Small Grants Archives

The following provides information on ongoing and completed MEPI small grant projects throughout RO Tunis region of coverage.  

ALGERIA

Ongoing

“Algerian Women Today” Film Documentary [Democracy/Women’s Empowerment] – in this grant, Algerian film director Hocine Saadi will produce and widely distribute a 30-minute documentary motion picture describing the life and struggles of three Algerian women – the president of a non-governmental organization (NGO) for the disabled, the publisher of an Arabic-language daily newspaper, and the youngest Deputy in the Algerian National Assembly.  The director will use this film to demonstrate to what extent the role of Algerian women has changed since the rampant terrorism in the country during the 1990s, as well as the ability of these women and others to affect positive change in Algerian society.

Cercle pour l’Action et Reflexion autour de l’Enterprise (CARE): Fundamentals of Economic Reform and the Global Market Training Sessions for Algerian Decision-Makers [Economic] – this grant is designed to build understanding and support for economic reform among those who mediate the public’s perceptions of economic reform issues but who themselves have little or no grounding in the most basic economic concepts.  This project will include seminars, taught by an economist from the IMF or World Bank, covering the principles of a market economy, globalization, and trade, while focusing on the costs of not opening Algeria’s economy. 

Sakai: Educational Partnership Program [Economic] – this grant will provide the Government of Algeria (GOA) with another tool to meet its ambitious education goals, by bringing a technical team of Sakai experts to Algeria to conduct a training workshop on the architecture of the software and the design of Sakai eLearning tools.  Senior Sakai software architects and programmers will visit Algeria to conduct a series of training sessions to help build Algerian capacity to participate in the ongoing development and use of the Sakai system – a community source software development effort to design, build, and deploy a new collaboration and Learning Environment (CLE) for higher education. 

Algerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry: Strengthening the Small and Medium Enterprise Sector in Algeria [Economic] – this grant supports the Algerian Chamber of Commerce in putting together a conference of Algerian small- to medium-enterprise (SME) entrepreneurs in agriculture, manufacturing, and chemicals that have the potential for export growth. Two U.S. experts in management and marketing will convene workshops on how SMEs can increase profits, expand operations, obtain financing, acquire foreign partners, and compete in a WTO market.

Completed

Training Ministry Spokespersons [Democracy] – this grant promoted greater government transparency and press responsibility by exposing ministry communication officials, journalists covering the Algerian government, and university journalism professors to the important role that ministry spokespersons play in disseminating information to the public. In conjunction with the “National Syndicate of Journalists,” U.S. experts will offer training to spokespersons through a series of workshops.

Strengthening Democracy in Algeria [Democracy] – this grant to “The Cultural Association for the Promotion of Citizenship,” an Algerian NGO, enabled leading secular and moderate Muslim activists from all parts of Algeria the opportunity to exchange ideas and to develop a strategy for the political problems that face their country. Participants will develop a list of recommendations and projects for follow up and implementation as well as publish and distribute the proceedings of the conference.

EGYPT

Ongoing

Egyptian Cognitive Center and Creative Child (ECC): Awareness Campaign Against Private Lessons Being one of the Major Obstacles in the Educational Reform Process [Education] – this grant will help increase grassroots awareness of the nature and scope of the problem of private lessons in Egyptian schools, better informing the media of this problem, while providing parents with alternative methods to help their children study on their own.  In addition to holding a media conference, ECC will produce and widely distribute brochures and posters explaining the issue, among other activities.  Participants in these activities will experience a concrete example of democracy at the local level, including the skills needed for effective political participation.

Sustainable Development Association (SDA): Decentralization of Educational Tools Towards The Youth Participation in Decision Making Process [Education] – this grant will help increase understanding of decision-making and problem solving in a democratic process by youth in the Alexandria area.  Some 600 youth will participate in model UN activities and, through this participation, will learn about key international issues, as well as how their country and community fit into the international scene.

Future Businesswomen’s Association: Generating Women Leaders and Revitalizing their Role in Society [Economic] – this grant is designed to help 25 women in Kafr El Shiekh area develop skills to become community leaders.  A broad range of women, including students and rural women, will be exposed to information about women’s political and social rights, both through meetings and through media and public outreach campaigns.  In addition, some 2,800 women who currently have no national identity cards will apply for and be issued them (as well as voting cards), while committees will be created with other community stakeholders (such as mosques and local councils) to discuss women’s rights.

Completed

Ibn Khaldun Center [All Pillars] – this project introduced concepts of economic development to young women in two of Egypt's rural and urban areas and enables young women to take the initiative in improving their living conditions. The project also provides literacy training, a line of micro-credit, and case-worker support and assistance, especially in regard to the issues of reproductive health and social and political rights.

