Home » Regions » Middle East & North Africa

IFES - Middle East and North Africa

MENA

The MENA region has experienced a number of recent political changes, like the Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip and the Lebanese protests that led to the Syrian withdrawal of troops from Lebanon. Transition to democracy can be a very slow process, but there is some evidence--for example, Egypt’s recent elections--of political liberalization in the region.

Current Projects

Political Participation of People with Disabilities in the Middle East and North Africa

IFES is working in Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen and Morocco to help promote the participation of people with disabilities in the region in political and electoral arenas. Under this program, IFES seeks to identify the electoral needs and challenges facing disabled people and work with in-country partners to design a program of assessment, voter education, and community outreach, tailored each country's specific situation. Thus far, IFES completed programming in Lebanon, Egypt and Yemen and currently works in Morocco. This program receives support from the US Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.

Status of Women in the Middle East and North Africa

IFES currently works in Lebanon, Morocco and Yemen to enhance the status of women and expand the democratization process in the Middle East and North Africa. IFES measures the current status of women in these countries by combining individual-level public opinion data gathered by surveys and existing country-level statistical data. Using these findings, IFES will provide local NGOs with information, tools to develop policy recommendations from this information and skills for working on media, advocacy campaigns and activities with parliament to advance issues of women’s status. This project receives support from the Canadian International Development Agency.

Promoting the Rule of Law and Integrity in the Middle East and North Africa

Funded by the UNDP’s Programme on Arab Governance and Reform, IFES is working to create analytical frameworks describing the key steps needed to build governing systems grounded in the rule of law and integrity.

Strategy for Election Support in the Middle East and North Africa

After conducting a series of five country studies, IFES has developed a multi-year strategy for election support in selected countries in the Middle East and North Africa.