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The MENA-OECD Governance Programme aims at modernising public governance in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). By improving the environment for entrepreneurs, investors and job creation, it works towards sustaining development in the MENA region.

The Initiative builds upon the ongoing efforts of MENA countries to modernise public governance. In particular:

• Strengthen civil servants’ capacity to design, implement and monitor public governance reforms
• Create networks for dialogue between policy makers from MENA and OECD countries
• Design innovative solutions, tailored to the specific policy environments of each MENA country
• Assist ministries and government agencies to co-operate and co-ordinate their work
• Reinforce development initiatives supported by international, regional and bilateral donors.

Forum for MENA and OECD policy makers

The Initiative created a forum for results-oriented policy dialogue, bringing together practitioners from MENA and OECD countries.

Through this innovative partnership, policy makers share their know-how on implementing public governance policies in priority reform areas, each represented by a Regional Working Group and led by a Steering Group composed of MENA Chairs and OECD Co-Chairs. These guide and supervise the activities of the Working Groups to ensure a co-ordinated government-wide and non-sectoral approach.

Working Groups

• Civil Service and Integrity 
• E-government and Administrative Simplification
• Governance of Public Finance
• Public Service Delivery, Public-Private Partnerships and Regulatory Reform

Setting clear targets and monitoring results

The implementation process of the Initiative was launched in 2004 to review the MENA regional policy dialogue at national level and:

• Implement good practices and peer reviews by policy practitioners to design innovative solutions based on time-tested OECD working methods.
• Define clear action targets aimed for realistic change.
• Support pilot projects technically and through financial assistance by international donors as they serve as reference models for other participating countries. 
• Monitor tools to ensure a timely and result-oriented implementation of the Initiative.

The MENA-OECD Governance Programme is supported by a unique partnership between the OECD and the Programme on Governance in the Arab Region (UNDP-POGAR). It is funded by voluntary contributions from Canada, Belgium, France, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, Sweden (Swedish International Co-operation Agency, SIDA), Turkey, the UK and the US as well as by contributions from Arab countries. In addition, these and further OECD countries as well as multilateral institutions like the World Bank provide policy expertise on an ongoing basis.