THE GIFT-MENA NETWORK

OF CIVIL SERVICE TRAINING

SCHOOLS AND INSTITUTES

10 years of cooperation for better governance

Table of Content

The Arab world between 2005 and 2010

The rise of the GIFT-MENA initiative (2006)

Rationale of the GIFT-MENA Network

10 years in review: 1. Achieving geographical representation

2. Opening up a platform for public policy dialogue and networking

3. Building Human Capacity for better governance

4. Learning from good practices North and South

5. Nurturing partnerships & institutional cooperation

6. Documenting and sharing good practices

7. Promoting a participatory governance and financing model

Looking back these 10 years: Lessons learned

Looking forward: The change of context

Future challenges

The Arab world between 2005 and 2010

The diagnostic

• Limited fiscally capacity and rentier-based

economies

• Difficulties to translate the region’s material

wealth into commensurate improvements in

human wellbeing, which are in large part due to

deeply entrenched governance failures.

• Inequality of access to quality services in

education, health and water and sanitation.

• Two main governance deficits: one

in state capacity and accountability and

one in societies’ empowerment.

• Massive donor support to the region but mainly

on bilateral actions

• And ODA to the Arab region marked by high

volatility in general: Sudden spikes are almost

always conflict related and focusing on

humanitarian assistance

Actions in place

• Ambitious reform plans focusing on public

financial management and civil service reform

• Growing interest expressed of bilateral and

multilateral donors to support the reform agenda

and promote regional cooperation (EU

neighborhood policy; The Union for the

Mediterranean Initiative, etc.)

• A move towards new schemes of economic

integration: North-South and South-South.

• Demand – both from civil society and from

government entities in the region – for

enhanced regional and international exchanges

and collaborations.

The launching of a new partnership: GIFT-MENA

Signature of the Beirut Declaration (Beirut, 2009) Ratification of the Convention and Bylaws at the

first General Assembly (France, 2008)

First Meeting of the Founding Committee

(Granada, 2006)

First pilot regional training (Morocco, 2007) Launching of the Network on the occasion of the

Forum of Training Schools and Institutes on

Governance in MENA (Beirut, 2006)

The Founding Committee

Institute of Finance –Lebanon – Secretariat

National Institute of Training- Jordan

National School of Administration - Tunisia

Arab Administrative Development Organization-

ARADO

International Management and Training Institute,

Lebanon

World Bank

GIP-ADETEF- France

Mediterranean Network POLIBIUS of Public Administration

Governance Access Learning Network – TIRI – Great Britain

National Institute of Public Administration - Spain

10 Founding Members:

Our mission

GIFT-MENA Network

GIFT-MENA is an informal network of civil service training schools and

public entities working to improve the Capacity to Govern at all levels of the

State by investing in sustainable capacity and promoting bilateral and

multilateral cooperation.

Role

1. Help improve the strategic role and institutional capacities of civil

service training institutions to become active contributors to the agenda

of reforms and State modernization.

2. Foster dialogue on State modernization and management of human

and fiscal resources.

3. Encourage co-production of public policies in support of sustainable

development and good governance.

4. Nurture bilateral and multilateral cooperation, mainly South-South

cooperation as well as peer-to-peer learning, partnership-building and

exchange.

5. Optimize the quality, coherence and relevance of the training offer to

better cater the needs of the MENA region.

6. Document and disseminate successful regional experiences.

Secretariat: The Institut des Finances Basil Fuleihan of Lebanon

10 YEARS IN REVIEW

Egypt Saudi Arabia

UAE

Yemen

Oman

Iraq

Jordan

Libya

Palestine

Kuwait Algeria

Tunisia

Morocco

Lebanon

Syria

Qatar

Bahrain

1) Institut des Finances, ENA, Ministry of Civil Service and

Administrative Modernization, ISA

2) ENA, Institute for the Development of Human Resources, Ministry

of Finance, Institut d'Economie Douanière et Fiscale, Central Bank

of Algeria , Institut Supérieur de Gestion et de Planification

3) ENF, ENA, Prime Ministry, IFID, Centre National d'Innovation

Pédagogique et de Recherches en Education, Ministry of Finance,

Ministry of Dev. & Intl. Coop.

