MEPPA
What is the Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act (MEPPA)?
In December 2020, Congress passed the Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act (MEPPA), marking a historic U.S. commitment to people-to-people peacebuilding and cross-border economic cooperation. ALLMEP was proud to serve as the leading civil society advocate behind the legislation, working closely with bipartisan champions on Capitol Hill to help advance this landmark initiative. MEPPA represents the largest investment ever made in Israeli-Palestinian peacebuilding and civil society partnerships.
MEPPA was designed to support peacebuilding and Palestinian economic development through two U.S. government channels: United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for people-to-people programs, and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) for economic partnerships.
Since its passage, MEPPA has enabled dozens of Israeli and Palestinian organizations to advance dialogue, cooperation, and shared prosperity — even amid profound regional instability. In recent months, implementation of the fund entered a period of transition following the closure of USAID, leading to the closure of many active programs. Amid these developments, the Administration has reaffirmed its commitment to MEPPA’s objectives, including support for civil society as part of a broader diplomatic framework. One remaining MEPPA-supported peacebuilding project has continued under the auspices of the United States Department of State, reflecting that civil society peacebuilding programming can move forward through alternative U.S. government channels.
MEPPA remains funded, with additional congressional support secured to sustain and advance this work. ALLMEP is actively engaging with policymakers across the Administration and Congress to help ensure that peacebuilding programs resume and scale quickly in the period ahead, and will continue to advocate for MEPPA’s full implementation.
How Can Private Philanthropy Get Involved?
While primarily a government funding initiative, there are many ways that private philanthropy can support the peacebuilding field and help prepare their grantees for this unprecedented stream of funding, leveraging its impact. Private philanthropic actors who care about shared society and crossborder peacebuilding should consider revising their strategies and priorities – and helping grantees do the same – to take account of the single-biggest funding development that the field has ever seen. ALLMEP has put together a resource for private philanthropy that aims to identify some of those opportunities, with ideas on how private philanthropy can harness MEPPA and the current political moment to achieve a return on investment with the potential to create lasting societal, institutional, and policy change.
Building Toward An International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace
An International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace
In the years of International Fund advocacy, and since MEPPA’s passage into law, ALLMEP has seen an overwhelming amount of support from organizations, politicians, media, and other relevant stakeholders.
