Engagement

Consulting and advisory work with governments and multilateral organisations on national evaluation systems, programme design, public sector capacity development and administrative reform. Research grants, collaboration, lectures and media.

Where the research travels

Where the research travels

Conferences, lectures, United Nations sessions and fieldwork from the engagement record. Select a city.

Public administration and public policy associations

Papers presented and panels convened at the International Institute of Administrative Sciences, the International Public Policy Association, the International Political Science Association and the American Political Science Association.

International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS)

  • Forthcoming paper: Readiness for What? National Governance Architecture as a Constraint on Local Government AI Adoption. IIAS 2026 Conference, Seoul, 17 to 20 November 2026
  • Forthcoming panel, convenor: Governing AI Between Blocs: Technology Policy Architecture in China and the Arab World. CANSPPA-IIAS-NASPAA Conference, Fudan University, Shanghai, 22 to 23 November 2026

International Public Policy Association (IPPA)

  • Panel chair: Rethinking Evaluation for a Multipolar World, and Social Inclusion in Transition. 7th International Conference on Public Policy (ICPP7), Chiang Mai, July 2025
  • Paper: Digital Government Transformation in the MENA Region. IPPA International Workshops on Public Policy (IWPP4), Guadalajara, June 2024
  • Panel chair: Institutionalization of Evaluation in the Global South, and Climate Change and Social Justice. 6th International Conference on Public Policy (ICPP6), Toronto, June 2023
  • Panel chair: Social Transformations and the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Middle East and North Africa. 5th International Conference on Public Policy (ICPP5), Barcelona, July 2021
  • Workshop chair: Social Transformation in the Middle East and North Africa: Rethinking Social Policy in Times of Uncertainty. IPPA International Workshops on Public Policy (IWPP2), Quito, 2020
  • International Conference on Public Policy (ICPP4), Montreal, 2019

International Political Science Association (IPSA)

  • Paper: Governance and Resilience in the MENA Region: From the Arab Spring to COVID-19 and Beyond. 28th IPSA World Congress of Political Science, Seoul, July 2025
  • Paper: The Impact of Political Crises and Regime Changes on Institutional Governance, Autocratization, and Resilience in Tunisia and Egypt. IPSA 75th Anniversary Conference, Lisbon, September 2024
  • Paper: Decolonizing Evaluation in the MENA Region: Case Studies of Indigenous-Led Evaluations. Panel: Policy Evaluation from an Axiological Perspective: Arguments, Discourses, Values and Experiences, General Session 11, Public Policy and Governance. 27th IPSA World Congress of Political Science, Buenos Aires, July 2023

American Political Science Association (APSA)

  • Paper: An Exploratory Analysis of Policy Response Spending in OECD Countries. Division 25: Public Policy, APSA Annual Meeting, 2021

United Nations and international engagement

Public administration at the international level: work with the United Nations system, regional intergovernmental bodies and international programmes on social development policy, the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda, labour migration and evaluation capacity.

United Nations system

  • Regional Partner for the Middle East, United Nations NGO Major Group. More than ten official side events at United Nations Headquarters across five sessions of the Commission for Social Development and two High-Level Political Forums.
  • Convenor with the UN DESA Division for Inclusive Social Development, side event on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on families and children, 59th session of the Commission for Social Development, 11 February 2021
  • Participant, United Nations Expert Group Meeting on Inclusive Cities for Sustainable Development, Curitiba, November 2019
  • Speaker, side events on family-sensitive social protection and on the value of unpaid care and domestic work, 57th session of the United Nations Commission for Social Development, New York, February 2019
  • Oral statement, United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, New York, 2018
  • Speaker, Civil Society Forum of the United Nations Commission for Social Development, New York, 2017
  • Lead Principal Investigator, regional assessment of youth entrepreneurship ecosystems, UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States

Regional intergovernmental bodies

  • Member, Research Advisory Group, UNFPA Arab States Regional Office. Member, Research Committee, League of Arab States Arab Strategy for Youth, Security and Peace.
  • Expert presentation at the League of Arab States, Cairo, 2019: a framework for a family perspective in the Sustainable Development Goals

