In Arabic, shiraka means partnership. With the Shiraka programme, the Netherlands supports societal development in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The main focus is social contracts between the government and citizens. Shiraka focuses on the involvement of civilians in governance and governments’ service delivery for citizens.

The Shiraka Training Programme (STP) is part of the Shiraka Programme, developed by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It supports societal development in the MENA region. The STP consists of 2-week training courses.

STP focuses on governments’ public service delivery for citizens, involving civilians in this process. The training courses are open to government employees from the following countries and states:

Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestinian Territories, Tunisia

The training on Communicating with the Public helps participants to:
• improve knowledge and skills in the field of government communication;
• learn from Dutch best practices in government communication;
• act as change agent in their home country;
• share knowledge and skills in their home country;
• develop a valuable network of peers in their region, country and in the Netherlands;
• strengthen connections with the Netherlands and stakeholders in the Dutch justice sector.