4) Ministry of Finance, Institute of Planning, Institute of Banking and

Financial Studies

5) Central Agency for Organization and Administration, National

Management Institute, Ministry of Planning and Administrative

Reform, Ministry of Finance

6) Ministry of Finance, Central Bank, Academy for financial and

economic studies, Supreme Council for Local Governance and HR

Development, Ministry of Finance and Civil Service (Red Sea

State), National Council for Training

7) Institut des Finances Basil Fuleihan, Central Bank Institute of

Training and Development, ENA

8) Ministry of Finance, PFI, National Institute for Administration,

General Personnel Council, Palestinian Banking Institute

9) Higher Institute for Administrative Development, National Institute

of Administration

10) Public Finance Training Center, National Institute for Training

11) Finance and Accounting Training Institute, Ministry of Finance of

Kurdistan, National Center for Consultancy and Management

Development

12) Ministry of Finance, Central Bank of Kuwait

13) Institute of Public Administration

14) Mohamad Bin Rachid School of Government, Institute of Administrative

Development

15) Ministry of Finance, Institute of Administrative Development

16) Ministry of Finance, BIPA

17) Ministry of Economic Affairs

18) Ministry of Finance, Finance Institute, Ministry of Planning and Intl. Cooperation

19) Institute of Public Administration

20) National Institute of Public Administration (Djibouti)

STEP 1: Achieving Geographical representation 64 members from 20 Arab countries

Sudan

Mauritania

1 2

3

4 5

11

9

8

7

6

10

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

STEP 2: Opening up a platform for public policy dialogue

and networking

2006

Beirut

2008

Paris

2009-2010-2011

Beirut

2012

Tunisia

2014

Kuwait

2015

Marrakech

2016

PARIS

In 2010:

120 participants

16 countries

7 Reg & Intl Org.

31 participants

9 countries

7 Reg & Intl Org.

39 participants

11 countries

3 Reg & Intl Org.

90 participants

19 countries

10 Reg & Intl Org.

85 participants

14 countries

9. Reg & Intl Org.

More than 720 Participants to the Annual Meetings and Conf.

In 2009:

31 participants

9 countries

5 Reg & Intl Org.

In 2011:

65 participants

14 countries

7 Reg & Intl Org.

90 participants

13 countries

23 Reg & Intl Org.

STEP 3: Building Human Capacity for better governance

More than 470 senior officials

trained on governance and state

moderniation issues, including

financial management

DEAD SEA

An e-learning module on Performance

Budgeting that any member can use

free of charge Developed by the Ministry of Economy and

Finance of Morocco

Specialized high quality

curricula that any member can

use and benefit from it free of

charge

EGYPT

STEP 4: Learning from good practices North and South

19 Study visits to promote North-South

and South-South exchange and pave the

way for bilateral cooperation among

members

Technical assistance services

towards the creation of Institutes of

Finance (Palestine, Jordan, etc.)

A network of expert-trainers

representing a pool of expertise

available in the Arab world

STEP 5: Nurturing partnerships & institutional cooperation 13 MOUs signed in 10 years and building synergies

Active Participation to more than 40 Intl. Meetings and Conferences since 2006

Cooperation with other networks such as

More than 22,000 publications printed and distributed 6,000 copies of conferences' proceedings

11,000 copies of reports and guides Working Paper Series

STEP 6: Documenting good practices and...

... Sustaining communication

A trilingual website: www.gift-mena.org A newsletter A Directory

STEP 7: Promoting a participatory financing model

30 local institutions and regional and international organizations sponsored the

Network’s activities through financial and in-kind contributions

STEP 7: Promoting a participatory financing model

0.83% 18.91%

31.75%

48.51%

Financing per type of donor

2006 - 2016

OTHERS

DONORS

MEMBERS

PARTNERS

... And a participatory approach to governance

11 institutional members elected within 4 successive steering committees to run the network:

GIFT-MENA Steering committee 2008-2010:

1. Dubai School of Government, United Arab Emirates

2. Institute of Finance -Ministry of Economy and Finance,

Morocco

3. Institute of National Administration, Palestine

4. National Institute for Training, Jordan

5. Institut des Finances Basil Fuleihan, Lebanon -

Secretariat of the network

GIFT-MENA Steering committee 2008-2010:

