Norwegian Embassy supports research programs of the Issam Fares Institute, AUB

The IFI program on Research Advocacy & Public Policy-making in the Arab World (RAPP) aims to forge an Arab contribution to global knowledge about the practice of policy making.

It aims at bridging an existing knowledge gap in policy making by trying to understand how research influences policy-making in the Arab world. It will do so by documenting experiences, replicating successes, and assessing and improving weaknesses in how think tanks, non-governmental organizations, research institutes and others generate knowledge that aims to influence policy.

RAPP's uniqueness is in being an indigenous effort by a policy research institute in the Arab world, collectively with other institutes in the region, to assess and improve how research influences policy making, and also to analyze how policies are formulated and implemented in Arab countries.

The IFI program on Policy and Governance in Palestinian Refugee Camps, jointly managed with the AUB Center for Behavioral Research (CBR), is a multi-year research, analysis, and policy-recommendations program that explores the public policy and governance challenges of Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza.

The Norwegian Embassy has committed $60,000 to the RAPP program, and $90,000 to the program on Policy and Governance in Palestinian Camps. This supplements funding for these programs from AUB, the Issam Fares family, and other sources.

The grants received from the Norwegian Embassy will fund research projects, conferences and workshops, searchable databases on the IFI website, and the dissemination of research findings and policy recommendations.

The Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs was established at AUB in 2006. It draws on the research activities of the AUB faculty to promote better understanding of public policy issues and international affairs, and to foster dialogue and joint research among academics, government officials, the private sector and civil society.