Webinar: A comparative analysis of decentralization and subnational governance in MENA

Several MENA countries have made decentralization gains, particularly since the Arab Spring. However, these gains have been partial, incomplete, and limited by regime security and patronage concerns. A recent study analyzes the extent to which governance is decentralized in law and practice in nine Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries—Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen. The pandemic, national budget deficits, and escalating protests in some countries could spur further decentralization, but they will also exacerbate regime unease around maintaining stability and power. (This session is co-hosted by USAID and MSI).