1. Bahrain Institute of Public Administration, Bahrain

2. National Institute for Training, Jordan

3. Institute of Finance -Ministry of Economy and Finance,

Morocco

4. National School of Finance, Tunisia

5. Institut des Finances Basil Fuleihan, Lebanon -

Secretariat of the network

GIFT-MENA Steering committee 2012-2014:

1. Bahrain Institute of Public Administration, Bahrain

2. Public Finance Training Center of the Ministry of

Finance, Jordan

3. Ministry of Finance, Palestine

4. National School of Finance, Tunisia

5. Institut des Finances Basil Fuleihan, Lebanon -

Secretariat of the network

GIFT-MENA Steering committee 2015-2017:

1. Bahrain Institute of Public Administration, Bahrain

2. National Management Institute, Egypt

3. Ministry of Civil Service and Administrative

Modernization, Morocco

4. Ministry of Finance, Palestine

5. Institut des Finances Basil Fuleihan, Lebanon -

Secretariat of the network

10 years in numbers

720 decision makers and experts took part to our annual meetings and conferences

13 Memorandum of Understanding were signed between members and partners

Technical assistance was provided and supported the creation of two new « Institutes of Finance » in Jordan and

Palestine

Two National Training Networks were launched in Lebanon and Tunisia, inspired by the experiences of the

French RESP and of the GIFT-MENA network

470 senior officials were trained on issues of governance, financial management and state modernization

A specialized curricula was launched in 2010 in the Arabic language on «Financial governance » addressed to

managers in charge of implementing public finance reforms

19 study tours and more than 80 participants to centers of excellence in the Arab world and in Europe

A collaboration with 8 networks

Participation to more than 40 international conferences to promote the network and build cooperation ties ;

22,000 publications distributed

A Directory of Civil Service Schools and Institutes published in two editions (2009 and 2016)

A trilingual website

LOOKING BACK THESE 10 YEARS

Lessons learned

In what way have we succeeded?

• Earning legitimacy and forging resilience

• Proposing a pioneering initiative that is South-

born, South-owned, South-managed and that

represents a break away from traditional

cooperation models

• Providing a flexible operating framework

• Remaining demand-driven and cost-efficient

• Working to consolidate a pool of Arab expertise

and becoming a knowledge broker

• Promoting home grown solutions that respect

the cultural specificities of the Arab world

• Facilitating innovation in learning: hands-on /

problem solving training methodology based on

case studies, role play and experience-sharing

What were the challenges?

• Coping with a highly volatile and fragile

environment

• Maintaining an operational and responsive

Secretariat given the difficult situation in

Lebanon

• Formally institutionalizing the network

• Mobilizing resources

• Building synergies with other networks and

initiatives (OECD MENA-GOV, OECD Network of Schools

of Government, MENAPAR, etc.)

THE NEXT 10 YEARS: WHAT VISION?

TODAY: What is happening in MENA? Experiencing with fragility, conflicts and the governance gap

• An unstable and fragile regional environment

• A fragile situation in Lebanon - Secretariat

headquarters

• Deteriorating macroeconomic indicators and

governance gap

• Oil exporting countries facing budget restrictions with

oil prices decline

• International funding constraints with the decrease in

public aid for development to fragile states and

increase in the cost of post-conflict reconstruction (for

Syria alone estimated at $ 170 billion)

• Deterioration of well-being with collapse of social

contract

• Migration crisis affecting European countries

• Terrorist threat in Europe following the attacks in

Paris, Brussels and Germany

• But also a challenging future: How to manage the

post-crisis? What support is needed for better

governance? What models for international aid and

partnerships?

Looking Ahead

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

What priorities for MENA?

Social influencers?

• As networks are becoming

increasingly prevalent in the

development landscape

(Ramalingam 2011), are

they able to achieve greater

policy influence?

• Networks allow for the

development of collective

intelligence (Potier 2014)

• Goal 16: Promote just,

peaceful and inclusive

societies (Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels)

• Goal 17.9: Enhance

international support for

implementing effective and

targeted capacity-building in

developing countries to

support national plans to

implement all the sustainable

development goals, including

through North-South, South-

South and triangular

cooperation

23

• Security and Peace

• Macroeconomic stability

and growth

• Social cohesion

• Refugees crisis

• Governance gap

• ….

• Public Administration

Capacity Devlpt

Three types of challenges

Coherence and value added Structural / Institutional Financial

Today: