The Regional Workshop was organized by The Lebanese Center for
Policy Studies in preparation for the Fourth Mediterranean
Development Forum (MDF4) that will be taking place in Amman, in October
2002. The MDF is a partnership comprised of think tanks from the
Middle East and North Africa (of which the LCPS), the World Bank Institute
and the United Nations Development Programme as well as other international
institutions.
Decentralization, as a policy orientation involving political,
administrative and fiscal structural changes, and leading to a redistribution
of power and responsibility between levels of government, could affect
significantly the institutional framework and the critical determinants
of development within a country. The very contrasted nature of the socio-political
legacies of the MENA region ranges from some of the oldest and most
entrenched state centralist tradition (like in Egypt) to relatively
weak centers with strong regionalist and localist traditions (like
in Lebanon, Jordan, or Yemen).
One of the potentially key institutions that could be reinforced
by an effective decentralization process is the local government
structure.
Within six sessions, each dedicated to a specific aspect of
decentralization, the regional workshop brought together case studies,
assessments and comparative analysis of local governments in the MENA
region. On one hand, the workshop raised issues related to their ability
to understand and deal effectively with their legal, administrative
and fiscal frameworks, as well as with the procedures and control
mechanisms governing their relationship with the central state. On the other hand, it discussed issues
related to local governance and democracy, by examining the
willingness and the ability of local government structures to share
and inform their constituencies about their activities, their projects
and their decisions.
