Completed MEPI Small Grants

The following provides information on ongoing MEPI small grant projects throughout RO Abu Dhabi region of coverage.

BAHRAIN

Bahrain Journalists Association: “Improving Press Reporting on Local and National Elections” -Accomplished U.S. journalists and journalism professors train journalists in Bahrain to effectively and ethically cover campaigns, candidates, and elections.  A follow-up phase trains journalists on covering the activities of parliament and parliamentarians.  Samples of pre and post workshop reporting are compiled and used as instructional tools.  The project produces a manual for distribution to all BJA members, and a journalist's code of ethics. 

JORDAN

Land & Human ro Advocate Progress (LHAP): "Democracy in Action in North Badia" - LHAP is adding 3 additional schools to a human rights and democracy project in the Northern Badia of Jordan in Mafraq Governorate. The project is comprised of forming a school parliament for each semester in each school, training both teachers and elected school parliamentarians, furnishing school libraries each with 50 books about human rights and democracy, convening as one school parliament, visiting the Jordanian parliament in Amman, and issuing a human rights newsletter after electing an editorial committee twice per academic year. The activities are designed to foster students' awareness of democratic issues and enhance critical thinking.

Community Development Center:  "Mother's Advocates: A Women's Empowerment Project" - The project goal is to create a framework where mothers will learn how to advocate for their children, enabling them to advocate for themselves and help others to do the same. This project works in conjunction with mothers to provide information and develop the skills necessary in order to negotiate effectively with school administrations and other educational institutions.

KUWAIT

"Political Education Brochure for Kuwaiti Women" - This grant supports the production of a political education brochure for Kuwaiti women. The goal is to increase women's participation in the political process, thereby strengthening the democratic reform process.

Luthan Youth Activities Center (LOYAC):  "Summer Training and Activities for Kuwaiti Youth" - LOYAC will organize a summer training and activities session for Kuwaiti youth. The training sessions are organized through awareness committees, grouping teams of youth from diverse socio-economic backgrounds to work together on issues important to civil society and civic participation in Kuwait. The students gain substantive skills as well as notions of civic participation through community service. The program aims to encourage political activity and participation in community service.

"Survey of Kuwaiti Women" - The project goal is to identify the views of Kuwaiti citizens on women's participation in public life. The project will undertake in-depth, quantitative surveying to gauge the support for women's full exercise of their political rights. The results will be used to identify issues of concern, assist women running for office in building platforms and advise the candidates of the public expectations for their performance as leaders.

Martha Steffens, University of Missouri journalism professor, in partnership with the Kuwait Journalists Association: “Parliamentary Elections Coverage & Reporting Effectively” - Martha Steffens, facilitated by the Kuwait Journalists Association, provides training to media professionals through workshops to improve the ability of journalists and editors in Kuwait to report effectively and ethically on parliamentary campaigns and election day events.  A follow-up phase trains journalists on covering the activities of parliament and parliamentarians.  Samples of pre and post workshop reporting are compiled and used as instructional tools.  The project produces a manual for distribution to all participants and KJA members, and a journalist's code of ethics.

Cinemagic Scholarship Program - This scholarship program assists students from marginalized groups or economically disadvantaged areas to express themselves through film. Project participants will create civic-minded films aimed at Kuwaiti youth on environmental and health. These films will be shown at a Kuwaiti cinema, and may be eligible for additional cinema screenings.

Oman

Oman Association for Consumer Protection:  "Promoting Consumer Rights in Oman" - This project enables the Oman Association for Consumer Protection to conduct information sessions for the public, obtain expertise from a U.S. counterpart organization, build their constituency, and establish networks with other consumer organizations in the region and the world.

UAE

Dubai Women's College:  "Establishing an elected Student Council" - As a follow-up to a previous MEPI small grant, Dubai Women's College will bring 3-4 students from Mt. Holyoke College, for one week, to train the student council on how to form an advocacy based organization vs. its current event planning/social role. The students will learn how to build an effective leadership team based on models of parliamentary/democratic procedures. They will also learn how to advocate on behalf of the student body to the senior administration. The training will also examine the role of women participating in civil society.

Abu Dhabi Businesswomen's Council:  "Seed program for a Women's Entrepreneurship Center" - This project trains a core team of Emirati businesswomen on small business development and practices. The UAE Businesswomen Council will use this core group to develop a center to train UAE women on how to start a small business. These members will be the core team who will in turn hold training for other UAE women entrepreneurs in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.

YEMEN

Democracy School: "Qualifying Young Lawyers in Human Rights" - The project will train one hundred and sixty Sharia and Law faculty students on the concept of Human Rights. Students from third and fourth year will be primary particpants in this project. The project will also enable students to legal research on the international conventions on Human Rights and the international protocols of the addendum conventions.

Al-Rahma Foundation: "Business and Marketing Skills for Women" - This program will train and encourage female youth of Dar Al-Rahma to produce high-quality handicrafts such as woven rugs for domestic and international markets. It will promote and expand productivity and profitability of female youth which will help them gain skills to start their own business and improve their economic opportunity. The products of the project will be marketed through networking and agreements with selected Trade Centers in the major tourist sites in Yemen.

SOUL: "Community Based Integrated Development Program: Expanding Employment Opportunities in the Hadhramout" - A series of workshops will include the following topics: "Shop for a Job", "Sell Yourself", and "Role Playing". This program will be a pilot initiative. If proven successful, the implementer will propose a permanent employment assistance center to provide employment services to the community.