OPERATIONALIZATION OF AARINENA 

For the sake of operationalizing AARINENA, several important points have to be taken into consideration:

       The need to improve the real “ownership” of AARINENA programs and policy statement by the NARS of the Region: NARS leaders should be aware of the accomplishments of AARINENA and the progress that has been made. The country representative should disseminate information to NARS leaders concerning AARINENA activities and vision. The communication between NARS in the same country should be strengthened within the same region. They should exchange information regarding on going research and cooperate accordingly. Then, the country representatives in each region should communicate together. Finally, the representatives of sub-regions (Executive Committee Members) should facilitate information transfer.

        The urgent need to change the nature or conception of AARINENA regional programs and networks: The traditional trend of project funding is that the budget of the project, if conceived, is fully dependent upon donor funding. There is an urgent need to change this approach to one that is based on conceiving regional programs as being constituted by the various national programs of each NARS in that particular field, complemented with various cooperative activities. Once the transfer of information and activities of on going research is accomplished between sub-regions, the above mentioned approach is applied, then 80% of the cost of the regional programs can be covered by the participating countries through their own national (corporate) budgets, and they only have to request donors for the funding of the other 20% (mainly to support transaction costs and the costs of exchanges, such as travels and meetings).

        The implications of the emergence of the “Euro-Mediterranean space” that is starting to develop on AARINENA. The emergence and consolidation of this space is a very interesting trend that can generate new opportunities for the countries of the Mediterranean region. Countries that fall within both the Mediterranean Forum and AARINENA (only 2 sub-regions are excluded: West and Central Asian and Arabian Peninsula) can cooperate and coordinate together. Then, they can transfer all important activities to the other countries in their Association.

        The urgent need to take a final decision for the establishment of a full-time secretariat for AARINENA: If such a decision if not taken urgently, then the possibility of responding successfully to the above challenges is very limited. All of the above activities could not be accomplished effectively unless AARINENA have a full-time secretariat. Furthermore, given the above challenges and tasks, this secretariat needs a clear operational capacity with a staff member who has the capacity to relate to the above-mentioned issues and who can handle them adequately. The process of receiving proposals from member countries for hosting the secretariat on a full-time basis is presently under way.

Upon the fulfilment of all the above-mentioned needs AARINENA would have the emerging capacity to respond to the new opportunities and challenges in the region.

                                                                       Dr. Mustafa Yaghi

                                                                    AARINENA President