Hamad Bin Khalifa University’s (HBKU) College of Public Policy (CPP) recently hosted a policy dialogue roundtable to discuss the World Bank’s latest Afghanistan Development Update. 

Dr. Sultan Barakat, Acting Director of the Global Institute for Strategic Studies, and Professor, CPP, led the roundtable, which featured ambassadors and practitioners from the US, UK, Germany, Italy, Canada, Finland, and Afghanistan. Participants engaged in a dynamic debate on the findings and recommendations  of the report and offered valuable perspectives on the challenges facing the country.

The World Bank was represented by Muhammad Waheed, Senior Country Economist for Afghanistan, who presented the report’s key findings and recommendations, as well as a strategic team of eight experts, led by Ms. Hadia Smaha, Operational Manager.

Dr. Kim Moloney, Assistant Professor, CPP, Dr. Mazar Saleh, Research Fellow, CPP, Dr. Fouad Hassaan, Humanitarian and Development Advisor, and Muhammad Abdur Rehman, a Master’s student at CPP, supported proceedings with findings from their own research.

Commenting on HBKU’s hosting of the event, Dr. Barakat said: “We were proud to host these critical discussions and further build upon the university’s status as a uniquely situated venue for public conversation where practitioners and experts debate policy issues of global relevance. CPP’s highly-established local and international faculty, which holds deep practice insight and academic expertise in policy research and public administration, readily lent its knowledge to the World Bank and roundtable in support of its mission to address Afghanistan’s development challenges.”

CPP aims to become one of the leading public policy schools in the region and  world, as well as a center for teaching and researching responses to policy questions of local and global relevance. The College actively leverages local and transnational synergies and collaborations with distinguished international partners to facilitate expertise and build capacity in Qatar and beyond.