ECWR Annual Conference [Women] – this grant supported The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights in training women leaders from across the region in advocacy training for confronting discrimination as related to the political and social status of women. This annual forum will bring women together to help each other learn basic skills, enable them to obtain their rights through legal channels, raise their awareness and familiarize them with their legal rights, offer legal and family counseling and consultancy, as well as monitor the violations inflicted on women.

LEBANON

Ongoing

Statistics Lebanon Ltd.: Pre- and Post-election Surveys [Democracy] – the objective of this project is to give citizens a voice in the political processes unfolding in Lebanon through means of public opinion polling, and to inform reformers in government of the electorate’s demands.  The grant provides for conducting 12 opinion poll surveys regarding topics surrounding parliamentary elections and the overall political climate in Lebanon.  Statistics Lebanon will disseminate the information to major media outlets to improve voter education and the quality of public debate in the country.

Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA) and Lebanese Center for Political Studies (LCPS): Transparency, Accountability and Integrity of the Lebanese Parliamentary Elections [Democracy] – this grant will be used to organize a series of roundtables and a national workshop on electoral law reform from the perspective of enhancing accountability and transparency.  LTA and LCPS have organized three roundtables on the following topics: election monitoring, transparency in the campaigning process, and elections as an accountability mechanism.  A national workshop attended by major stakeholders in the process will debate the conclusions of the workshops and develop recommendations for electoral reform in Lebanon.

Lebanese Foundation for Permanent Civil Peace: Magistracy Monitoring [Democracy] – this grant will enable the Foundation to provide reporting on daily judicial activities as published in the Lebanese press, on sentences published in specialized judicial bulletins, and especially on direct recourses to courts.  The implementer will work in cooperation with lawyers and jurists, leading to a new generation of young researchers, and together they will publish reports in the media intended to spur on public dialogue and debate.  All works will be published in a book, while a list of some 150 indicators and criteria will be established for sentences related to democracy and human rights in the country.

Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World: Empowering Arab Women through Literacy [Education] – this grant is intended as an extension of the Basic Living Skills Program (BLSP), a non-formal integrated education kit in Arabic geared towards illiterate and semi-literate women in the Arab World.  Funding will support the publication of a series of simple booklets based on 11 topics addressed in the BLSP, including civic education, legal rights, and women’s empowerment.

Completed

Literacy Program for Lebanese Teachers [Education] – this grant enabled the International College to train a group of 25 “star” teachers in the principles and elements of literacy training of young children. The trainees will become trainers for other teachers in their schools and neighboring communities. Follow up programming could include training literacy teachers from other countries in the region.

Digital Reform Initiative [Education] – this grant will enabled the Safadi Foundation to increase its capacity to assist women and youth seeking to improve their livelihoods. The grant will provide computer hardware and software, extensive English language training, and computer skills training to the targeted audiences in Tripoli and Northern Lebanon.

Empowering Arab Women through Literacy [Education/Women] – this program empowered illiterate and semi-literate women in Lebanon through the creation and publication of a series of simple booklets on civic education, women's issues, and legal rights. Booklets will improve and maintain women's literacy level as well as inform them on topics relevant to their everyday lives and concerns.

Pillars of the Future [Education] – through practical capacity building activities and training workshops, the Center for Development and Planning introduced high school students to the concepts of democracy, transparency, and accountability to build toward the future goal of good governance. CDP will create an interactive CD that will contain the necessary information to train students and teachers on the civics concepts that will be communicated through this project.

MOROCCO

Ongoing

Moroccan-American Chamber of Commerce: Expanding US-Morocco FTA Website [Economic] – this grant will provide a second year of funding to continue operations for the successful Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Website, enabling the American-Moroccan Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) to improve its capacity to address the MEPI priorities of supporting local civil society, foster networks, advancing practical applications of crosscutting technologies, providing public diplomacy plans, and extending a network of reform-minded individuals and groups.  By adding two new features – a Discussion Forum for FTA-related Issues and an Online Employment Database – AmCham hopes to enhance the benefits of the FTA and further contribute to Morocco’s economic growth.

Zagora: Women’s Technology Project [Economic/Women’s Empowerment] – this grant will help strengthen women’s effective participation in society by providing local NGOs with skills in computer technology, economic knowledge toward obtaining professional careers, and the ability to train other members both in their NGOs and other local organizations.  Through this project, 40 women from 20 NGOs in an underserved region of Morocco will receive a variety of training intended to build their skills and teach them to train others, so as to create a multiplier effect that can spread key reforms across a much wider segment of society. 

