Hamad Bin Khalifa University’s (HBKU) College of Public Policy (CPP) and the Geneva Graduate Institute jointly honored 81 graduates of the 2022-23 Executive Programmes in Development Policies and Practices (DPP) and Conflict and Fragility Management (DPP-CFM) on February 3, 2023, at the Institute’s premises in Geneva, Switzerland.

The graduates, composed of mid- to senior- level professionals seeking to gain experience in the development and humanitarian fields, represented 44 countries in Africa, Central Asia & Caucasus, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and Southeast Asia. 

Maria Jesus Alonso Lormand, Director of the Service for International Solidarity, Presidential Department, Republic and State of Geneva; and Buthayna Al Muftah, Head of Strategic Partnerships Development Section, Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) both gave speeches to those in attendance, recognizing the graduates’ achievement and the importance of their programs.

The participants received their diplomas from their respective regional hub’s management. The diplomas of the MENA participants were jointly presented by Alaa Tartir, Academic Coordinator for MENA Region, DPP Program, Geneva Graduate Institute, and Dr. Evren Tok, Associate Professor, CPP, as the host of both the DPP and DPP-CFM programs at HBKU.

Prior to the ceremony, participants from the program’s MENA hub met Her Excellency (HE) Hend Abdalrahman Al-Muftah, the new Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations Office at Geneva before the ceremony, where HE personally congratulated the graduates on their achievement.

HBKU’s CPP and the Geneva Graduate Institute partnered to deliver both the DPP and DPP-CFM programs, with QFFD providing institutional support. These 9-month programs combined in-person and online modules based in their respective regional hubs as well as a final course in Geneva. Both the programs’ curricula explored some of the most pressing regional and global development challenges, providing case studies that enhanced participants’ strategic analysis and leadership skills. 

As part of their respective programs, each participant developed a professional thesis relevant to their professional work and the needs of their organizations, particularly in the development and humanitarian fields.

Both these programs represent the strong commitment of the QFFD and its Qatar Scholarships initiative to enhance national and regional capacity in the field of international development to attract international students from developing countries, and to increase academic outcomes related to development in the Middle East and North Africa region.

HBKU’s CPP aims to become one of the leading public policy schools in the region and the world and a center for teaching and researching responses to policy questions of local and global relevance. The College actively leverages local and transnational synergies and collaborations with distinguished international partners to facilitate expertise and build capacity in Qatar and beyond.