The Palestinian Solar

and Sustainable Energy

Society (PSSES), a

P a l e s t i n i a n n o n -

g o v e r n m e n t a l

o r g a n i z a t i o n , i s

advocating for the

implementation of an

incentive policy to

encourage the use of

renewable energy in the

Palestinian Territories

as a tool for sustainable

development in rural

areas. With MEPI

support, PSSES is

introducing the concept

of renewable energy to

Palestinian citizens in

Ramallah, Nablus and

Hebron, through a

series of meetings,

w o r k s h o p s a n d

information sessions,

with the aim of

mobi l i z ing publ i c

i n s t i t u t i o n s ,

authorities, ministers,

a n d l e g a l

representatives to sign

a petition urging the

government to create a

n e w l e g i s l a t i v e

framework for the use

of renewable energy.

The workshops brought

together government

officials and relevant

stakeholders in the

f ield to discuss

renewable energy

policies.

The meetings included

investors from the

public sector, industry

and private individuals

interested in investing.

Participants discussed

the economic potential

and importance of

solar energy, including

job creation, and the

e f f e c t i v e n e s s o f

transitioning from

c o n v e n t i o n a l t o

alternative energy

s o u r c e s , f o r

e n v i r o n m e n t a l

preservation. The

w o r k s h o p s a l s o

highlighted market

opportunities and the

role of the private

sector in investing in

green energy projects.

Local media has

extensively covered the

activities of the project.

April 22: Earth Day Forty years ago, Earth Day began in the United States as a 'teach-in' -- a day to educate people about

the environmental challenges facing our planet. Today, we know more than ever about the challenges

of preserving our environment -- from clean water to climate change -- and Earth Day has evolved into

a call for sustainable solutions and local action all over the world…Today, environmental awareness

and activism are on the rise across the world -- proof that Earth Day's teachings have begun to change

all of us, and change the environment we share. — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on the 40th an-

niversary of Earth Day, April, 22, 2010.

MEPI Partner Advocates for Renewable Energy

in the Palestinian Territories

“I have never known about the possibilities of renewable energy utilization.” — A workshop participant

“This project is rewarding, and it’s time for people to know how the renewable energy is very vital.” — A workshop participant

INSIDE THIS

ISSUE

MEPI Partner

Advocates for

Renewable Energy

in the Palestinian

Territories

1

Grants $ At Work:

New Branding

Requirements for

MEPI Products

2

Environmental

Youth Advocates in

Lebanon

2

Building Tourism

and Environmental

Awareness in the

in the Palestinian

Territories

3

Spotlight on MEPI

Alumni:

MEPI Helps Form

Responsible

Citizens By Elarbi Imad

4

MEPI Medregion

Update Newsletter is

produced by the

M i d d l e E a s t

Partnership Initiative

(MEPI) MedRegion

Office at the U.S.

Embassy in Tunis,

Tunisia.

Editor in Chief:

Keith Krause

Editor:

Khaoula Touati

We welcome your

comments and

suggestions.

M E D R E G I O N U P D A T E P A G E 2

New Branding

Requirements for MEPI

Products

By MEPI Grants Unit

The existing requirement that the

MEPI logo and standard branding

language must be included on all

products (banners, flyers, leaflets, etc.)

associated with MEPI-funded grants

remains in place. However, there is

new requirement that will take effect

with all grants signed after 01 April

2 0 1 2 . G r a n t s a l r e a d y i n

implementation are not affected,

though anyone is welcome to

incorporate this new requirement.

The new requirement is that each

product must include the U.S. flag logo

shown, in

addition to

the MEPI

l o g o .

Exceptions to

this requirement may be made for

legitimate reasons. When MEPI sends

the official Notice of Award (NOA) we

will include instructions, along with

the appropriate picture files to help

you include the flag in color or black

and white, as appropriate for the

product.

As is always true, do not hesitate to

contact your GA if you have any

questions or concerns.

