Morocco World News
New York, June 19, 2013
At the 2013 Society for International Development(SID)-Washington Annual Conference, “Development Goals: How We Got Here and What Comes Next,” on June 6th, in Washington, DC, Moroccan-American international lawyer and MWN colleague, Leila Hanafi, has been named as the 2013 recipient of the Rice Award for Leadership and Innovation, recognizing her aptitude and drive to continue down her path of advancing international development excellence and to the discourse of rule of law and governance promotion in the Middle East and North Africa region, namely Morocco.
This is the first time the Prize is awarded to a young American leader from Moroccan or Middle East and North African roots. The crisis engulfing the Middle East and North Africa showed that greater citizen participation and better governance are crucial for economic development.
One of the sharp lessons of the recent MENA awakening has been the urgent need to reach out more consistently to civil society, including academics, NGOs as well as to the private sector. The development of MENA countries cannot be successful without good governance and the participation of citizens; development in which everyone feels they have a say and a stake.
As a young Moroccan-American international lawyer, having grown and worked cross-culturally through progressive legal and social complexities, Leila Hanafi exemplifies the drive of the younger generation to develop innovative thinking to the development reform process in the Middle East and North Africa.
On behalf of MWN team, congratulations to Leila for advancing Morocco’s position in such international development fora.
