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The third meeting of the
Mediterranean Development Forum (MDF3) took
place from 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 the 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
law courts, the governance of municipalities, property and
contract laws, public sector management, health care systems,
bureaucracies, and many other institutions are coming more
and more under the critical scrutiny of analysts and social
actors. After a long period of 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 ensuring the foundations of
more efficient and equitable economies and societies.
This workshop attempted to focus on the
on-going process of institutional reform in three key institutions
of the region: the judiciary, local government and the
public sector. It brought together some of the analysts
and actors concerned, from within the region and around the
world, to research and debate how to make institutional reforms
in the MENA region work in the best interests of its people
and in an equitable and sustainable development process.
MDF
website: http://www.worldbank.org/mdf
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