International programmes and fellowships

International academic networks

Consulting and advisory work

  • United Arab Emirates
    National Marriage FundLead Principal Investigator. Independent evaluation and full redesign of a national social transfer programme exceeding USD 120 million, using programme and beneficiary administrative records.
  • United Arab Emirates
    Family support programmes and population policyLead Principal Investigator. Family support programmes, in partnership with the University of Oxford, and a situational analysis of fertility and population policy for the Federal Demographic Council.
  • Qatar
    National strategiesChair of the scientific committees of the National Social Protection Strategy and the National Family Cohesion Strategy, 2016 to 2018.
  • Qatar
    Ministry of Public Health and the Administrative Control and Transparency AuthorityResearch partnerships on communicable disease risk among migrant workers and on governance transparency.
  • Tunisia
    Cash transfer programme, 2018Quasi-experimental evaluation against a comparison group of eligible non-recipient households.
  • Georgia, Mongolia, Jordan, Lebanon
    Evaluation capacity developmentAdvisory support to government counterparts on the design and institutionalisation of national evaluation systems.
  • Sri Lanka, Iraq, Nigeria, Senegal
    Thematic evaluationEvaluation consultancy on cash transfers, gender and child protection.
  • UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States
    Youth entrepreneurship ecosystemsLead Principal Investigator of a regional assessment.
  • Dubai Chamber of Commerce
    Corporate governance and responsibilitySix commissioned studies, 2007 to 2010.

