The Caserta Center was established in 2012 as the “Regional Training Center of the OECD Governance Program for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA-OECD Governance Program Training Center)” on the basis of an agreement between the OECD and the National School of the Administration (SNA), with the aim of contributing to the consolidation of the stability of the countries of the southern shore of the Mediterranean through the promotion and dissemination of good governance practices and the development of capacity building initiatives aimed at public officials of the countries of the region, aimed at improving the efficiency of the public administration of the countries of the MENA area.
The activities were regulated by three-year MoUs signed by the OECD and by the National School of Administration. The expansion of the geographical scope of action of the Center took place in December 2022, through a five-year agreement between the OECD and the Italian Government, signed in December by Amb. Sabbatucci and by OECD Deputy Secretary General Kerry Ann Jones. The agreement laid the foundations for the relaunch of the Center through the implementation of training courses, capacity building activities, as well as joint events and meetings of experts for a growing cooperation between the OECD and the countries of the Mediterranean, but also of Africa and the Balkans. The agreement was accompanied by the commitment of the Italian Cooperation to support the activities of the Center with a contribution of 750,000 for the three-year period 2023-2025.