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«Arab spring» economic development objectives and also actual
Posted 18/02/2012 09:31 PM
Cairo - Amina Khairy *
political demands for «Arab spring» in many countries of the region was the completion of the era of dictatorships, and the economically One was the demands the transformation of state model based on the overlap of money and power to state aims to development priorities, democracy and social justice and the creation of decent work for the citizens. The report «Development Challenges in the Arab countries 2011: a state of development in the Arab region», which today releases «Regional Centre for United Nations Development Programme» in Cairo, that «the model of political economy prevailing in many Arab countries, which led to the anger of a large public , was in the heart of a wave of change that alter the political map since the beginning of 2011, and the only way to overcome the current period of transition is through the paths of development based on the availability of jobs to address unemployment and lower rates of poverty and deprivation in proportion to the richness of Arab resources, and manage those resources in the form of a sustainable ».
He points out that «these requirements imperative to change the economic situation of the Arab chronic based on the monopoly of power in the hands of political elite and limited economic with overlapping interests, reinforced by the lack of means of public accountability of the state», also re-put the dream of the Arab long-standing goal of Arab integration as essential economic, social and political . He also points out that «the new model proposed for the development of Arabic does not deal with stability from a security perspective is pure, nor the consideration of the progress of the standard of goods and services such as the standard growth of per capita income, but in terms of core capacities that allow citizens choose the life he regards as valuable, according to this model the resources and the enormous potential in the Arab countries can be a base is founded upon inclusive growth that respects human rights, and reduce poverty rates, there are opportunities for decent work, social spending is seen as a real investment in the future ».
Causes of revolutions
In the opinion of the authors of the report that the fee policy for the future economic recovery is not complete, but understanding the reasons for the outbreak of protests, the shift to free markets, after decades of domination of centrally planned economies, linked to a social contract was characterized by weak political participation and development projects and national failure. Corruption was also reflected in the implementation of liberal economic reform programs, which had a negative impact in economic structures, in addition to the policy-making processes marred by political interference of internal and external, which led to a waste of potential and resources of these countries and the vast campus of their right to development.
The report shows that «All this coupled with increased attention to consumption and the distribution of returns rents resulting from the assets of the state rather than on the promotion of production with higher added value, while dominated by the oil to finance the luxury goods and services in the economies of oil-rich, and resulted in economic growth based on oil to decline early manufacturing, and promoted dependency Arab region in the hierarchy of global production. And caused the unbalanced development of Arab weakness of manufacturing and agricultural sectors, which led to leave large segments of Arab societies outside the framework of system growth, and documenting evidence of the degree that led to the terrible economic and social inequalities ».
Services in return for freedoms
The report points out that «the peoples of the region has two features characteristic of social capital, namely entrepreneurship and a high level of social cohesion, but the failure of the policies adopted by most Arab countries since the sixties of last century hit entrepreneurship paralyzed, while undermined social cohesion policies Washington Consensus (which unleashed reform programs led by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund results were disappointing) ».
And stresses that «the prevailing model of the social contract based on the Arab citizens their freedom in exchange for receiving certain services, such as government work, health care, education and exemption from taxes. It is strange that some States considered the length of the judgment criterion for stability, although it was stable texture of oppression and repression is supported by external powers with interests Geo - Strategy, which kept the economies of the region based on the sale of primary commodities and import the necessities of life from food and intermediate goods. The quest for oil-led growth in some countries to the weakness of the structural foundations of the Arab economies, with the highly volatile process of growth, these countries witnessed years of growth followed by another recession ».
The labor force and unemployment
The report shows that all these factors cast a shadow over labor, registering the Arab region during the past two decades the highest growth rate of the labor scientist among developing regions, and succeeded in reducing the unemployment rate is the total of 12 percent in 1990 to 9.3 percent in 2010, but the region does not still retains the highest rate of unemployment among developing regions. And increased rates of unemployment in the Arab LDCs (from eight to 11 percent), and middle-income countries in the East (from 9.3 to 9.8 percent).
Despite the decline in youth unemployment rate of 30 percent in the nineties, according to the report, record 24 percent in 2009, more than twice the global average of 11.9 percent, while the proportion of young people among the population of the unemployed was more than 50 percent In most Arab countries. And Arab women bear the brunt of unemployment and labor fragile, characterized by the share of women working in non-farm jobs and very low, with less than 20 percent, the lowest among developing regions.
The report pointed out that the region faces a real challenge in job creation, By the year 2030, will be on the non-member States of the Gulf Cooperation Council to find 92 million jobs at a cost estimated at $ 4.4 trillion to gain access to the labor force full and raising women's participation in the labor force to 35 percent, lower by 15 percentage points higher than the average in developing regions.
It remains the use of environmental resources in a sustainable manner a most serious long-term development challenges facing the region that are one third of its workforce in agriculture, and imports more than two-thirds of its food. The area of the areas most affected by global climate change, since the droughts will impact negatively on the growing poverty and internal migration.
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