Invited lectures and keynotes

  • 2026
    Invited lecture, International Summer School on Gulf Studies, Ibn Haldun University, Istanbul, July 2026
  • 2026
    Opening presentation, panel on evaluation professionalisation, gLOCAL Evaluation Week, HubEVAL, University of Georgia, with MELPA, 3 June 2026 (online)
  • 2025
    Paper, What Explains the Gulf Fertility Paradox? Investigating Decline and Natalist Policy Efficacy in GCC Rentier States, and panel chair, Well-Being and Social Inclusion. The Demographic Transition conference, International Network for Social Policy Teaching and Research, Vilnius University, May 2025
  • 2024
    Keynote, Academia Nacional de Evaluadores de México (ACEVAL), Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, 25 June 2024: good practices for institutionalising evaluation. Talk: «Buenas prácticas para incidir en la institucionalización de la evaluación. Iniciativa Global South Evaluation», hybrid format
  • 2024
    Keynote, EVALFEST, Evaluation Community of India, Delhi
  • 2024
    Public lecture, Colegio de Jalisco, Guadalajara: social protection in the Middle East
  • 2024
    Lecture on strategic foresight, fifth knowledge meeting of the Impact Center community, Riyadh, December 2024
  • 2024
    Paper, Cash Transfers in the MENA Region: Two Decades of Impact Evaluation and Lessons Learned. International conference on cash transfers and guaranteed minimum income programmes, International Network for Social Policy Teaching and Research, Charles University, Prague, September 2024
  • 2023
  • 2023
    Public lecture, University of Ottawa, Faculty of Social Sciences: social welfare in the MENA region
  • 2022
    Research seminar, UCD Geary Institute for Public Policy, Dublin
  • 2022
    Presentation of Oxford Handbook proposals, Program Evaluation in the Global South and Social Protection Systems Amid the Pandemic in the Global South, Annual Meeting of the International Network for Social Policy Teaching and Research, UNED, Madrid, October 2022
  • 2021
    Brown Bag Webinar for the European members of the International Federation for Home Economics (IFHE), 14 May 2021: findings of the COVID-19 family study across 23 European countries
  • 2021
    Presentation with the Instituto de la Familia, Universidad de La Sabana, 2021: findings of the COVID-19 family study for Colombia, Argentina, Mexico and Brazil
  • 2020
    Plenary presenter, Global Health Disparities Among Families in the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020 Annual Conference of the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR), 12 November 2020 (virtual)
  • 2020
    Paper accepted, Common Path and Divergent Patterns: Welfare Regimes in the Post-2011 Arab World, Middle East Dialogue, Policy Studies Organization, Washington, DC, March 2020 (conference postponed owing to COVID-19)
  • 2019
    Research seminar, University of Oxford, Department of Social Policy and Intervention
  • 2019
    Panellist, Social Policy Challenges, Research and Education in the Field, Annual Meeting of the International Network for Social Policy Teaching and Research, Inter-University Centre, University of Zagreb, Dubrovnik, June 2019
  • 2018
    Research seminar, University of Bergen, Centre for Research on Discretion and Paternalism
  • 2017, 2018
    Research seminars, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore
  • 2017
    Research seminar, London School of Economics, Department of Social Policy: gender equality, family policy and social care in the Gulf
  • 2016
    Keynote, Plenary Session III on gender equality, World Family Summit 2016: Leave No Family Behind, World Family Organization, São Paulo, 6 December 2016: empowering women and girls to participate fully in the family and in all sectors of society
  • 2015
    Research seminar, IZA Institute of Labor Economics, Bonn: labour market and migration policies in the United Arab Emirates
  • 2013
    Research seminar, Warwick Business School
  • 2010
    Research seminar, Boston College, Carroll School of Management
Selected conference presentations
  • Panellist, technical session on data and methodology, The Future of Work and Social Protection in the Arab Region, Beirut, 12 February 2026
  • Participant, International AGYA Conference The Standing and Understanding of Scholars in Society, Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA), Tunis, 5 to 7 December 2025
  • Panellist, Final Globe Panel: Global Dialogue on National Evaluation Policy Systems, 5th APEA Conference, Tokyo, 13 November 2025
  • Participant, Second International Conference of the Arab Centre for Parenting, Parenting and Its Role in Building Lasting Peace in the World, Tunis, December 2024
  • Speaker, General Assembly 2024 of the European Network of Social Authorities (ENSA), Brussels, 22 to 25 January 2024
  • Paper, Teaching Monitoring and Evaluation in the MENA Region: A Comparative Analysis of Educational Programs. Academic Symposium on M&E Education, Future of Evaluation: Role of Academic Education in Monitoring and Evaluation, with the Asia Pacific Evaluation Association (APEA) and the Center for Evaluation, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2 to 4 December 2024
  • Panellist, International Conference on Global Welfare Research, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 24 to 25 October 2024
  • Fourth Global Evaluation Forum, Rabat, 2024
  • Asia Pacific Evaluation Association, Manila, 2024
  • Paper with Natalie Williams and Sarah Barker Ladd, Family Satisfaction, Relationship Satisfaction, and Beliefs about Resilience: Understanding Parent Stress in the COVID-19 Pandemic Using the Double ABCX Model, XX ISA World Congress of Sociology, International Sociological Association, Melbourne, June to July 2023
  • Speaker, session on the Role of Evaluation in Achieving the 2030 Agenda, Fourth APEA Conference and EvalVisionAsia 2023, Future of Evaluation: Leveraging Partnerships for Equitable Development in Asia Pacific, Manila, 4 to 7 December 2023
  • Panellist, 10th Anniversary Conference of the MENA Social Policy Network, Rabat, 11 to 12 July 2023
  • Paper on the professionalisation of evaluation in the Gulf region, Canadian Evaluation Society Annual Conference, Quebec City, 22 June 2023
  • Convenor, Shifting Gears: Accelerating Evaluation Institutionalization in MENA, gLOCAL Evaluation Week, 30 May 2023
  • Speaker, Global Inauguration of Youth in Evaluation Week, 24 April 2023
  • EvalSouth Conference, Doha, 2023 (Director)
  • Convenor, Global South Evaluation Research Conference, 7 to 8 November 2022
  • Social Policy Association, Swansea, 2022
  • Moderator, session on work-family balance policies, Seminar on Family Policies and Sustainable Development, Doha International Family Institute with the Permanent Delegation of the State of Qatar to UNESCO, UNESCO, Paris, 27 September 2019
  • Workshop co-director, Family Changes in the Context of Social Changes in the Gulf Region (Workshop 6), with Jennifer E. Lansford and Abdallah M. Badahdah, Gulf Research Meeting, University of Cambridge, 15 to 18 July 2019
  • Workshop co-director, Psychosocial Impacts and Social Policy Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Gulf Region (Workshop 11), with Said Aldhafri and Humoud Al Qashan, Gulf Research Meeting 2021 (virtual)
  • Convenor of four panels, Evaluation in Times of COVID-19 in the Global South, Development Studies Association Conference, July 2021
  • Convenor, Social Policy Research Forum on social policy in MENA amid the pandemic, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, April 2021
  • Middle East Studies Association, 55th Annual Meeting, 2021
  • Panel convenor, Quo Vadis: Welfare State in the Post Arab Spring 2.0, Middle East Studies Association, 54th Annual Meeting, October 2020
  • Development Studies Association, 2020
  • International Conference on Family and Social Innovation, Curitiba, November 2019
  • Speaker, Discover QF Talks, Qatar Foundation, Doha, 2019
  • Academy of Management, 2011; Strategic Management Society, 2009 and 2011; Academy of International Business, Milan, 2008

In the field

Panels, keynotes and training with evaluation societies, governments and universities.

