The Middle East and North Africa continue to show signs of political liberalization and democratic development, despite current challenges.

IFES has worked in the Middle East and North Africa for more than a decade with experience in Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Egypt, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, and Yemen. IFES currently holds offices in Yemen, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.

IFES has a proven track record of designing effective, participatory assistance programs, and in implementing locally appropriate training programs and educational materials. IFES’ network of consultants and regional experts provide expertise in election planning and administration, legal reform, NGO capacity building, and local governance.

IFES provides and has provided programming in technical assistance for election administration and election law reform, election organization aid, support for judicial reform and rule of law, training women candidates, local governance building, election violence education, monitoring, and mitigation throughout the region.

To help build a much-needed resource of Arabic language material on democracy issues, IFES emphasizes the production of Arabic language reports and materials.