Since that time, the working groups have met in plenary session or in various sub-groupings (monitoring committee, technical meetings, and intersessionals) with varying degrees of frequency. Paragraphs below detail the basic purpose, membership and sub-groupings of the five main working groups of the Multilateral Peace Process (MEPP). 

The Multilateral Steering Group

The Multilateral Steering Group is the parent or umbrella for the overall Multilateral Peace Process, the Multilateral Steering Group sets policy and coordinates the activities of all of the working groups. 

Membership

The membership of the multilateral steering group, which typically meets about once a year at the assistant secretary level, is as follows: 

Cosponsors and gavel holders: U.S., Russia 

Regional Delegations: Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Palestinians, and Saudi Arabia, Tunisia. Syria and Lebanon are invited, but have not participated to date. 

Extra-Regional Delegations: Canada, EU (presidency and commission plus, now, EU special envoy Moratinos), Japan. 

Special Guest: Norway has been invited to recent steering group meetings as guest of the gavel holders to deliver a presentation on Palestinian assistance issues, in its capacity as chair of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) for Palestinian assistance.  Switzerland has been invited to recent meetings to deliver presentations on its human dimension initiatives. 

The immediate past and present hosts of the Middle East North Africa (MENA) economic summits have also been invited to present reports on their activities. 

The group last met in plenary at Moscow, Russia, in January 2000. 
 

Arms Control and Regional Security

The objective of the Arms Control and Regional Security Working Group (ACRS) is to enhance security and stability in the Middle East. ACRS works in two tracks: 

1) a conceptual basket, which focuses on long-term arms control and security issues and 

2) an operational "basket, which pursues near term confidence and security-building measures. 

Prior to being put on hold in late 1995, ACRS had made significant progress in getting regional parties to agree to a range of cooperative measures, such as setting up regional security centers in Jordan, Qatar, and Tunisia, holding a military doctrine seminar for senior military officials from the region, setting up a communications network with a permanent hub in Cairo, and finalizing an "ACRS declaration" on principles, guidelines and objectives for Middle East security. These efforts, and others, have been put on hold pending resolution of Israeli and Egyptian differences over how to address the issue of pursuing weapons of mass destruction free zone in the Middle east. 

ACRS membership

Gavel holder and co-sponsor: U.S., Russia Cosponsors: U.S., Russia 

Regional delegations: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestinians, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen. Syria and Lebanon are invited but have not participated to date. 

Extra-regional delegations: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, EU, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, united kingdom, United Nations. 

The group last met in plenary in Tunisia in December 1994. 

The Refugee Working Group:

The refugee working group RWG aims to improve the living conditions of all those displaced by the Middle East conflict. Over 100 million has been allocated from member nations for specific projects directly benefiting the refugees. The RWG has been especially active in the areas of human resource development, job creation, and vocational training. At present, Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are a major focus of RWG. The work of the RWG is divided into six themes, each of which is headed by a "shepherd" meetings which deal with each of the themes are known as "intersessional" meetings. 

Membership

Membership in the refugee working group is as follows: 

Gavel holder: Canada 

Cosponsors: U.S., Russia. 

Co-organizers: EU and Japan 

Guest of the gavel: World Bank . 

Regional delegations:  Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Mauritania, morocco, Oman, Palestinians, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen. Syria and Lebanon are invited, but have not participated to date. 

Extra-regional delegations: Australia, Austria, Belgium, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Nations. 

"Shepherds" and Themes:
Norway: databases; France: family reunification; U.S.: human resource development, job creation, and vocational training; Italy: public health; Sweden: child welfare; EU: social and economic infrastructure. 

The group last met in plenary in Geneva, Switzerland, in December 1995. 

Working Group on the Environment

The working group on the environment is concerned with the issues of environmental management, maritime pollution, desertification, water quality, sewage and waste management, and hazardous wastes.   In October 1994, the group endorsed a regional environmental code of conduct. The group's current projects include: Oil Spill Contingency Planning for the Gulf of Aqaba, Waste-Water Treatment and Re-use, Combating Desertification, Environmental Health Effects of Pesticides, and Implementation of the Code of Conduct. The number of delegations participating in each project varies from project to project. For each project, participating delegations have set up steering committees or other similarly named groups to oversee and manage the work of that project. 

Membership

Membership of the environment working group is as follows: 

Gavel holder: Japan 

Cosponsors: U.S. and Russia 

Co-organizer: EU 

Guest of the gavel: World Bank. 

Regional delegations: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestinians, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen. Syria and Lebanon are invited but have not participated to date. 

Extra-regional delegations: Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Nations. 

The group last met in plenary in Amman, Jordan, in May 1995. 
 

The topics on the water working group's agenda are: enhancement of water data availability; water management practices, including conservation; enhancement of water supply; and concepts of regional water management and cooperation. Under each agenda item, one or more specific projects have been initiated. Key projects include: a Regional Water Data Banks Project; a Study of Water Supply and Demand in the region; Development of an Electronic Water Networking System "Water net"; Establishment of the Middle East Desalination Research Center in Oman; and Public Awareness and Water Conservation. 