Completed

The New Family Law (Moudawana) Explained through Theatre Play [Women] – a the Rabat Branch of the Moroccan Women’s Forum in collaboration with Theater Aquarium launched an awareness campaign through theater to sensitize rural, urban, and working-women and men about reforms to the Moudawana. The project aims to convey better awareness of the family code articles and to clarify the discrepancies that lie within wrong interpretations and misunderstandings of the code that cause tensions among men and women and among family members.

Fondation Tanger al Madina [Education/Economic/Women] – this grant supported the activities of Fondation Tanger al Madina, a Moroccan NGO. This NGO provides literacy classes and technical training (sewing) for an underserved community of women in Tangier. The NGO also helps women find employment and develop a sense of local community.

Right to Education in Rural Areas [Education/Economic/Women] – this grant supported Association Azocas in the province of Zagora to provide vocational training for rural girls and to reduce St. Ouzdine's high rate of illiteracy. The association seeks to integrate rural women into the process of civil society development and has successfully managed projects reaching peasants, students, women and children.

Tangier American Legation Museum Society (TALM): Twin City Linkages [Economic] – this grant was used to hold a conference in April 2005, bringing together heads of NGOs, city officials, royal palace representatives, speakers from several key institutions, and the general public as part of an ongoing effort to strengthen the Tangier-Baltimore/Annapolis Twin City committees.  The overarching purpose of this event was to support networks and linkages among key reform-minded individuals and organizations in both countries.

TUNISIA

Ongoing

Institute of Journalism in Tunisia (IPSI): Creating an Independent University Newspaper [Democracy/Education] – this grant will help IPSI, which produces most of the journalists in Tunisia, establish the first student-run newspaper in the country.  The project will be used as a means of promoting analytical thinking and problem solving skills, empowering students to undertake projects of their own creation, and providing practical training to future journalists, including the notion of objective reporting and freedom of expression.  This grant will fund equipment for the newspaper, as well as exchanges of American and Tunisian professors and students to both countries to learn from each other and share experiences publishing campus newspapers.

Tunisian-American Chamber of Commerce (TACC): FTA Website & Regional Conference [Economic] – this grant is being used in support of a public-private, Tunisian-U.S. partnership outreach effort launched by TACC around the Trade Investment Framework Agreement/Free Trade Agreement (TIFA/FTA).  The grant is helping to build and maintain a website as the primary source of information on the TIFA/FTA agreement for businesses, NGO’s, and the media, as well as U.S. and Tunisian government officials. This project also included a Regional Free Trade Conference held in Tunis in June 2005, bringing together TACC’s counterparts in Morocco and Algeria, as well as trade experts from Egypt and Jordan and trade negotiators from several countries in the region, to foster discussion in Tunisia about the benefits of free trade with the United States.  

Junior Chamber International (JCI): Empowering Women and Implementing Positive Changes [Economic] – this grant will provide eight training courses on leadership, business, and entrepreneurial skills intended to spark interest in civic activism among women and youth.  Additional components of this project will include supporting participation by new members in local and national events related to the JCI activities; providing training in marketing, accounting, banking, and management techniques for rural businesswomen; and supplying micro-grants to women for raw materials to produce a carpet independently from suppliers, brokers, and other intermediaries, among other activities.

Completed

English Language Training for Journalists [Political] - This grant helped improve the English language proficiency of local journalists thereby allowing them to access a greater variety of source material leading to more balanced reporting on world events. The grant also responds to the increasing demand from journalists for quality English-language training.

Village Assistance: Human Rights and Legal Assistance for Berber Women

[Political/Education] - This project was part of a larger program package that will provide health, literacy, and psychiatric assistance to Berber women and a means to sustain those services. International Solidarity Association (ISA) will perform visits to three Berber villages in the Takrouna Governate, teaching women their fundamental rights as well as strengthening their basic reading and literacy skills. ISA is a new Tunisian NGO created to implement projects funded under UNESCO's International Solidarity Fund.

Awareness Campaign: Corporate Governance in Tunisia [Political/Economic] - The Arab Institute for Business Leaders worked to develop a corporate governance awareness campaign for the Tunisian private sector followed by a conference and documentation on the topic. This project responds to the needs of young entrepreneurs who are now managing their family businesses and looking for a new model to replace the traditional structure of family-owned businesses and to better compete in an increasingly global marketplace.

Developing a Regional “Family Enterprise Center” and A Seminar on the Management of Family Business [Economic] – in line with its mission of contributing to the development of sound and sustainable companies and to respond to the needs of the enterprises of the region, this grant supported the Mediterranean School of Business (MSB) in creating a Family Business Center. This project will fund a seminar dealing with the management of family businesses and the development of a blueprint for the establishment at MSB of a Regional Family Business Center.