Table 1 Key definitions

Protracted Conflict: Hostile interactions which extend over long periods of time with sporadic outbreaks of open warfare fluctuating in frequency and intensity [2].

MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Region: Covers 24 countries, namely the 21 members of the Arab League (Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen), as well as Iran, Israel and Turkey [3, 4].

Capacity strengthening: As a working definition, capacity strengthening can be understood as a process of developing, upgrading and/or expanding pre-existing capabilities at the individual, organisational, and institutional levels to plan, conduct, and disseminate evidence-based knowledge [5].