As in the Environment Working group, the number of delegations participating in Water Working group projects varies from project to project. For each project, participating delegations have set up steering committees or-other similarly named groups to oversee and manage the work of that project. 

Membership 
The Water Working Group's membership is as follows: 
Gavel holder and Cosponsor: U.S. 

Cosponsor: Russia 

Co-organizers: EU and Japan 

Guest of the Gavel: World Bank 

Regional Delegations: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Gordian, Kuwait, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestinians, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen. Syria and Lebanon are invited but have not participated to date. 

Extra-Regional Delegations: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Nations . 

The group last met in plenary in Hammamet, Tunisia, in May 1996. 

Regional Economic Development Working Group (REDWG): the goal of the Regional Economic Development Working Group (REDWG) is to help build a new economic base for the Middle East by encouraging and supporting regional economic cooperation. To achieve this, REDWG focuses on the need to pool common resources and expertise and to jointly tackle common problems through coordinated action. At the fifth round of REDWG talks in June 1994, a smaller monitoring committee was established. 

The monitoring committee is jointly chaired by the core regional participants (Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians) in rotation along with the EU, and has its secretariat in Amman. The REDWG monitoring committee secretariat is currently staffed by an EU commission official on detail from Brussels. The role of the monitoring committee is to allow the core parties to take a more direct role in organizing the various sectoral activities and in developing priorities and identifying future projects. 

Additionally, eight countries and the European union have been identified as REDWG "shepherds," having special responsibility for sponsoring activities in certain sectoral areas. 

Membership

REDWG membership is as follows: 

Gavel holder: EU 

Co-sponsors: U.S., Russia 

Co-organizer: Japan 

Guest of the Gavel: World Bank 

Regional Delegations: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Gordian, Kuwait, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestinians, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen. 

Syria and Lebanon are invited, but have not participated to date. 

Extra-RegionalDelegations: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Nations. 

REDWG Shepherds: U.S.: training; UK: financial markets & investment; Israel: trade; France: communications & transport; EU: energy, networks (e.g.: university and city-city exchanges); Japan: tourism; Spain: agriculture; Egypt: institutions, sectors and principles; Canada: bibliography 

REDWG Monitoring Committee: Co-chairs: EU and core party member (regional co-chair rotates every six months) Cosponsors and co-organizers US and Russia Extra-regional delegations: Canada and Japan Regional parties: Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Palestinians, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia. Syria and Lebanon are invited but have not participated to date. 

The group last met in plenary in Amman, Jordan, in May 1996. 

Steering Committee for the Economic Summit Process

The summit steering committee sets the dates, agenda and objectives for the yearly Middle East North Africa Economic summit (to be held this year in Doha), and has a secretariat located in Rabat. This committee is not to be confused with the multilateral steering committee (Described earlier), which sets the agenda and format for the entire multilateral track of the peace process. The summit steering committee typically meets three times per year in the period leading up to the summit. 

Membership

Membership of the Steering Committee for the Economic Summit Process is as follows: 

Gavelholders: US and Russia. 

Members: EU, Japan, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Palestinians, Canada, Summit host (this year, Qatar) Observers: World Economic Forum, Council on Foreign Relations. 

The 1994 Casablanca declaration, issued at the close of the first Middle East North Africa Economic summit, called for the creation of four multilateral peace process institutions: The Middle East-Mediterranean Travel and Tourism Association, The Regional Business Council, the Middle East Development Bank and the Middle East North Africa Secretariat. 

A short description of each follows: 

The Middle East-Mediterranean Travel and Tourism Association (MEMTTA):

MEMTTA was the first institution called for by the Casablanca declaration to be up and running; eight members signed a charter forming the organization at the 1995 Amman Economic Summit. MEMTTA's primary purpose is to increase environmentally sustainable travel to and within the region, and to develop the tourism industry serving the region. MEMTTA is officially head quartered in Tunis. 

The Regional Business Council (RBC):

The RBC was created to encourage trade and investment in the middle east by assisting in the creation of a strong, healthy business environment, by promoting and developing business and investment opportunities, and by providing a forum for the exchange of information and views of mutual interest to the business communities of the region. while significant preparatory work has taken place on the RBC, the organization has yet to be formally established. 

The Middle East Development Bank (MEDB): 

The MEDB is the result of a joint proposal by Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians. The Amman economic summit in October 1995, endorsed creation of the bank, to be located in Cairo. It will support regional projects, private sector development and enhanced economic policy dialogue. The US is currently seeking funding from congress for our share of the MEDB's initial capitalization, and is participating in transition team activities to prepare for the formal launching of the bank. 

The Middle East north Africa (MENA) Secretariat:

The MENA Secretariat, which is based in Rabat, was created to advance the public-private partnership by promoting projects, sharing data, promoting contacts and fostering private sector investment in the region. 

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