Forced displacement is among the most pressing challenges in the Eastern Mediterranean region. In the Middle East and Turkey, the Syrian refugee crisis involves humanitarian challenges coupled with significant spillover effects in neighboring regions.

To ensure universal access to affordable telecommunications services, Tunisian and Mauritanian officials engaged in an exchange with Turkey on ways to reform and liberalize their telecom sectors, with an emphasis on broadband.

To improve solid waste management and reduce harmful emissions and their negative impacts on the environment, the Government of Romania participated in an exchange with Turkey.

The government of Vietnam (GOV) wanted to reform its inadequate and corrupt social security administration in favor of a modern, fair, and transparent system. Although the government had outlined a strategy, it felt that the country did not have the institutional capacity to implement it, and so it looked to the World Bank for help.

The Government of Tunisia sought to move forward its decentralization agenda in response to citizens’ demands for more accountable, effective, and efficient government.