The Civility Programme aims at informing Western policies on political reform in the Middle East. Our starting point is a conviction that the case – economic, political and social - for Middle East reform has been made, but the question of how to realise such an aim now requires far more systematic attention. The Civility Programme seeks to analyse the nature of civil society and develop realistic policy proposals through engagement with policymakers, journalists, academics, business leaders and representatives of civil society in the region. By doing so Civility aims to encourage the foreign policies of Western nations towards active and long-term support for the development of Middle Eastern civil society.

The Civility Programme has three core activities:

Generating policy through a broad consultative network of key figures, especially in the

Middle East, supported by cutting-edge research

Promoting policy coordination among donors, especially in Europe

Advocacy and monitoring of implementation

Some of our key activities included 'Iraq Retreat'. This brought together 16 Iraqi civil society representatives with key personnel from the international donor community. More recently, we hosted an international conference in Brussels aimed at assessing and evaluating international initiatives on reform. Dr. Rima Khalaf, Director of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab states, delivered the Keynote address at this conference.

Also see: http://www.civility.org.uk