Scope and Objectives
The Academic Network for Development Dialogue (ANDD) is a fundamental step in creating synergy and strengthening the cooperation and dialogue between the United Nations (UN) and Academia. It acts as a think tank in the region to influence the UN's work and the global dialogue on policy options to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The ANDD was established as a partnership between universities and educational institutions regionally and worldwide with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) supported by the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) and Qatar University (QU).
ESCWA is mandated under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to foster the sustainable economic and social development of Western Asia through regional and sub-regional cooperation and integration, in partnership with local and global partner organizations. ACUNS is a global professional association of institutional and individual members involved in the work and study of the United Nations, multilateral cooperation, and global governance. ACUNS promotes teaching and research on the UN and its relevant topics. It also fosters dialogue and mutual understanding across and between academics, practitioners, civil society, and students.
The network will support knowledge exchange between the UN and the Academia in the Arab region. It will focus on dialogue, facilitate collaboration between two schools of thought (the academic and non-academic), being an example to move away from competing against each other, and start to cooperate and share knowledge.
The ANDD will create an intellectual sharing process to bridge the local knowledge gap and foster academic expertise and scientific findings to support progress towards sustainable development in the region, including supporting evidence-based action by the UN system. It supports an action chain approach, where small scale actions (individual or institutional research and workshops) lead to new broader progress, which ultimately inspires more actions (i.e., region-wide effect). This linkage between academics, expert practitioners, and the UN assumes a foresight role for the group, not just an advisory one.
Relying on local academic expertise to advise on new UN programs and policies is an initiative to drive the region towards proactive policy-making, in line with national plans for achieving the SDGs. This collaboration will support the global conversation and cooperation between partners and Academia in the region. It will provide the UN with needed information about the region from within the region.