First Ever Regional Conference of the Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) Initiaive to be Held in Morocco

Office of the Spokesperson
Department of State
Washington, DC

August 31, 2012

Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne S.Verveer will travel to El-Jadida, Morocco from September 2-5 as the head of the U.S. delegation to the first regional conference of the Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) Initiative for 2012. With women’s empowerment and economic governance this year’s themes for BMENA, the El-Jadidah conference will focus on concrete areas of cooperation to advance women’s economic and political participation in the region. Ambassador Verveer will also travel to Rabat where she will meet with senior Moroccan officials and women leaders.

From Morocco, Ambassador Verveer will continue on to Dhaka and Chittagong in Bangladesh from September 6-10 to meet with government representatives, civil society and businesswomen, underscoring the U.S. commitment to advancing women’s progress. On September 9 at the Asian University of Women in Chittagong, she will launch the “Grassroots Women’s Political Leadership Forum: South Asia Regional Women’s Political Leadership Summit,” a 10-day program on political leadership development for grassroots women leaders from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The initiative was announced by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in India last year as part of the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue.

Prior to the opening of the conference, Ambassador Verveer will meet with tribal and indigenous women to explore issues related to the environment, women’s economic empowerment and entrepreneurship.

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