The official briefing to the diplomatic corps about the objectives of the BMENA NGO Initiative took place on Wednesday, May 30th at the George C. Marshall Center of the U.S. Department of State.
As we continue to prepare for the First Regional Workshop on Women’s Empowerment of the 2012 G8 Broader Middle East and North Africa (“BMENA”) Initiative, the League of Women Voters invites you to better get to know our BMENA nation co-chair, Tunisia.
As part of our current work towards the 9th Forum for the Future scheduled to be held in Tunisia in December, I traveled last weekend to Tunis-Carthage, Tunisia to meet the leaders of the nongovernmental organization that will be our partners in this endeavor.
We’re excited to announce that we have finalized the location for our first meeting of the Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative (BMENA) – we’ll be in Doha, Qatar, July 11 and 12!
We have made a lot of progress since our post last week! We have reached out and secured a core group of friends and partners to work with us to complement our expertise by providing strategic advice on different themes.
The Broader Middle East and North Africa nations include Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, UAE, West Bank/Gaza and Yemen.
For the first time since 2004, the United States has assumed the G-8 Presidency for 2012 and, in that role, has co-chair responsibilities for the Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) initiative. The BMENA initiative is a multilateral effort to promote cooperation between the G-8 and BMENA governments and civil society to advance reform efforts throughout the region. The United States has invited Tunisia to serve as BMENA co-chair, marking the first time that two democracies have led the initiative.
To assist the government co-chairs in developing themes, agendas, and concrete efforts to promote reform in the MENA region, each country selects an NGO partner. The NGO partners coordinate closely with each other and with the co-chair governments in support of BMENA activities, culminating in the ministerial-level Forum for the Future, which will be held in Tunisia in December 2012.
The League has accepted the invitation to partner with the United States as its 2012 BMENA Initiative NGO partner. The role of the League is to organize 10 preparatory meetings that will take place in 8 different countries between April and October, efforts which will culminate with the ministerial meeting in December. The League efforts are going by a team of three headed by Zaida Arguedas. The League’s Global Democracy Program worked in Egypt and in Tunisia in 2011 and has strong ties with local organizations.
See the final publication of the 8th Forum for the Future 2011 below.
The Broader Middle East and North Africa nations include Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, UAE, West Bank/Gaza and Yemen.
I am sure many of you are wondering what does it mean to be the G8-BMENA NGO partner of the United States. Since the announcement of the selection of the League as the US NGO partner, I have been leading a team of three (myself included) in discussions about what our role should be.
On this International Women's Day, we are proud to announce that the League has been chosen to partner with the U.S. Government as its 2012 Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) Initiative NGO partner. "The League is proud to serve as the civil society partner alongside the U.S. and Tunisian governments and the NGO partner in Tunisia to contribute our experience to the themes and agendas that will be discussed in these important meetings," said Elisabeth MacNamara. Read more about this exciting work here.
