The Middle East and North Africa Public Administration Research (MENAPAR) network was incubated as an offshoot of the research activities of BIPA within the Capacity Development Facility (CDF); a joint project of BIPA and the UNDP. Details about this project can be found at www.cdfbahrain.com.
Mission
MENAPAR will promote evidence-based policy and decision-making in public administration through:
• developing thinking and a research culture about strategic issues in Arab Public Administration.
• building research capacities within Arab public administration.
• building networks and harnessing their collective efforts to set the cause of PA in the region.
Objectives
The objectives of MENAPAR are the following:
• to promote a research culture and help build research capacities in the region’s public sectors.
• to facilitate the implementation of innovative ideas in the region’s Public Administration.
• to foster contacts and create networks among practitioners, researchers and civil servants in the Arab region.
• to further research and academic/ practitioner exchange on issues of public administration, public policies, and good governance in the Arab region.
• to harness the collective intellect and efforts of organizations in the region to promote evidence-based PA and policy-making.
• to develop an indigenous research discourse on PA; one that tackles the problems of PA in the region as identified by the local actors;
to provide a resource base for all actors in the Arab PA scene to use evidence for policy and decision-making. Resources can be in terms of people/consultants, research, or networking.
Means
MENAPAR will achieve its objectives through a number of means; chief amongst these are:
• MENAPAR community of practice/portal.
• Annual conference to pursue the research agenda of MENAPAR.
• Seminars/forums to bring together forward thinkers and share experiences and best practices of PA and governance.
• Training curricula to build research capacity and research absorption in the public sector.
• Applied research deliverables (exp. White/concept papers, case studies, empirical studies, etc.).
• Dissemination of findings through publications, specialized policy outlets, participation in professional PA events, etc.
• Development of research streams, research partnerships and collaborations, and organization of events to support a cross-regional harmonization of PA practices.
• Organization of panels during international events (IIAS, IASIA, etc.).
• Editing of the Arabic Review of Public Administration (ARPA).
• Communities of practice in a variety of PA subjects and projects.
MENAPAR will foster institutional contacts and exchanges with professional organizations in the field of public administration within and outside the MENA.
Network Timeline
2014
Menapar 2014 – Kingdom of Bahrain (Manama):
The Middle East & North Africa Public Administration Research Network (MENAPAR) emerged as an idea, which was adopted by the Bahrain Institute of Public Administration (BIPA) on 1 June 2013. It was during a preliminary meeting for the joint international conference of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS) and the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration (IASIA), which was attended by more than 50 individuals. The idea progressed in a workshop held by BIPA in collaboration with the UNDP at the beginning of November 2013, which aimed to develop a scientific agenda to achieve a quantum leap in management, and set forth a new reality for the future of public administration based on the optimal employment of the best administrative practices in the government ecosystem. The ultimate goal was to strengthen the position of the Kingdom of Bahrain both locally and globally. The idea took its way to the official action with the launching of MENAPAR in 2014, where more than 500 people from 70 countries participated, 250 papers were submitted, and the Kingdom of Bahrain had 41 papers.
2015
Menapar 2015 – Republic of Tunisia (Tunis):
The MENAPAR Conference in 2015 was held in the Tunisian Republic under the theme of “Role of Citizens and Organizations in Co-construction Public Action in the MENA Region”. It continued MENAPAR efforts to bridge the gap in the area of public administration research, which used to be limited to the countries of the north, rather than those of the south, and the developed countries rather than the developing states. The event attracted 87 papers, including 21 papers submitted by Bahraini participants and 66 papers by others from the Arab world, Brazil, Canada, France, Indonesia and the United States of America.
2016
Euro-Mena 2016 – Sultanate of Oman (Muscat):
The Arab-Euro Dialogue Conference “Euro-MENA” was held in Oman in 2016, under the theme of “Modernization of HARM and Performance of Public Organizations”. In continuation of the efforts undertaken in MENAPAR 2015, the event showcased the results of joint projects, which emerged from the second MENAPAR conference and the best practices workshop held in Tunisia. The conference addressed the means of improving the performance of public organizations and human resources development. In addition, it provided a platform for exchanging expertise and knowledge and review of the international experiences in the successful administrative practices. The event attracted 250 participants from the academia, practitioners and professionals in public administration science in the public and private sectors organizations as well as the scientific institutions. They represented 17 countries from Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and submitted 84 peer-reviewed papers.
2017
Menapar 2017 – State of Palestine (Ramallah):
MENAPAR 2017 was held in Ramallah, Palestine, under the theme of “Public Administration Under Pressure: Towards a Resilient, Responsive, Collaborative, and Transformative Public Administration”. It drew a roadmap for public administration in the region through discussion of its most significant challenges and research in the best public administration models and practices, which embody the elements of resilience, responsiveness, and ability to be transformative, collaborative and creative. The Institute attracted more than 300 research papers, including 100 from Palestine. They played a key role in the development of structured solutions that contribute to the preparation and building of Arab leadership cadres capable of making scientifically-based decisions and policies which meet the requirements of government work ecosystem and the private sector institutions in the Arab region. This, in turn, helps improve the performance level and address the aspirations of the Arab governments and their citizens.
2018
EuroMena 2018 – Republic of Spain (Granada):
The 2nd Euro-MENA, which was hosted by Granada, Spain, was held under the theme of “New Trends in City Management”. It was a true evidence of the success of the international networking and collaboration between the various partners of the Institute all over the world. It also represented a continuation of the efforts to benefit from the international expertise and ideas, and to discuss more serious challenges in a world that has become more dynamic than ever before. The conference attracted 150 papers, of which 30% were presented by the Kingdom of Bahrain, and in all 84% of the papers were presented by participants from the Arab world.
2019
Menapar 2019 – Kingdom of Morocco (Ifran):
The Menapar 2019 conference was launched from The Kingdom of Morocco – Ifran, under the theme “Public Administration Research and South-South Cooperation to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals in the Arab Region”, which addressed the topic of employing systematic management research and best management practices at various local levels. Regional and international to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals 2030, which was endorsed by the United Nations in 2015 by 193 countries around the world.
125 papers were submitted at this conference, including 36 papers from the Kingdom of Bahrain, which contributed in their entirety to the development of the best mechanisms and tools to come up with innovative solutions and initiatives aimed at making the world a better place to live.
2022
MENAPAR 2022 – Algiers, capital of the Democratic:
MENAPAR Confrence 2022 launched its 5th edition from Algeria under the theme, Territories, Digitalization and Local Development: “Integration and Future Prospects” was launched.
During the period between 27 and 30 November 2022, organized and hosted by the National School of Administration in the city of Algiers, the capital of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, and in cooperation with the Institute of Public Administration in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The conference was able to attract 60 scientific papers and applied practices, from 20 countries ini the Middle East and North Africa, and several European countries.
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