Economic Research Forum (ERF)

Mohammad Pournik

Author

Mohammad Pournik
Consultant

Mohammad Pournik retired from UNDP in February 2013. He served as Poverty Practice Leader at the UNDP regional centre for Arab States in Cairo from August 2009, where he provided substantive guidance to UNDP Country Offices in the Arab region on how best to respond to challenges of socio-economic development. For most of his professional life in the United Nations system, Mohammad Pournik worked on issues pertaining to political economy of sustainable development and poverty reduction. He joined UNDP Iran in 1984 and has since worked in Laos, New York, Nepal, Sudan and Yemen. In Nepal he was the regional coordinator for the South Asia Poverty Alleviation Programme, a multi-country intervention to link social mobilization at the local level with a supportive macro policy framework for poverty reduction and active engagement of hitherto excluded groups into mainline economic activities. In Sudan he served as Senior Economist and Poverty Reduction Advisor, while in Yemen he was the Principal Economic and Governance Advisor focussing on the links between governance systems and developmental outcomes. Prior to joining the UN he served briefly with the Iranian Plan and Budget Organization after several years of private sector experience. Mohammad Pournik received his academic training as an economist at the American University in Washington, D.C., the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of London and the University of Sussex, respectively at doctoral, master’s and bachelor’s levels.

Content by this Author

Sudan and the pandemic: reforms for a vulnerable economy

Sudan’s economy was in a fragile state even before Covid-19 and the lockdown measures implemented to control the virus. This column outlines the bold yet practical reforms that are needed to help the country move to a virtuous cycle of rising productivity and incomes – and hence sustained reduction in poverty.

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Challenges of conflict and industrial policy for development

How effective is industrial policy as a tool for long-term economic growth and development? Against the backdrop of the conflict currently engulfing the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan (MENAAP), a new report argues that while industrial policies are widely used across the region, they can only address market failures and foster growth when they are aligned with country capabilities, implemented with accountability and backed by capable institutions.

The green transition in MENA economies: challenges and policy pathways

The economies of the Middle East and North Africa are at a critical turning point. Global decarbonisation pressures, energy market volatility and technological transformation are increasingly challenging hydrocarbon-based growth models. This column argues that the green transition is not only an environmental necessity but also a strategic economic imperative.

Beyond job creation: how can Egypt’s gender gap in work be closed?

More than 2 million jobs are needed each year to absorb new entrants into Egypt’s labour market and raise the country’s employment rate. The job challenge is even more acute for women, whose labour force participation remains low despite recent gains in education. This column reports on the second Development Dialogue, an ERF–World Bank Group joint initiative, which brought together students, scholars, policy-makers and private sector leaders at the American University in Cairo to consider how the country’s gender gap in work can be closed.

The political economy of algorithms in the Middle East

The Middle East is entering a new political-economic era – one in which algorithms, data and artificial intelligence may become as strategically important as oil once was. Across the region, governments are investing heavily in digital infrastructure, smart governance and AI-driven economic transformation. This column outlines how AI and algorithmic governance are reshaping power, inequality and state capacity in the region.




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