Session on data and methodology, The Future of Work and Social Protection in the Arab Region, Beirut, February 2026.
International AGYA Conference, The Standing and Understanding of Scholars in Society, Tunis, December 2025.
Closing panel on national evaluation policy systems, 5th APEA Conference, Tokyo, November 2025.
Lecture on strategic foresight, Impact Center, Riyadh, December 2024.
Second International Conference of the Arab Centre for Parenting, Tunis, December 2024.
Academic Symposium on M&E Education, with APEA and the Center for Evaluation, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Colombo, December 2024.
Panel at the International Conference on Global Welfare Research, National Taiwan University, Taipei, October 2024.
Presenting at the International Conference on Global Welfare Research, National Taiwan University, Taipei, October 2024.
Presenting at the IPPA International Workshops on Public Policy, Guadalajara, June 2024.
Keynote lecture for ACEVAL at the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, June 2024.
Seminar at El Colegio de Jalisco, Guadalajara, 2024.
Panel on institutionalising evaluation, EvalPartners Global Evaluation Forum, Rabat, 2024.
Presenting on the challenges of evaluation in the Global South, EvalSouth session, Global Evaluation Forum, Rabat, February 2024.
EvalFest 2024, Evaluation Community of India, New Delhi.
Speaking at the General Assembly of the European Network of Social Authorities (ENSA), Brussels, January 2024.
Contributing to a Q&A session, Fourth APEA Conference, Manila, December 2023.
Session on the role of evaluation in achieving the 2030 Agenda, Fourth APEA Conference, Manila, December 2023.
Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ottawa, 2023.
At ENAP, Québec, for the international training programme in development evaluation (PIFED).
Taqyeem International Training Programme in development evaluation, with ENAP and the Global Evaluation Initiative.
UCD Geary Institute for Public Policy, Dublin, 2022.
International Conference on Family and Social Innovation, Curitiba, November 2019.
Participants of the 2019 Gulf Research Meeting, University of Cambridge, July 2019.
Discover QF Talks, Qatar Foundation, Doha, 2019.
Expert meeting at the League of Arab States, Cairo, 2019.
Panel on the value of unpaid care and domestic work, 57th session of the United Nations Commission for Social Development, New York, February 2019.
High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, United Nations, New York, 2018.
Civil Society Forum, United Nations Commission for Social Development, New York, 2017.
Presentation at the Institute of National Planning, Cairo.

Grants and collaboration

I welcome collaboration on comparative administrative capacity, evaluation systems and AI in public administration, including joint grant applications and doctoral co-supervision.

More than USD 2.7 million in research funding across fifteen projects and five national funding systems, including the Qatar National Research Fund, UK Research and Innovation, the Hong Kong Research Grants Council, the Taiwan National Science and Technology Council, UNDP and the Emirates Foundation.

Research grants

  • Qatar National Research FundPrincipal Investigator. Integrated assessment of climate impacts.
  • Qatar Ministry of Public HealthPrincipal Investigator. Communicable disease risk among migrant workers in the Gulf Cooperation Council, 2023 to 2026.
  • Administrative Control and Transparency Authority, QatarGovernance transparency research, 2021 to 2025.
  • UK Research and Innovation, Global Challenges Research FundCo-Lead Principal Investigator with the University of Bath. Social protection and sustainable peace.
  • Hong Kong Research Grants Council and Taiwan National Science and Technology CouncilPrincipal Investigator. Post-pandemic social protection systems.
  • UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab StatesLead Principal Investigator. Youth entrepreneurship ecosystems.
  • Emirates FoundationFunded research in the United Arab Emirates.

Collaboration

  • Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public HealthCo-Director, Emergency Preparedness Research, Evaluation and Practice (EPREP).
  • ENAP, QuébecTaqyeem International Training Programme for senior Arab officials, under an institutional agreement on evaluation training.
  • University of Maryland School of Public PolicyInstitutional agreement and joint executive teaching on programme evaluation.
  • University of OxfordPartner on the evaluation of family support programmes in the United Arab Emirates.
  • University of BathCo-lead on the UKRI project on social protection and sustainable peace.
  • Co-editors and co-authorsL. A. Pal; J. E. Lansford and A. M. Badahdah; M. Biygautane, G. Al-Arifi and S. Clegg; C. T. Brown; M. Hussein; B. H. Alsayed.
  • Conference and webinar partnersUN DESA, the Brookings Doha Center, the National University of Singapore, CIESAS Mexico, the University of La Sabana and Aarhus University.

Media and networks

For interviews and commentary, write to anis.ben.brik@usi.ch. Short biographies are on the About page.

Commentary in Modern Diplomacy, Fair Observer, Middle East Monitor, Al-Fanar Media and Qatar Foundation Stories. Broadcast interviews on evaluation, social protection and child protection with Al Araby TV, Al Jazeera Mubasher, Qatar TV, Qatar Radio, QBS Radio and Oryx FM.

Networks and service

  • Founding President, Global South Evaluation Society. President, MENA Evaluation Association.
  • Editorial boards: Journal of Social Policy (Cambridge University Press); Gulf Studies (Springer).
  • Peer reviewer: American Journal of Evaluation; Evaluation; Evaluation Review; Public Administration Review; Policy Sciences; Governance; Social Policy and Society; International Journal of Public Administration.