MEPI grantee Mubadarat Lilinma, a

L e b a n e s e n o n - g o v e r n m e n t a l

organization, engaged 778 Lebanese

youth in a series of environmental

activities that are promoting a culture

of volunteerism, advocacy and

responsible ci ti zenship among

secondary school students and young

professionals in the Kisrwan-Ftouh

region of Lebanon.

T h e “ E n v i r o n m e n t a l Y o u t h

Advocates” project exposed high school

students to environmental issues by

holding lectures and launching a “One

Student One Tree” campaign that

brought together around 500 students

to plant 500 plants. During the

campaign volunteers distributed

brochures and posters and broadcasted

an awareness-raising radio spot .

Mubadarat Lilinma established 15

environmental clubs in 15 secondary

schools and launched a Youth Green

Parliament (YGP) for young activists.

Mubadarat widened the scope of work

to target around 500 civil society actors,

representatives from municipalities,

and youth groups, engaging them in

drafting the charter and preparing to

launch the YGP. The YGP was

established by youth to advocate for

environmental issues and mobilize

citizens to get engaged in their

communities and to monitor and report

acts harmful to the environment.

Participants produced a short

documentary film on environmental

issues in Kisrwan-Ftouh, which was

first screened at the YGP’s opening

event. The documentary was then

distributed to municipalities, schools,

and other interested groups .

The YGP is currently engaged with 10

schools in the Kesrwan region to

implement a recycling project in these

s c h o o l s a n d t o e n g a g e t h e

Environmental Clubs’ student members

in preparing a research project on how

to be an environmentally friendly

school. The YGP will also cooperate

with several municipalities in a

recycling project.

Environmental Youth Advocates in Lebanon

M E D R E G I O N U P D A T E P A G E 3

The Arab Orthodox

Charitable Society

(AOCS), a Palestinian

NGO, led a successful

series of workshops

targeting youth, local

community leaders

and civil society

grou ps in the

Palestinian town of

Beit Sahour to raise

a w a r e n e s s o f

environment-friendly

practices that would

make the town

attractive to tourists.

The MEPI-funded

“ T o u r i s m a n d

E n v i r o n m e n t a l

Awareness Building”

project aimed to

energize the local

economy of Beit

Sahour as a “clean

and green” tourist

destination. One

hundred youth and

civil society actors

from Beit Sahour,

with equal gender

a n d f a i t h

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n ,

benefited from a

series of seminars on

tourism and the

environment.

T h e s e m i n a r s

brought together

experts who covered a

wide range of related

themes, including

“ E n v i r o n m e n t :

Pollution, Waste

Management and

E n v i r o n m e n t a l

P r e s e r v a t i o n , ”

“Tourism: Guiding,

I m p o r t a n c e o f

Tourism in the

Palestinian Economy,

and Behavior towards

Tourists,” and "Code of

Conduct for Tourism in

the Holy Land.”

A public awareness

c a m p a i g n u s i n g

promotional posters,

flyers, brochures, t-

shirts and hats, was

launched to consolidate

this effort. As part of

the campaign, young

men and women from

both the Muslim and

Christian communities

received training in

communication skills,

so that they could

convey to visitors the

essence of Palestinian

culture. Six field trips

were organized to

other tourist sites

t h r o u g h o u t t h e

country. The trips

aimed to raise

Building Tourism and Environmental Awareness

in the Palestinian Territories

participants’ awareness

of the importance of the

tourism industry for

t h e P a l e s t i n i a n

t e r r i t o r i e s . I n

partnership with the

Beit Sahour municipal

government and local

Scout groups, AOCS

held two consecutive

volunteer days under

the slogan “My Town,

My Community.” More

than 200 youth

participated in the

event

The project’s impact

will reach beyond the

local tourism industry,

as Beit Sahour’s newly

empowered youth

become active in their

c o m m u n i t y a n d

transfer what they have

learned to their fellow

citizens.

