The Middle East and North Africa Social Policy (MENASP) Network is pleased to announce the recipients of the 1st round of funding from the MENASP-CP GCRF Research Fund. The call was launched in 2021 and attracted a range of interesting and inspiring proposals. Following a rigorous review process which concluded in the Spring of 2022, the MENASP Network awarded funding to 5 research projects and 2 applied innovation and knowledge exchange projects.
The awarded projects focus on areas of social policy and conflict prevention in the MENA region. There are a variety of topics and the countries of interest include Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and Turkey.
The awarded research projects are as follows:
1. Pension Reform as Path to Peace? Egypt After the Arab Spring
- Organisation: University of Southampton, United Kingdom
- Principal Investigator: Traute Meyer
- Target Country: Egypt
2. Livelihood Networks and Political Experience in Beirut, Lebanon
- Organisation: University College London, United Kingdom
- Principal Investigator: Nikolay Mintchev
- Target Country: Lebanon
3. Increasing Social Protection in the Jordanian and Turkish Garment Industries
- Organisation: University of Bath, United Kingdom
- Principal Investigator: Katharina Lenner
- Target Countries: Turkey and Jordan
4. Making the Invisible Visible: Slow Violence, Mental Health and Resilience in Gaza
- Organisation: University College London, United Kingdom
- Principal Investigator: Haim Yacobi
- Target country: Gaza, the Occupied Palestinian Territories
5. The Political Risks of Subsidy Reform in the MENA Region
- Organisation: Mohammed VI Polytechnic University
- Principal Investigator: Moritz Schmoll
- Target Countries: The MENA Region
The applied innovation and knowledge exchange projects are:
1. Around the Corner (ATC): Simulating Social Cohesion in Egypt
- Organisation: Al-Moltaqa for Development & Training & Research, Egypt
- Lead Applicant: Lobna Ali
- Target Country: Egypt
2. Participatory Analysis of Co-designed Public Spaces in Beirut Post-blast Reconstruction
- Organisation: University College London, United Kingdom
- Lead Applicant: Andrea Rigon
- Target Country: Lebanon
The MENASP-CP GCRF Research Fund 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.
The MENASP-CP GCRF 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. The Fund encourages interdisciplinary research that brings together the Arts and Humanities with the study of conflict prevention and social policy more widely.
Congratulations to all the awardees, and we look forward to hearing about the progress of these projects over the coming year.
In the meantime, the 2nd round of the MENASP-CP GCRF Research Fund was launched towards the end of 2022. Awardees of this call will be announced in the coming months, so watch this space!