The Middle East and North Africa Social Policy (MENASP) Network is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2nd round of funding from the MENASP-CP GCRF Research Fund. The call was launched in 2022 and attracted a range of interesting and inspiring proposals. Following a rigorous review process which concluded in the Spring of 2023, the MENASP Network awarded funding to 5 research projects. This included two medium awards (up to £50,000) and three smaller awards (up to £20,000). All projects will run from between late 2023 and December 2024.
The MENASP Network’s Social policy and Conflict Prevention (MENASP-CP) Research Fund sits within the Network’s Strengthening social welfare and security in the MENA region Research Programme*, which aims to advance scholarship and practice in security, social equality and social protection in the MENA region. It aims to contribute to the development of greater capacity for effective social policy in the Middle East and North Africa region, in terms of the generation of research and its utilisation by decision-makers. This commissioning fund offers opportunities across a range of experience levels, to support the ambitions and capacities of our community of researchers, policymakers, and practitioners. It encourages interdisciplinary research that brings together the study of social policy and peacebuilding across a range of fields within the arts and humanities.
Recipients of the funding included:
- ‘Towards Multi-Sectoral Social Protection Mechanisms: Translating Research on Climate Change and Social Vulnerability into Social Protection Policies’ A study from the Arab Water Council, Straight Lights Consulting and Women’s Northern Badia Charity Society with Co-Investigators from Yarmouk University and the University of Jordan.
- ‘Living with Violence- Citizens’ Experiences of Egypt’s Urban Development Policies’ led by the American University in Cairo with support from the University of Toronto.
- ‘Crisis and Intersectional Justice in Lebanon and Sri Lanka’ a comparative study from the University of Bath UK, American University of Beirut, Lebanon and CEPA, Sri Lanka
- ‘National level consultation meetings: Garnering support for a national social protection strategy for Lebanon’ Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND)
- ‘Mapping social policy and conflict prevention research about the MENA’ University of Bath
Congratulations to all the awardees, and we look forward to hearing about the progress of these projects over the coming months.