Category: Middle East & North Africa

Improving Saudi Arabia’s role in International Space Legislation

The al Khobar water tower photographed after dusk. Saudi Arabia

Guest blog by Khaled Emam, Tim Freeman, Sergii Telenyk, Anupama Thekkinkat Vadukkoot When we started our PDIA journey in the first week of the spring term, we knew little about the rollercoaster of learning that we were about to board. Although we come from different parts of the world, study distinct fields, and work in…Continue Reading Improving Saudi Arabia’s role in International Space Legislation

Developing an All-Encompassing Regulatory Approach to Space Laws, Saudi Arabia

The King Abdullah Financial District "KAFD" located in the city of Riyadh

Guest blog by Abdullah Altaleb, IPP’23 Prior to joining IPP, I knew that having some unknown unknowns in public policy work is inevitable. Knowing what you know is for sure beneficial but knowing what you do not know and turning that into something you know is invaluable. During the program, I was able to identify…Continue Reading Developing an All-Encompassing Regulatory Approach to Space Laws, Saudi Arabia

Developing a Holistic Approach in Education to Improve Students’ Wellbeing and Academic Achievement in Lebanon

Faces of children, including a beautiful smiling girl, sitting in their neighborhood in the old city of Sidon, Lebanon.

Guest blog by Hilda El Khoury, IPP’23 The main key learnings from this course were many; among them I can name “taking risks on things we care about, and disappointing people in a way they can absorb”. This message became a continuous alarm for me, I keep assessing what could be the threshold of people…Continue Reading Developing a Holistic Approach in Education to Improve Students’ Wellbeing and Academic Achievement in Lebanon

Who Owns the Future and How to Lead Economic Growth in Egypt?

Egypt cityscape

Guest blog by Ghada Abuzaid, LEG’23 Cities and countries can create vibrant economies out of the blues, putting in place the right ingredients, driven by the right people and institutions, using the right tools. But it takes a steep climb. It takes action, learning, agility and patience, trust and legitimacy to pursue higher scale the…Continue Reading Who Owns the Future and How to Lead Economic Growth in Egypt?

Improving Students’ Wellbeing and Learning through a Social Emotional Learning Policy in Lebanon 

Children in school smiling

Guest blog by Nahla Harb, IPP’23 The IPP course was very enriching and a life changing experience for me. The key learnings encompassed a wide range of tips of knowing what and knowing how, starting from PDIA, a creative approach in policy making to the communication and the leadership styles. …Continue Reading Improving Students’ Wellbeing and Learning through a Social Emotional Learning Policy in Lebanon 

Failure of Effective Curriculum Implementation in Lebanon

Group meeting

Guest blog by Hyam Ishac, IPP’23 I have been assigned as the president of the center of educational research and development (CRDP) for more than 1 year. From that time until now, I am leading the process of curriculum development in Lebanon. During this time, CRDP, with different stakeholders were working on developing the national SEL…Continue Reading Failure of Effective Curriculum Implementation in Lebanon

Implementing the Social Emotional Learning in the Lebanese Educational Curriculum

A classroom

Guest blog by Tania Tannous, IPP ’23 As a school psychologist, responsible of child protection, my love language is to take care of students in the school environment. I used to work on two referral axes, the first one being able to spread awareness about some emotional social and cultural subjects and the second one…Continue Reading Implementing the Social Emotional Learning in the Lebanese Educational Curriculum

Rapid Inflation and its Implication in the UAE

United Arab Emirates cityscape

Guest blog by Tariq Alsuwaidi, LEG’23 The realization that addressing inflation is essential to achieving sustainable economic development is one of the most important things that may be gained from taking this course. For instance, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has suffered from the negative impacts of excessive inflation, such as a drop in buying…Continue Reading Rapid Inflation and its Implication in the UAE

Top Insights from “Leading Economic Growth”

Aqaba, Jordan

Guest Blog by Dina Alzubi, LEG ’22 Below are some key ideas/learnings that I took away from this course 1. Taking time to construct and deconstruct the problem is important: the course really emphasized for me the importance of spending enough time constructing and deconstructing the problem at hand. Tools like the fishbone diagram and identifying…Continue Reading Top Insights from “Leading Economic Growth”