Middle East and North Africa Social Policy Network

Knowledge. Social policy. People.

The MENASP network was created to bring together policy makers and academics to advance social policy in the MENA region.

The MENASP network was founded to advance, exchange and disseminate knowledge and policy expertise about social policy in the MENA region.

This includes providing: up-to-date policy analysis on the key social challenges facing the region; information on social welfare issues for use by the wider public; and resources for policy-makers, practitioners and academics.

The network aims to support quality research on crucial social policy issues and bridging the gap between policy-makers, researchers and the wider public.

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Conference 2019

We are holding the fourth bi-annual MENA Social Policy Network Conference in Cairo this October 2019. Delegates from across the MENA region, Europe and North America have registered to attend. The conference will be held at the American University in Cairo, our partner this year.

About

Policy Labs

In 2019 the MENA Social Policy Network ran a Policy Lab in Cairo, bringing together policy-makers, researchers and practitioners from the field of social policy. Each roundtable of the Policy Lab focused on a different area of policy, from cash-transfer programs to the influence of gender in macro-economic policy design.

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Latest News & Blog

About Our Research

Gender

Gender

Including women’s and men’s studies. Analysing representation and identity within the MENA community. Promoting gender equality.
Health

Health

Including children’s health and sexual health. Understanding the role of healthcare within a positive society
Social Security

Social Security

Research and critique of government sponsored social insurance programmes across the MENA region. A form of social security to provide protection against economic risk.
Social Assistance

Social Assistance

A form of government assistance designed to support individuals in meeting basic needs. Often achieved through state provision or substantial subsidies of essential services, either in cash or kind
Inequality

Inequality

Reviewing both equality and inequality of opportunity for citizens across education, employment and protection
Labour

Labour

Understanding employment opportunities across the region, how opportunity is changing in the 21st century, and examining policy to reduce discrimination in the labour market
Unemployment

Unemployment

Including research of youth unemployment. Asking questions of why unemployment exists and does it disproportionally negatively affect different groups across society.
Youth

Youth

Focusing on issues and policy directly relevant to the youthful population, often those in their teenage years. These issues centre on education and future employment potential.
Children

Children

Determining the needs and policies of the youngest in society across MENA. Including the protection of children against child labour.
Family

Family

Understanding the role of family policy in the region, including the significance of remittances and marriage.
Disability

Disability

Exploring policy designed to ensure effective protection of those with disabilities, both in society and within the workplace.
Elderly

Elderly

As the MENA region becomes home to an increasingly youthful society, this theme explores how social policy remains important for the protection of the elderly.
Social Protection

Social Protection

A broad theme consisting of policy designed to reduce vulnerability, achieved through a range of methods including, but not limited to, the promotion and development of labour markets.
Governance

Governance

Understanding and analysing the role of the state in providing adequate policy across the MENA region. Including the building of social policy programmes and government responses to shock or crisis.
Cash Transfer

Cash Transfer

Often used as a form of government policy, this theme reviews cash transfer programmes and their mixed success in helping to alleviate poverty for the most vulnerable within society.
Conflict

Conflict

Conflict poses a major risk to both short and long term development across the region. Including reports on the externalities of conflict including displacement and economic losses.
Education

Education

As the MENA region continues its transformation, the role of primary, secondary and tertiary education continues to take on more significance.
Explore Virtual Library

Latest Research Library Resources

Explore our selection of our network members’ current publications


MENASP Hosted Content
Featured
In the Shadow of the State: Changing Definitions of Arab Women’s “Developmental” Citizenship Rights
Mervat F. Hatem
Journal of Middle East Women's Studies
MENASP Hosted Content
Featured
Addressing Challenges To Birth Registration
Refugee Research and Policy Program
Policy Innovation Case Studies
MENASP Hosted Content
Featured
Pension Reform as Path to Peace? Egypt After the Arab Spring
Traute Meyer, Marwa Galal Abdelwanis and Gerard Kennedy
MENASP Network
MENASP Hosted Content
Featured
Intellectual Disability and Social Protection Policy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region
Rachel Forrester-Jones, Manar Mustafa and Rana Jawad
MENASP Network
MENASP Hosted Content
Featured
After Years of Silence, Women Living with HIV in the Middle East Speak Out, Population Reference Bureau
Population Reference Bureau
Population Reference Bureau
MENASP Hosted Content
Featured
Towards A Comprehensive Framework For Social Policies
Chahir Zaki
Policy Innovation Case Studies
MENASP Hosted Content
Featured
Making the Invisible Visible: Slow Violence, Mental Health and Resilience in Gaza
Haim Yacobi, Michelle Pace and Yasser Abu Jamei
MENASP Network
MENASP Hosted Content
Featured
Social Welfare, Conflict and Conflict Prevention in the MENA Region
Oliver Walton
MENASP Network
External Content
Academic paper
Women’s Livelihood and Entitlements in the Middle East: What Difference has the Neoliberal Policy Turn Made? UN Research Institute for Social Development
UNRISD
UNRISD
External Content
Non-academic paper
Minding the Gap in Alexandria, Egypt: Talking to Girls in Schools About Reproductive Health, Population Reference Bureau
SARA A. HANAFY, OMNEYA G. ELSHARKAWY, MOHAMED A. ABDELBAQY, MAY M.TEWFIK, IBRAHIM KHARBOUSH, ADEL MALEK, AND HANAA M. ISMAIL
Population Reference Bureau
External Content
Academic paper
Morocco and Its Women’s Rights Struggle: A Failure to Live Up to Its Progressive Image, Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies
Katja Žvan Elliott
Project Muse
External Content
Non-academic paper
Risking Your Health: Causes, Consequences, and Interventions to Prevent Risky Behaviors, The World Bank
Damien De Walque
World Bank Group
External Content
Academic paper
Social Inequalities, Regional Disparities and Health Inequity in North African Countries, International Journal for Equity in Health
Abdesslam Boutayeb and Uwe Helmert
International Journal for Equity in Health
External Content
Book
Inclusion and Resilience: The Way Forward for Social Safety Nets in the Middle East and North Africa, The World Bank
World Bank Group
World Bank Group
Resource Library

Get Involved.

We are dedicated to supporting members of the network in their social-policy research.

Please contact us to be part of our network, connecting with other academics, policy makers and practitioners with an interest in social policy in the MENA region

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