NED · MENA REGIONAL — 26 grants, $5.5M
Key claim: The National Endowment for Democracy is distributing $5.5M across 26 active grants in the MENA region, supporting women’s political empowerment, youth leadership, constitutional law, and democratic-transition programming.
Abstract
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) has 26 active grants in MENA REGIONAL totaling $5.5M (public listing as of 2025-07-15). Grantee names are largely withheld for grantee safety (NED duty of care). Sample projects: Establishing a Regional Movement for Women’s Political Empowerment ($70.0K); Strengthening Youth Leadership in Public Policy ($85.0K); Enhancing Constitutional Law, Institutions, and Processes ($100.0K); Strengthening Understanding of Democratic Transitions Models ($100.0K).
Why this matters
The MENA Regional portfolio adds another regional slice to NED’s traceable global footprint, showing how U.S. democracy funding is allocated in a region where direct in-country programming is often politically constrained. Themes like constitutional law and democratic transitions signal continued engagement with post-Arab-Spring reform trajectories despite an overall shrinking Western democracy-promotion envelope.