Arab Region Parliamentarians Against Corruption (ARPAC) is building the capacity of Iraqi parliamentarians, key ministry staff and civil society representatives to improve oil and gas revenue management. With RWI support, ARPAC is organizing a series of three-day workshops to train participants to obtain, analyze and act on oil and gas sector-related information, including public policy issues, standard industry oversight practices, revenue management and transparency, contracting basics, analyzing oil and gas contracts and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). Government and civil society representatives are being encouraged through the workshops to participate in the decision making and oversight processes appropriate to their sector. The workshops are also creating a platform for participants to share experiences and find ways to collaborate on advocacy strategies across sectors.

Although Iraq is an EITI candidate country, parliamentary oversight of the oil and gas sectors is still very limited, in part because almost three-quarters of the most recently elected parliament are first-time members. 

With RWI support, ARPAC hosted a meeting in 2008 in Beirut, as part of a joint revenue transparency research project with RWI and the Arab Anti-Corruption Organization. The multi-phased research and capacity building project began with work in five pilot countries--Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Morocco and Yemen--and included research and mapping, policy implementation, capacity building and public outreach.

ARPAC is an organization of former and current Arab parliamentarians that works to develop the capacity and skills of regional legislators through innovative knowledge production, regional task forces, advocacy and lobbying. ARPAC has nine chapters in the MENA region.