The theme 'Understanding History, Negotiating Policy and Administration, and Moving Forward'' frames discussions on the continuously evolving patterns of public policy power and influence across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region. International participants are considering new geopolitics and how modern public policy and administration reflects the past. An overarching focus is new interactions with issues such as pandemics, refugee and humanitarian crises, climate change, migration, and social media.
On its first day, the conference witnessed the participation of nearly 80 attendees from more than 12 countries. The opening plenary featured remarks by Dr Leslie A Pal, founding dean of CPP; Dr. Michael J Benedik, Provost of HBKU; and Dr Ghada Barsoum, AMEPPA president, Associate Professor and Chair, Public Policy and Administration Department, School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, The American University in Cairo.
The keynote address by Dr Alexander Dawoody - the association’s founder - reflected on “AMEPPA's 10th Anniversary: Looking Back to Look Forward”.
The proceedings include nearly 20 panels, roundtables, and keynote addresses by Dr Clyde Wilcox, Interim Dean, Georgetown University in Qatar; as well as Dr Hamid Ali, Dean, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.
Sessions cover digital governance and public service delivery; foreign aid and humanitarianism; labour migration; health policy and crisis management; economics and trade in a multilateral world; governance in post-socialist countries; and social policy’s future in the region.
Policy and governance tools under discussion include CPP’s Covid-19 Policy Tracker on Mena responses to crises.
AMEPPA is the premier forum for public policy and administration scholarship in the Mena region.