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Triggers of Transformation: Resilient Governance Institutions in Conflict-affected Countries

01
-
02
December
2015
Location: 
Beirut, Lebanon

The Expert Group Meeting on Triggers of Transformation: Resilient Governance Institutions in Conflict-affected Countries was organized by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in partnership with the Regional Hub for Arab States of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and held in Beirut, Lebanon, on 1-2 December 2015.

Participants from academia, research institutes, Governments, international organizations, the United Nations, and the private sector discussed the state of institutions in conflict-affected countries in the region, the prospects and necessity of institutional transformation, and the deleterious effects of conflicts on institutions.

They concluded that governance institutions in conflict-affected Arab countries must transform in order to meet present challenges. In particular, countries must reduce corruption, improve accountability, expand representativeness, and increase transparency. In order to make these transformations, the following factors are critical: resolve from political leadership, power-sharing approaches, targeted policies to address and prevent radicalization, stronger accountability of national and local institutions, urgent need of a new notion of social contract to be negotiated between the State and its citizenry, local ownership, pluralistic or citizenship-focused education, and a commitment to gender-sensitive public policy.

1. Event Details