N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 1

V O L U M E 5 , I S S U E 1 1

INSIDE THIS

ISSUE

Weaving

Opportunity From

Traditional Crafts

1

Grants $ At Work:

Can I Request an

Amendment

to my Award

2

MEPI Project

Trains Hebron

Women

Entrepreneurs in

Starting a Business

2

Economic Empow-

erment of Women in

Underserved

Lebanese

Communities

3

Now Recruiting

MEPI Local Alumni

Coordinators

3

Spotlight on MEPI

Alumni: Business

Fundamentals and

Entrepreneurship

4

MEPI Medregion Update

Newsletter is produced

by the Middle East

Partnership Initiative

(MEPI) Regional Office

at the U.S. Embassy in

Tunis, Tunisia.

Editor in Chief:

Keith Krause

Editor:

Khaoula Touati

“Entrepreneurship is a way of looking at the world and seeing not just obstacles, but

opportunities; not just the world as it is, but the world as it could be, and then having

the confidence, the determination, and the resources to move those worlds closer

together”. —Secretary Clinton, April 27, 2010, U.S. Summit on Entrepreneurship. In honor of Global Entrepreneurship week (November 14-20), RO Tunis salutes our partners in entrepreneurship from across the region, who are building more prosperous societies through their creativity.

Women in the Badia region of

Jordan aspire to have an

effective role in their

communities; however, they

lack opportunities to improve

their skills and thus, generate

income. A MEPI Local Grant to

the Jordan-based civil society

organization, the Khuzama and

Nafal Association for Safawi

Women (Khuzama) is

enhancing and supporting

women’s entrepreneurial skills

in the large Badia region of

rural Northeast Jordan.

Through the project

“Entrepreneurship Education

and Traditional Arts Center for

Women of the Badia Region”

Khuzama is reviving traditional

handicrafts through technical

training sessions to women

from three geographic areas in

the Badia.

On October 26, almost 170km

away from the Jordanian

capital, women from the Nafal

and Khuzama Association met

with HRH Zein Bint Nasser,

honorary President of the

Association and Chairman of

the Hashemite Fund for Badia

Development. HRH learned

about the different stages of the

project, including the crafts of

spinning, dyeing, and weaving

raw wool.

In addition to beading,

design and marketing, women

acquired new leadership,

e m p l o y a b i l i t y , a n d

entrepreneurial skills.

HRH Zein Bint Nasser

addressed the women about

the importance of developing a

marketing plan to ensure the

success and growth of the

project. The group created a

Facebook page and Twitter

account to use as a marketing

tool and to promote the project’s

activities.

Um Nof weaving the wool and getting advice from Um Talal

Samples of women's products that include rugs, wall rugs, tray,

and hand bags

Weaving Opportunity From Traditional Crafts

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

Can I Request an Amendment

to my Award?

By MEPI Grants Unit

Bottom Line Up Front: Yes, you can request an award

amendment by sending a request in writing to the Grants Officer

who signed your DS1909. You will do this by writing the request,

addressed to the Grants Officer, and then sending it to your

Grants Analyst with a courtesy copy to your Project Officer. This

request must list the specific change(s) you are requesting and

specific reason(s) for the request. The request should answer

three basic questions: (1) When is the new end date? (2) Does it

have a budgetary impact? (3) Why is it necessary?

Grant awards have a definite beginning and end date,

which can be found on the DS1909 (Federal Assistance Award)

document in Block 10. All requests for changes must be signed by

both implementer and Grants Officer before the end date listed on

the award, so please submit your request with plenty of time to

resolve the question. Typically you want to give at least 60 days

for amendments to be processed. Awards also have a detailed list

of activities to be accomplished with due dates for each activity.

All of these details can be found in the DS1909 document, as well

as your Award Specification and Post Program Specification

documents. All of these details are subject to revision for good

reason, with the concurrence of the Grants Officer.

We here in the Regional Office in Tunis understand that

sometimes awardees need to amend the details of their awards.

For instance, you may identify an opportunity to make your

project more relevant to your target audience by revising your

activities, or perhaps you need extra time to complete your

activities.

If you are asking to revise your Statement of Work

activities you must make this request no less than 30 days prior

to the current activity date; if you are asking to extend your

award period you must make this request no less than 60 days

prior to the current award end date. The Grants Officer is the

final authority on your award and any amendments you may

request.

If the Grants Officer determines that an amendment is

warranted, your Grants Analyst will create a DS1909A

(Amendment to Federal Assistance Award) document and send it

to you for signature. Once the Grants Officer has signed it, your

amendment is in effect.

As always, do not hesitate to contact your Grants Analyst

with any questions or issues, and be sure to always include

tunismepigrants@state.gov as an addressee on all grant-related

messages.

Teachers and Students Receive Hands-on Learning Training

on Sciences and Technologies

MEPI Project Trains Hebron Women

Entrepreneurs in Starting a Business

On October 26, Palestine

Polytechnic University (PPU)

had a preparatory meeting

with Project Officer Dana

Rassas on the MEPI funded

Project entitled “Young

Women IT Entrepreneurs”.

