MANAMA, 12 November 2005 — Discussions concerning economic aid to support educational reforms and women’s rights in the Middle East and North Africa dominated the first day of the Forum for the Future meetings. History was made when for the first time civic bodies were allowed to present their input and address foreign ministers in an official meeting.
Political differences were evident as Iran decided to boycott the forum, but Bahraini officials confirmed that Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Shara had arrived to take part in today’s meeting, which will be attended by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.
Resistance to discussing political reforms during the meetings was also evident, as the focus once more shifted away from politics to economics and education, as was the case with the first meeting in Rabat in 2004.
Nonetheless Bahrain, which is co-chairing the forum with Britain, asserted its confidence in its success. “Their (civil bodies) participation proved to be a great success and we had substantive input from them,” Bahraini Assistant Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Mubarak Al-Khalifa told a news conference.
Sheikh Abdulaziz cited global pledges of support to fund the Foundation for the Future, which will provide grants to NGOs trying to bring democracy to the region, and the Fund for the Future, which will support entrepreneurship. Over $100 million is believed to have been set aside by the G-8 and six European countries, including Denmark, Sweden, and Greece, to support the two.
Earlier, officials had said that this year’s forum would focus on issues relating to education, empowering women, rule of law and strengthening human rights.
The Forum for the Future is a cooperative effort by the states of the Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) region, the Group of Eight (G-8) industrialized nations and other partners where they seek to promote and develop political, economic and social reform in the region.
US President George W. Bush introduced the initiative at the G-8 summit in June 2004 in an effort to bring about reforms in the region as part of Washington’s efforts to root out the causes of terrorism.
Arab officials in the Rabat meeting rebuffed US calls for speedy democratic reforms to stem terrorism and bring lasting peace to the region, saying reforms must be gradual and come from within. They said US support for Israel made it harder for Arab governments to fight extremists and emphasized the need for finding a permanent solution to the Palestinian issue before any progress could be made.
