film 
training courses with the goal of producing civic-minded 
short movies for mass screening. Meanwhile, the Lothan Youth 
Activities Center will conduct a summer civic education 
program in 2006 to increase political awareness among the 
largely apathetic Kuwaiti youth. The amount of committed FY05 
small grants funds now totals $60,460, a 71% increase over 
FY04. 
 
3. (C) Two on-going programs made progress during the 
quarter. INJAZ, the Amman-based Junior Achievement affiliate, 
formed its board, appointed a local director and recruited 
voluntary instructors to inaugurate its program this fall 
(ref A). The National Democratic Institute (NDI) launched the 
second phase of its women's political rights program, this 
time focusing on campaign training, which supports the 
Freedom Agenda goal of fully integrating women into the 
political process. NDI representatives Kelley Jones and 
Lynsey Kryzwick arrived in August to prepare the September 
25-28 "Partners in Participation" conference, an event 
designed for women to interact with colleagues from around 
the region in workshops on campaign strategy, voter outreach 
and media relations. Ambassador is slated to open the 
conference with brief remarks. Also scheduled to attend are 
Minister of Planning and Minister of State for Administrative 
Development Dr. Ma'souma Al-Mubarak and U.S. Representative 
Jane Harman (D-CA), among others.  Ambassador will host a 
September 26 reception for the participants. 
 
4. (U) The Public Diplomacy initiative to translate the 
"Journal of Democracy" into Arabic has been delayed since, as 
Post understands, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) 
abandoned its translation effort in June. With MEPI 
concurrence and funding, we would be prepared to approach an 
experienced local translator to complete the project. Post 
requested additional funding for the ACCESS microscholarship 
program to increase the enrollment of non-elite Kuwaiti 
youths in 2005-2006 to 200 from 105 the previous academic 
year, a 90% increase. AMIDEAST is the local program 
implementor and could only handle 180 due to space 
limitations at their facility, thereby capping Post's 
participation. 
 
Quarterly Recap: Kuwaitis Attend Regional Events 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
5. (U) Post invited Kuwaitis to a host of regional 
conferences during the quarter. In addition to the names 
provided by Washington, Post suggested three additional 
candidates for the BMENA-related Democracy Assistance 
Dialogue in Venice in July (ref D). Post received 
confirmation of the attendance of one Kuwaiti, Dr. Rola 
Dashti, who also spoke at the event. In response to a request 
for U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) intellectual 
property rights training candidates (ref G), we submitted the 
names of two Kuwaiti judges for the August and September 
programs in the U.S. The USDA held its September 13-16 
"Global Trade" conference, a MEPI-funded technical assistance 
workshop, in Kuwait in conjunction with the Public Authority 
for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources. In response to 
ref C, Post submitted the names of four Kuwaitis to attend 
the September 26-27 BMENA-related rule of law conference in 
Amman. For the December USPTO IPR academy (ref B), we 
forwarded the names of three GOK officials. Post's 
submissions met MEPI deadlines. We request that NEA/PI inform 
us when invitations to Post-suggested candidates are sent so 
we can encourage their participation as well. 
 
6. (U) Kuwaitis have actively participated in regional 
programs. Two students returned from the MEPI Study of the 
U.S. Institutes held during the summer. Post participated on 
the Business Internship Program (BIP) selection committee, 
chaired by AMIDEAST, to identify local candidates (ref F). 
During the September 14 selection meeting, two Kuwaiti women 
were chosen from the 16 applicants. The candidates' names 
were sent to Washington for final approval. Regarding the 
2006 MEET-U.S. program, Post contacted a variety of GOK 
ministries and private company representatives to solicit 
applications and distributed program information, including 
website links, to interested candidates. Application 
information is posted on our internet site in both Arabic and 
English to encourage widespread participation, particularly 
among women. 
 