This project will benefit 65

female University seniors and

young graduates.

The project will empower

these young women to

penetrate the male-dominated

fields of IT and business. PPU

senior female students of the

faculty of Administrative and

Computer Sciences and young

graduates in Business

Administration, and Graphic

Design competed to join the

pre - incubation tra ining

program.

The groups were divided into

two groups to be trained in

topics like small business

planning, entrepreneurial

skills, life skills, innovative

management, marketing, and

branding. The participants

will get a total of 200 hours of

training.

The second phase will be an

incubation of ground-

breaking ideas that the

trainees will develop.

Project Director Dana

Rassas attended the training

session and talked with the

participants to discuss their

expectations, hopes, and

what they would like to

achieve. Participants look

forward to the support their

ideas will be receiving from

the U.S. Consulate, MEPI,

and local private business.

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

Participants in Networking & Fundraising workshop

Economic Empowerment of Women in Underserved Lebanese Communities

Entrepreneurship is a key

vehicle to improve economic

conditions and expand job

creation and social change in

the region. MEPI is supporting

women entrepreneurs in

Lebanon through a Local Grant

project to Made @ Home

(M@H), a Lebanese Non-

governmental organization.

Through the “Economic

Empowerment of Women in

Underserved Communities”

project M@H, in coordination

with the Catholic Relief

Services (CRS) is empowering

60 Lebanese women artisans,

from 22 marginalized

communities in Lebanon, to

take leadership roles in their

communities by running their

own small businesses.

The project is supporting

diverse homemade and

handmade manufactures

produced by women artisans

and helping those women

expand their businesses by

setting up an e-portal to

enable them to reach more

customers, especially Lebanese

communities abroad.

M@H conducted training

workshops on strategic

planning and budgeting,

networking and fundraising.

The workshops also included

sessions on computer literacy,

and healthy food programs.

M@H reached 85 local NGOs

through workshops, seminars

and fairs, in which they

publicized the project and

discussed further venues for

future communication and

cooperation on marketing the

products produced by the

participating women.

M@H held meetings with

parliamentarians, ministers,

and opinion leaders;

municipalities; institutions,

associations and banks, NGO

and political parties to discuss

the project and the possibility

of support for future

endeavors.

CRS-M@H Capacity Building program in Tripoli

NOW RECRUITING MEPI LOCAL ALUMNI COORDINATORS

MEPI is currently seeking creative, motivated individuals to run the Local Alumni Chapters in Egypt, Iraq,

Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, and Yemen.

Artisanal work Jewelry Home made food

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

Stay Connected With MEPI

Middle East Partnership Initiative

The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), located within the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the U.S. Department of

State, is a unique program designed to engage directly with and invest in the peoples of the Middle East and North Africa

(MENA). MEPI works to create vibrant partnerships with citizens to foster the development of pluralistic, participatory, and

prosperous societies throughout the MENA region. MEPI partners with local, regional and international non-governmental

organizations, the private sector, academic institutions, and governments.

MEPI Regional Office, Tunis

Housed in the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, the MEPI Regional Office Tunis administers MEPI local grant projects in Algeria, Egypt,

Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and West Bank/Gaza. Each year, MEPI provides a significant number of local

grants directly to local organizations based in the Middle East and North Africa. These Grants promote reform and civic

activism at the local and national levels in the Middle East and North Africa, build the institutional capacity of non-

governmental organizations (NGOs), and strengthen civil society.

To subscribe or unsubscribe please send us an e-mail at: Mepi.medregion@state.gov

Website: medregion.mepi.state.gov

E-mail: mepi- medregion@state.gov

Phone: +216 71 107 055

Fax: +216 71 107 436

MEPI Regional Office Tunis

U.S. Embassy

Les Berges du Lac— 1053

Tunis, Tunisia

Follow us @MEPI Medregion

https://www.facebook.com/USMEPI

www.YouTube.com/user/ MEPIROTunis

The MEPI Alumni

Network chapter in Jordan

held a workshop on

Business Fundamentals and

Entrepreneurship designed

to address specific needs,

c h a l l e n g e s , a n d

opportunities for young

entrepreneurs and to

provide them with the

opportunity to actively

participate in the economic

sector. The workshop also

addressed the financial and

business fundamentals that

entrepreneurs must know to

compete effectively and to

r u n t h e i r b u s i n e s s

profitably.

Trainers with experience

in the private and

i n s t i t u t i o n a l s e c t o r s

introduced a practical

module for the workshop on

a variety of topics.

The workshop provided

essential information on

what an entrepreneur needs

to know to successfully start

a business and introduced

resources and activities to

help entrepreneurs in

specific areas of business

strategy.

In a small group setting,

entrepreneurs also worked

with peers and advisors to

think through and design

essential components of

their businesses.

Business Fundamentals and Entrepreneurship

The MEPI Alumni Network in Jordan

Organizes a Workshop on Business

Fundamentals