Stay Connected with MEPI E-mail: mepi- medregion@state.gov

Website: medregion.mepi.state.gov

Volunteer serving as a tour guide in Beit Sahour

M E D R E G I O N U P D A T E P A G E 4

While Morocco is

embarking on a

promising program of

political, social and

economic reform, civil

society organizations

including the Moroccan

Center for Civic

Education (MCCE) are

now p lay ing an

important role in

Moroccan society by

implementing projects

in different fields such

as education, health,

human rights and

economic development.

At MCCE, our mission

is to educate and train

younger generations to

become responsible,

active and effective

citizens. Thanks to

MEPI funding, MCCE

has been conducting

projects to promote civic

e d u c a t i o n a n d

education for democracy

and human rights to

support educational and

political reform in

Morocco. MEPI-funded

projects have enabled

school and university

students as well as

young adults to

participate in informed

dialogue about public

policy concerns and to

become issue advocates.

The Civic Education

Partnership Initiative

(CEPI), for example,

designed a stand-alone

democratic youth.

Through this project,

teams of students have

u s e d c o o p e r a t i v e

learning to select a

public policy problem,

research the problem,

identify options, select a

policy to advocate, and

develop an action plan

to address the problem.

The students’ action

plans have involved the

students in working

with policymakers and

other authorities to

adopt their policy.

School dropout in the

context of rural poverty,

vandalism, lack of

s c h o o l l i b r a r i e s ,

inadequate means of

transportation, and

environmental issues,

just to name a few, were

among the community

issues presented at the

c i v i c e d u c a t i o n

curriculum for 9th

grade students. With

the help of Maryville

University in St. Louis,

Missouri, MEPI and

USAID through HED,

CEPI has implemented

c i v i c e d u c a t i o n

p r o g r a m s a n d

s t ren g th ene d t he

capacities of students,

e d u c a t o r s a n d

administrators in terms

of democracy education

in six provinces across

Morocco.

Thanks to a MEPI

local grant, entire

groups of students from

Meknes, Beni Mellal,

B e n s l i m a n e a n d

Eljadida provinces have

been able to benefit

f rom the highly

successful curriculum

“Project Citizen,” whose

main objective is to

train students to be

active and effective

citizens who are able to

create a dialogue with

their educators and

c o m m u n i t y

representatives to

c o n t r i b u t e t o

c o m m u n i t y

development.

The project involved

t h e p r o f e s s i o n a l

development of teachers

to teach using active

methodology necessary

for the education of

showcases before a large

audience of educators,

parents, policy makers,

mass media, US

Embassy officers and

local representatives.

Through this project,

students have gained

the knowledge, skills

and attitudes of good

citizens educated to

fulfill the rights and

responsibi l i t ies of

democratic citizenship.

One study of the project,

conducted by Dr. Nancy

Patterson, a professor at

Bowling Green State

University in Ohio,

showed overwhelming

teacher support for the

p r o f e s s i o n a l

development teachers

received in preparation

for the program. The

study was a survey of

teachers in the four

MEPI Helps Form Responsible Citizens

By Elarbi Imad

regions and revealed

that teachers across the

departments from

language education to

h i s t o r y / g e o g r a p h y

education to religious

education found the

program a useful

addition to their

curriculum and their

communities. They

enjoyed the opportunity

to work together and

were very motivated by

the program’s focus on

h e l p i n g s t u d e n t s

identify and address

local issues.

T h e p r o g r a m

implemented by the

project has fostered

r e s p o n s i b l e a n d

c o m p e t e n t c i v i c

engagement of students

in solving public policy

problems in their

communities. This

MEPI-funded project

has been particularly

successful because it

has focused upon

practical issues that

affect the daily lives of

s tudents and in

obtaining financial and

moral support from local

parents’ associations,

t h e M i n i s t r y o f

Education and other

loca l funders in

Morocco.

Mr. Elarbi Imad, the founder and

president of the Moroccan Center for

Civic Education.