My name is Alaa Abouelfetouh. I am a pharmacist by training and a Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University and Alamein International University, Egypt. I am also a Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) fellow (Fogarty International Center). My research uses genomics to study epidemiology & antimicrobial resistance in LMICs. I also study ethical and social aspects of biomedical research. I am the director of AIU’s Next Generation Researchers program that helps build research skills among undergraduate students.

I would like to thank the UK parliament for its interest in the development of lower-income countries and for seeking the opinions of different stakeholders, including citizens from said countries, when deciding and/or revising its policy.

My motivation to respond to the invitation is my desire to help shape a better future for peoples from low and middle income countries. As a national of one of these counties, I have a hands-on experience with many of the problems we face on a daily basis and that affect our productivity, ability to succeed and sometimes even willingness to keep going. I might not see an impact of the new policies in my lifetime but I hope others will and I am sure many of the opportunities I enjoyed in my life/career and that helped shape my way of thinking are the fruits of others’ ideas and efforts.              

I believe that good governance and strategic thinking/planning are interlinked and that these can be developed by capacity building. Many low and middle income countries (LMICs) don’t practice good governance in the real sense of the term. They do have institutions, mostly with an organizational structure, sometimes even with written policies describing the roles of different members and the procedures (including anti-corruption policies) to be followed under different circumstances. Yet, for different reasons it is not always the case when the right person is chosen to fill a position. This person might lack the skills required to succeed in that position. It is even worse when this is a leadership position, particularly when the chosen person can’t think strategically. This is another area that needs development, the ability to think strategically. A related area, is how to implement strategic plans and policies. Again, this is linked to the lack of skills or knowledge of how to make things happen in a sustainable way that promotes the growth of the institution and its members. Implementation research can help in this regard. However, implementation research is not well understood in some developing countries. I would like to suggest funding a capacity building program on different levels starting from school children to train them to think more strategically, and to shape their can-do attitude and way of thinking in a systematic way and not haphazardly. These skills are often overlooked in the school curriculum of many countries, particularly in the public school system that usually serves under-privileged kids. This curriculum usually focuses on recall rather than encouraging creativity and generate many foot soldiers but rarely good leaders. Again, policies encouraging students to think creatively and/or critically (e.g. critical thinking courses) might already exist, however teachers and parents often mis-implement these.

The program I am suggesting can take the form of summer camps or after school activities where children practice governance and learn a different thinking model. In parallel, coaches need to be trained to lead these camps. Also, parents need to be educated to think of these activities as fun projects that help build their child’s character and not as a competitive project or a curricular activity. Such a program can be expected to have an impact in 10 years. For faster impact, tailored programs for graduates and young professionals to train them on the good governance and strategic thinking/planning will be needed. For a more immediate impact, immersion training programs for people who are assuming leadership positions to improve their strategic thinking and planning skills can be designed.