The National Endowment for Democracy

in cooperation with

The National Democratic Institute   and   The International Republican Institute

invite you to a conference

Middle Eastern Democrats and their Vision of the Future

featuring

Dr. Aseel al-Awadhi, Member of Parliament, Kuwait (one of four women elected in May 2009)

Ziad Baroud, Interior Minister, Lebanon; Founding Member, Democratic Renewal Movement   

Musa Maaytah, Minister of Political Development, Jordan

Nouzha Skalli, Minister of Social Development, Family and Solidarity, Morocco

Ayman Nour, Chairman of the El Ghad Party, Egypt (by phone)

Keynote address

Congressman Howard Berman (D-CA)

Chairman, House Foreign Affairs Committee

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

8:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m

NED Main Conference Room

1025 F Street, N.W., 8^th floor

Washington, DC 20004

RSVP (acceptances only) by Friday, November 13, to rsvp@ned.org

For the past two decades, democrats in the Middle East have been fighting uphill battles to reform and open up their political space.  Partial political reforms in some countries combined with the advent of new communications technologies have provided some safe space for emerging civic networks.  Recent hopeful signs include women’s enfranchisement in Kuwait and the election of women parliamentarians,  Lebanon’s  fundamentally peaceful and well-administered election, significant gains by moderate parties in Iraq, and the election of 3,400 women to  municipal council seats in Morocco.  In addition, civil society gains in Arab countries have been significant and are unlikely to be reversed

Still, democrats from the region often occupy a beleaguered political space between entrenched authoritarian systems and radical Islamist movements.  Given the considerable interest that the United States and the international community have in democratic progress in the Middle East, it is important that positive trends continue and that the prospect for democracy be fully appreciated.  This conference will give leading Middle Eastern democrats an opportunity to share their concerns with an American audience, and to highlight the challenges they believe lie ahead as well as their vision of the possibilities for democratic progress in the region