Geographic focus: Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

Thematic focus areas supported by the solution: Humanitarian partnerships with a focus on emergency preparedness, accountability to affected populations and humanitarian access.

Development challenge and key achievements:

A regional policy workshop was organized on 5 - 6 December 2012 that brought together humanitarian actors in the MENA region, with a focus on national NGOs. Organizations from over 12 countries participated with aim of sharing information, ideas and lessons learned on specific policy themes (preparedness, accountability and access). The workshop also sought to facilitate greater partnerships among regional actors in their responses to various humanitarian crises. The workshop is part of a wider process led by OCHA MENA Regional Office and The Humanitarian Forum to build understanding and support greater collaboration between humanitarian actors in the region.

The comparative advantage of the solution:

Participating organizations came from Libya, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq, Yemen, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

The workshop was successful in that it helped foster trust among organizations through dialogue and efforts to establish operational partnerships. Key actions points were developed to foster collaboration in the three main thematic areas and another workshop will be organized in 2013 to monitor progress and further facilitate regional collaboration.

Focal Point and Contact:
Samir Elhawary
Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa
UNOCHA
2 El Hegaz Street Roxy, Heliopolis
Cairo, Egypt
Tel: +201066650625
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.