January 01, 2003 | English, French, ArabicMDF4-Progress for All Visions for the Future.The Fourth Mediterranean Development Forum (MDF4), held in Amman under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II, brought together over 500 participants from across the MENA region and beyond for an open and lively debate on key regional issues. Participants represented 32 countries, including 13 from outside the region, with about 42% from civil society, including representatives of think tanks, academic institutions, and NGOs, 17% from government, 17% from donor organizations, 14% from the private sector, and 5% from the media. Notably, 36% of forum participants in the event were women.
Reflecting the theme "Progress for All, Visions for the Future," MDF4 focused on dialog concerning different visions of addressing critical economic and social issues for a better future for the region. Lively and open discussions occurred during the conferences' four specialized workshops, five special sessions, three plenary sessions, breakfast meetings, and open space activities as participants debated and shared experiences in exploring better practices on issues ranging from empowering local government institutions to employment, digital inclusion, and trade and investment. Dialog also took place on other critical issues during sessions on gender, media, civil society, corporate social responsibility, and youth and has resulted in the planning of a variety of future projects around these themes.
The MDF partnership, launched in 1997, is dedicated to empowering civil society to participate in shaping public policy, improving the extent and quality of research on economic and social policy issues, and creating vibrant networks of developmental actors in the region. The partnership promotes activities supporting policy dialog, culminating in a Forum held approximately every two years: MDF1 in May 1997, MDF2 in September 1998, MDF3 in March 2000, and MDF4 in October 2002. Since their inception, these forums have played a unique role as venues for open debate on new and relevant development questions, as a means of breaking down barriers between the government and development practitioners in the private sector and civil society, as well as building the capacity of regional think tanks to conduct debates around key socio-economic issues. In addition, MDF has assisted in supporting development networks throughout the region, including the Arab Network of Anti-corruption NGOs, the Network for Sustainable Livelihoods in Dry Lands Co-Ops, the Regional Network of Teachers, the Network of Lawyers reforming NGO Laws, the Network of Women NGOs, the MENA Network of Social Funds, and the Virtual Souk.
The MDF4 was organized by the Mediterranean Development Forum (MDF) partnership of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) think-tanks, the United Nations Development Program, and the World Bank Group.
This booklet, entitled MDF4: Progress for All Visions for the Future – Selections from the Fourth Mediterranean Development Forum, reflects the core of the remarkable discussions, findings and people that made up MDF4. It provides a succinct summary of the central themes of the event and its conclusions for the region.
