MEP Hosts National Council On US-Arab Relations Conference With Cherie Blair

WASHINGTON – Mission Essential Personnel, LLC (MEP) sponsored the National Council on US-Arab Relations’ (NCUSAR) “Afternoon Tea and a Conversation with Mrs. Cherie Blair” yesterday at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. The event was attended by representatives from government, academia, non-profit groups, industry, and several foreign nations, including the ambassadors from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Libya, and Tunisia.

Mrs. Blair, wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, led a discussion on women and human rights issues relating to the Middle East and Africa, discussing among other things the importance of women’s access to education and capital for starting businesses.

“Bridging cultures is both the hallmark of MEP and the National Council,” said Chris Taylor, MEP CEO. “We are honored to have contributed to this discussion and hope that it will help strengthen the relationship between the United States and its Arab partners, friends, and allies.”

“The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations was delighted to join with MEP to host a public affairs event with Cherie Blair,” said Council President and CEO Dr. John Duke Anthony. “Seldom do members of the diplomatic and press corps, academe, and the corporate community in the nation’s capital have an opportunity to exchange views on the pressing issues of women’s rights with someone as knowledgeable as Mrs. Blair. Rarer still are the opportunities to do so  with someone having her extensive firsthand familiarity with gender-related issues in Africa, the Arab countries, the Middle East, and the Islamic world, combined with her career as a practicing lawyer and wife of former British Prime Minister and current Middle East Peace Envoy Tony Blair.”