Quarterly Recap: Successes with Public Outreach 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
7. (U) Public Affairs arranged media opportunities for MEPI 
program participants, garnering significant press coverage. A 
June 26 press roundtable for two Kuwaiti Study of the U.S. 
Institutes participants received coverage from all of 
Kuwait's eight daily newspapers, five Arabic and three 
English. The roundtable included a meeting between 
Ambassador, the students and their families. Soumaya 
Al-Jassem, the 2004 BIP participant, appeared August 7 with 
AMIDEAST, the local BIP administrator, at a media roundtable 
and described her positive experiences in an effort to 
generate interest in the 2005 program. Again, all eight 
dailies featured the event prominently. 
 
8. (U) Post encouraged media contacts to highlight MEPI 
programs and facilitated the development of a potential media 
event. Mohammed Al-Jassem, host of the weekly Gulf affairs 
television program, "Al-Majlis," on Al-Hurra TV, approached 
Public Affairs for an interlocutor to discuss MEPI programs 
such as BIP. Post contacted MEPI Abu Dhabi and put Al-Jassem 
and the Regional Office in contact; a program focusing on 
MEPI is now in the works. (Note: Since Soumaya is Al-Jassem's 
daughter, he preferred to invite a regional MEPI 
representative on his program to avoid a conflict of 
interest. End note.) Al-Jassem said that his goal is to 
encourage participants of MEPI and other U.S. exchange and 
training programs to speak publicly about their experiences 
in an effort to remove a perceived, regionwide stigma against 
U.S.-sponsored training. 
 
9. (U) Ambassador hosted a September 12 reception for members 
of the democracy and human rights communities. Post invited 
several MEPI contacts including small grants recipients, a 
visiting NDI representative and women's rights activists. 
Ambassador addressed the gathering and highlighted MEPI's 
involvement with democracy and women's issues. 
 
Quarterly Recap: Project Proposal Assessments 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
10. (U) Post received four requests for project proposal 
assessments during the quarter. The women's empowerment 
review in July included two proposals incorporating Kuwait 
from Freedom House and International Republican Institute 
(IRI). We noted that the Freedom House program to compile 
laws that discriminate against women mirrored one of the FY05 
small grant projects as well as a proposed UNDP project. The 
same month, Post reviewed six independent media proposals 
focusing on advocacy, law, reform and training. Only one of 
the political reform proposals in August, NED's political 
participation workshops in 2006, pertained to Kuwait. Post 
recommended in August that NDI's draft program on women's 
political participation focus on coalition building. Again, 
Post's submissions met all MEPI deadlines. 
 
Future Planning: Supporting the Freedom Agenda 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
11. (C) NDI has mentioned interest in making its program 
work, which supports our Freedom Agenda priority of full 
political participation for Kuwaiti women, more long-term 
rather than dependent on consultants. We support this idea, 
which would help to prepare women for the 2007 legislative 
elections, both as candidates and activists. PolChief is 
scheduled to meet with Dr. Samar Al-Roomi regarding her ideas 
for projects designed to incorporate more women into the 
political process. Al-Roomi had previously met with NEA/PI in 
January (ref F). She also is interested in female 
participation in the media, which supports a second Freedom 
Agenda goal of creating a more responsible media. 
 
12. (C) To support the GOK initiative to reduce the number of 
voting districts in a bid to combat electoral corruption, we 
discussed approaching local universities' political science 
departments regarding possible political geography and 
polling projects. A related program could also compile 
historical voting and public opinion trends for statistical 
modeling purposes. We also suggested inviting experts from 
the U.S. or holding a DVC between American and Kuwaiti 
political analysts. 
 
New MEPI Intranet Site, Post Coordinator 
---------------------------------------- 
 
13. (U) The MEPI Committee launched an intranet site in 
August to educate the entire mission about MEPI and provide a 
resource for committee members. The website already provides 
MEPI's history and objectives, an overview of BMENA in 
addition to submitted small grants applications. Once 
completed, users will be able to search regional conferences 
and programs, past and present, including the names of 
Kuwaiti participants. 
 
14. (U) The role of post MEPI Coordinator will transition to 
new PAO Tanya C. Anderson on October 1. Please include her on 
all correspondence regarding small grants, conferences, 
on-going programs and project proposal assessments. Her email 
is andersontc@state.gov. 
 
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LEBARON