Background and Objectives
The ideas for the Initiative began in a meeting of experts and senior representatives of different governments in September 2003 in Beirut sponsored by the Lebanese Ministry of Civil Service and the assistance of UNDP-POGAR and OECD. This was followed by a similar meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, in February 2004. It is in that meeting that the choice of the six themes was settled. A third meeting of experts and senior officials took place at the end of April 2004 in Rabat, Morocco. The decision on country Thematic Coordinators was made during this meeting on the basis of the countries' own willingness to undertake the responsibility of coordinating all activities related to their respective theme. The Countries that participated in the preparatory phase included: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. The countries and their themes are:

• Theme I: Civil Service and Integrity, Morocco.
• Theme II: E-Government and Administrative Simplification, and Regulatory Reform, Dubai.
• Theme III: Governance of Public Finances, Egypt.
• Theme IV: Public Service Delivery, Public-Private Partnership, and Regulatory Reform, Tunisia.
• Theme V: Role of the Judiciary and Law Enforcement, Jordan.
• Theme VI: Citizens, Civil Society and Public Sector Reform in the Arab Region, Lebanon.

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan declared its sponsorship of the Initiative. Two Jordanian Ministers visited a number of Arab States to seek the support of the highest authorities for the Initiative and its component themes and invite them to a preparatory Ministerial meeting in Amman, Jordan in September 2004. They also visited OECD Secretariat in Paris for the same purpose. The ministerial meeting took place in September 2004 and the participating Ministers, senior diplomats and government representatives endorsed the Initiative and its six themes and called upon UNDP and OECD to provide technical support.

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