Registration is now open for the 2026 MENASP Network Online Conference, Social Policy and Social Protection in the Middle East and North Africa: Innovation, Adaptation or Business as Usual?, taking place online on 25–26 November 2026.
Hosted by the University of Birmingham, in partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO), the online conference will bring together researchers, policymakers, practitioners, civil society actors and early-career researchers to examine the challenges, policy choices and future directions of social policy and social protection across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
Building on more than a decade of sustained dialogue and exchange, the conference will critically examine how social policy and social protection systems across the region are responding to intersecting pressures, including fiscal constraints, conflict and displacement, climate vulnerability, labour migration, demographic change, labour market transformation and digitalisation. It will consider whether current developments reflect meaningful innovation, adaptation to changing circumstances or a continuation of established approaches, while exploring alternative policy pathways towards more inclusive, equitable and sustainable social protection systems.
The programme will feature two days of online sessions dedicated to research presentations and discussion, alongside special sessions led by the ILO-STREAM Programme and the Cross-Regional Network Hub on Social Protection for Migrant Workers, focusing on wage protection, social security and labour migration along South–South corridors to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
Participation is free of charge, but advance registration is required.
Researchers, policymakers, practitioners and others working on or interested in social policy and social protection in the MENA region are invited to register.
Further information on the conference programme, thematic topics and special sessions is available on the conference page.