Dr. Anis Ben Brik, Associate Professor and Founding Director of the Program for Social Policy Evaluation and Research (PROSPER) at the College of Public Policy (CPP), participated in the recent Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) Scientific Chair for Sustainable Development Conference. The forum discussed sustainable development in the Arab region with a focus on the role of development organizations and research institutions. 

Dr. Ben Brik’s presentation was titled “Evaluating the SDGs: Lessons, Challenges and Proposed Solutions for the MENA Region”. He discussed the fact that evaluation is still weakly institutionalized in the region. While several networks and associations have been formed since 2000, most are still small and not well-rooted in national political culture. 

He noted that the main challenge in the MENA region is advancing evaluation as a tool for evidence-based management among national authorities. In addition, he pointed to a significant lack of university-based evaluation training courses and study programs. Another challenge is encouraging adoption by policymakers, given that “evaluation … is not viewed as being practical for fundamental policy decisions in the region”. He also highlighted the need for decolonizing evaluation practice, teaching, and learning. Dr. Ben Brik concluded that there is a need to integrate evaluation as a scientific, practical, and politically useful endeavor. It is an area where CPP’s contributions are helping to build national and regional capacities, through the newly-launched Master’s in Social Policy and Program Evaluation, among other initiatives.