The third meeting of the Mediterranean
Development Forum (MDF3) took place in March 5-8, 2000 in Cairo,
Egypt. It brought together the "voices" of over 600 leading figures
from business, government, academia, NGOs and the media. Based on
the theme "Voices for Change, Partners for Prosperity," MDF3 emphasized
the importance of an inclusive approach for change by forging innovative
partnerships to create new opportunities for economic and social progress
in the MENA region.
MDF3 had a dynamic agenda in response to rising challenges facing
the MENA region. Through the dialogue of participants from all sectors
of society in the region, MDF3 provided a Forum to reexamine MENA
development priorities and set new strategies on how to face these
challenges.
An important aspect of achieving MDF3's objectives included empowering
regional think tanks by building their capacity. With each conference,
the MDF partner think tanks have played an increasingly larger role
in the organization of MDF conferences and implementation of regional
projects.
Among the several workshops that were held during the forum, The Lebanese
Center for Policy Studies, one of the partner think tanks of MDF,
organized a workshop on "Institutional Reform in the MENA Region".
Development practitioners,
economic actors, social scientists and civil society activists have
been rediscovering social and political institutions, their crucial
role and the many ways through which they shape the patterns of
individual interactions, in the market, in political exchanges,
as well as in social development. The functioning of the courts,
the governance of municipalities, property and contract laws, public
sector management, health care systems, bureaucracies, and many
other institutions are more and more under the critical scrutiny
of analysts and social actors. After a long neglect, both in the
analytical field and in the priorities of social change, a new emphasis
is now being put on understanding the role of institutions and the
efficiency of institutional change in facilitating development strategies
and insuring the foundations of more efficient and more equitable
economies and societies.
This
workshop attempted to focus on on-going processes of institutional
reforms in three key institutions of the region: the judiciary,
local government and the public sector. It brought together some
of the concerned analysts and actors, from within the region and
from a global perspective, to research and debate how to make institutional
reforms in the MENA region work for the best interest of its people
and their stake in an equitable and sustainable development process.
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