Browsing by Subject "International Republican Institute"
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Item Examination of the Role of Civil Society in Adopting International Standard Commitments: A Landscape Analysis of MENA Region and Gulf Countries in Comparison with International Best Practices(2022-05) Wolff, Colin; Byrd, Matthew; Aly, Noran; Nyima, TenzinThis report offers an integrated examination of the role of civil society organizations in influencing governments to adopt international commitments. The study was commissioned by the University of Minnesota and International Republican Institute (IRI) as part of an effort to promote the spread of democratic practices in the MENA and Gulf countries Regions. Under the principles of sustainable development, open government partnerships, climate change, data openness and transparency, public service provision and infrastructure development, the graduate consultants were asked to identify and evaluate the level of adoption and commitments to these international standard commitments, as well as involvement in international partnerships, by countries in both regions compared to best practices of civil society organizations that managed to influence the public policy making process to implement these standards. The results of this evaluative research are intended to be used as the basis for the IRI next strategy to empower CSOs in influencing their governments to adopt the above-mentioned strategy. Based on what we have found, expanding the CSOs’ penetration and power serves as an influential tool that would not only facilitate embedding the international commitments into the national strategy of the region but also practically applying it, or rather, contribute to projectizing it by directing aid to developing countries towards specific projects that follows the international standards commitments. In our landscape analyses we found that the governments of the MENA region have made a number of commitments across all five areas. Though there is a great deal of variation among the nations, we found some noticeable trends; for instance, we found a dearth of governance commitments and little follow-through in any regard to climate change. We were also able to find recurring themes in our case studies.Item Women’s Economic Empowerment in Jordan, Oman and Tunisia(2020-05-06) Deeb, Rayan; Tvedt, Jonathan; Yelgezekova, ZhaminTo develop greater insight into future programming in Jordan, Oman, and Tunisia, the International Republican Institute (IRI) posed the following question: What legal, cultural, and existing economic barriers are preventing women from contributing to their respective national economies? This question was submitted as a research proposal to the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs as a potential capstone project for Master’s degree-seeking students. The proposal by IRI was selected as the capstone project of three graduate students who were then commissioned to examine the existing literature, identify key themes, and develop policy and programming recommendations to better assist IRI in understanding the context of women engaging in their respect economies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The result is a comprehensive analysis of the local and national barriers in Jordan, Oman, and Tunisia that prevent women from engaging in their national economies, and developing a stronger sense of economic empowerment.