Middle East Partnership Initiative (Mepi)

Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) is a program that was established in December 2002 with the goal of continuing and strengthening America's long-term commitment to working with all people in the Middle East region. This interaction is geared towards improving the daily lives of people in this region and assisting them to face the future with hope. The initiative reflected the softer elements of America's foreign policy considering the ongoing war against terrorism and reconstruction of Iraq. Furthermore, the program was a significant component in Bush's policy of fostering democracy within the Middle East region.

Objectives of the Middle East Partnership Initiative:

The objectives of the Middle East Partnership Initiative can be classified into four major categories i.e. economic, political, and educational reforms as well as women's empowerment (Sharp, p. 2). Through its economic reforms strategies, MEPI seeks to help in closing employment gap within this region by sponsoring programs that foster economic reforms and the development of private and public sectors. Politically, this initiative is geared towards bridging the freedom gap among Arab nations by sponsoring local programs that fortify the Arab civil society. It also seeks to develop political participation and encourage a more open media.

The women's empowerment objective is for the creation of awareness of women's rights within the Middle East region through supporting programs that are aimed at developing women. Through the educational reforms initiative, the Middle East Partnership Initiative is intended to close the knowledge gap in Arab countries by offering increased access to higher education for young people. Under this objective, the initiative will also bridge the gap in knowledge through the improvement of the quality of education in local schools. MEPI will achieve these objectives by collaborating with Arab governments and sponsoring programs that are in line with its goals.

Programs of the Middle East Partnership Initiative:

Since the launch of this initiative, it has organized more than 50 programs within its four main objectives or pillars with some of the programs being in operation for a long period. The programs of this initiative can either function in one or two countries or even within the entire Middle East region. The biggest beneficiaries of MEPI programs are Morocco, Bahrain, Yemen, Persian Gulf and other North African countries. Most of these beneficiaries have taken action towards developing quasi-democratic institutions and permitted political opposition parties to participate in elections. The presence of this initiative in Saudi Arabia is ultra-conservative because the country's authorities are more sensitive to initiatives and programs that are reform-minded.

Yemen is a significant country to MEPI because it has the initiative's pilot program in education reform and assistance objective. In this country, the Middle East Partnership Initiative has a program that is geared towards promoting women's literacy and plans to establish increased internet access for rural populations. Additionally, the initiative is working to support and fund training programs for primary and secondary school teachers within Yemen. On the economic strategy, MEPI has sponsored commercial law programs, development of infrastructures for information technology, and debt reform in Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria.

One of the most notable strategies of the Middle East Partnership Initiative is its ongoing shift of resources to the less offensive path of economic developments that are regime-led. This is a shift from the program's traditional strategy of democracy promotion and involvement with local voluntary organizations (Yerkes par, 11). The program also tends to fund initiatives that are conducted by U.S. NGOs, which do not interfere with the established lines of regime-funded reform and programs that don't match the political realities of Arab nations.

MEPIs Social-Entrepreneurship Programs:

The Middle East Partnership Initiative supports and funds various economic projects that work with several groups to develop a framework for sustained growth. This is because the program considers entrepreneurship as an important vehicle to enhance economic conditions and increase job creation and social change within the Middle East region. The program is also committed to improving social and economic entrepreneurship to uncover innovation, promote the development of the private sector, and develop new opportunities for young people.

In Saudi Arabia, the Middle East Partnership Initiative works with both governmental and local organizations to promote the country's reform programs in education, economic development, and women's empowerment. One of the major social-entrepreneurship programs is the U.S.-Saudi Women's Forum on Social Entrepreneurship that focuses on promoting exchange programs involving female students between the two countries ("Saudi Arabia," p. 1). This program was launched in 2008 to bring together female students from Saudi colleges and teach them about social entrepreneurship. Through exchange programs with other females in America, the team implemented six social enterprises comprising of a broad range of topics like rights for the disabled. The program has not only contributed to the sharing, evaluation, and judging of students in a forum for social enterprises but it has also received overwhelming positive response from the people of Saudi Arabia.