Governance and Local Development in the Middle East and North Africa
Status
Ongoing (2022-2024)
The aims of this project are three-fold. First, it strengthens the community of scholars working on GLD issues in the MENA, Europe, the US, and elsewhere by providing capacity-building opportunities. Second, it seeks to promote scholarly collaboration across the MENA and Europe on issues pertinent to local governance and development. Finally, it brings together scholars and policy practitioners working in and/or on the MENA region, providing a better understanding of key local governance and development issues.
Project Collaboration
Part of this project is being implemented in collaboration with Alternative Policy Solutions (APS) at the American University of Cairo and will convene researchers from Gothenburg, AUC, and others at MENA-based institutions. The project focuses on governance, social engineering, climate change, and sustainability across the MENA Region.
Policy Roundtables - YouTube Playlist
Governance Uncovered - Podcast Episodes on the MENA region
All Governance Uncovered episodes, including more on the MENA region, can be found on Acast: https://shows.acast.com/63c7e44c24a7040010747819
Project Implementation
This project aims to strengthen rigorous, policy-relevant, research on governance and local development in the MENA, a sub-goal of which is to strengthen the capacity of scholars working on these issues in the MENA, Europe, and the US. Our collaboration with Alternative Policy Solutions at the American University of Cairo will help us in reaching that sub-goal. Through this project, we focus on delivering several tangible outputs that will benefit scholars, practitioners, and policymakers and bridge the gap between all three. We see three main areas of deliverables from this project:
We will disseminate the research through publications such as working papers and reports, engagement in skills development opportunities, and networking through workshops and conferences for the scholarly community working on GLD issues.
We also aim to support project participants and the broader community in their research by making available a repository of training materials on writing effective literature reviews, grant writing, data analysis, presentations, and public speaking.
Finally, we aim to promote publications in a number of diverse international and regional media outlets, such as The Washington Post’s Monkey Cage, Carnegie’s Sada, al-Monitor, GLD’s website, and various social media outlets. We will also promote public appearances by project participants, policy dialogue, and dissemination of research findings at regional, national, and international conferences. We will also hold policy roundtables on issues relating to the MENA, both in Arabic and English, to reach as wide an audience as possible.
Policy Briefs
“Local Governance in Afghanistan: Six Months After the Taliban Takeover”
Authors: Paller, Jeff. Eds. Bjurenvall, Sara; Shaber-Twedt, Rose.
The University of Gothenburg, The Program on Governance and Local Development: GLD Policy Brief
No. 8, March 2022.
“The Future of Local Governance and Development in Tunisia”
Author: Paller, Jeffrey Eds. Shaber-Twedt, Rose.
The University of Gothenburg, Governance and Local Development Institute: GLD Policy Brief
No. 12, August 2022.
"Agriculture and Local Adaption to Climate Change in the MENA"
Author: Paller, Jeffrey. Editor: Shaber-Twedt, Rose.
The University of Gothenburg, Governance and Local Development Institute: GLD Policy Brief
No. 13, September 2022.
"Confronting Global and Regional Inequalities to Achieve Equity and Climate Justice"
Author: Paller, Jeffrey. Editors: Lust, Ellen and Shaber-Twedt, Rose.
The University of Gothenburg, Governance and Local Development Institute: GLD Policy Brief
No. 14, October 2022.
"The World’s Most Water Stressed Region Requires Cooperation and Diplomacy"
Author: Paller, Jeffrey. Editors: Dafalla, Salih; Jacob, Thabit; and Shaber-Twedt, Rose.
The University of Gothenburg, Governance and Local Development Institute: GLD Policy Brief
No. 15, December 2022.
“Listen to the Youth: The importance of increasing youth political participation in the MENA region”
Author: Paller, Jeffrey. Editors: Hussein, Ghadeer; Lust, Ellen; and Shaber-Twedt, Rose.
The University of Gothenburg, Governance and Local Development Institute: GLD Policy Brief
No. 16, January 2023.
"Women's Rights in the Middle East and North Africa"
Author: Paller, Jeffrey. Editors: Editors: Hussein, Ghadeer; Lust, Ellen; and Shaber-Twedt, Rose.
The University of Gothenburg, Governance and Local Development Institute: GLD Policy Brief
No. 19, May 2023.
Acknowledgments
This project is supported by the Governance and Local Development in the Middle East and North Africa grant (Carnegie Corporation of New York – G21-58464), PI: Ellen Lust.
Project Funders
