DjFrodo
22-07-2009, 12:01
More efforts urged to make Arab world a better place
RIYADH: A UN-sponsored report has called on Arab governments to make progress in human development and to do more for making the Arab world a good place to live in.
It called on Arab governments to create more jobs, allay security fears and take necessary measures to prevent desertification, which threatens about 2.9 million square kilometres, or roughly one-fifth of the total area of Arab countries.
“The natural resources are being depleted at an alarming rate, as population pressures mount in the Arab countries,” said the report entitled "Arab Human Development Report 2009 (AHDR)."
It said that the average number of live births per woman in the Arab region is 3.6 compared to a global average of 2.6. “With this growth rate, the region is expected to have nearly 385 million people by 2015, up from approximately 330 million currently,” said the report.
Giving an overview of the report, May Hamoud Al-Faraj, a spokeswoman for the Riyadh chapter of the United Nations Development Program said that the AHDR 2009 was the fruit of a two-year research process drawing on the efforts of many people.
The 288-page report, she said, talks about the human security issues in the Arab world, environmental protection, women's rights, Arab oil economy, public health, poverty and hunger, conflict and military intervention as well as how to make progress in terms of human development.
The report mentions growing unemployment in Arab countries. According to the Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning, the jobless rate among Saudis was 11.2 percent in the first half of 2008, but estimates by the report show that it is much higher.
The report said that the Arab world has the world's highest unemployment rate — 14.4 percent versus a world average of 6.3 percent. This is simply not proven by statistics available here. Given current population growth, Arab countries will have to create 50 million new jobs by 2020 in order to accommodate the anticipated work force. On the other hand, the report also called for safeguarding the rights of women by changing laws and attitudes which entrench gender-based discrimination.
The report notes that women in Arab countries have little access to justice and few possibilities of legal redress when they are victims of violence. In conflict areas, women's lack of safety and security increase sharply.
“Though violence against women can be found in every country, women in societies with entrenched male dominance, patriarchal kinship patterns, and legalized discrimination — the situation in many Arab countries — are acutely vulnerable,” said Munira Fakhro, former Associate Professor at the University of Bahrain and an advisory board member for the AHDR.
Fakhro has been quoted as saying that the human security of people in the Arab region depends, first and foremost, on the health of the environment that sustains the people.
In Arab countries, a widespread lack of human security undermines human development, according to the report. The report identifies several ways in which Arab countries can improve human security.
It also addresses the weak structural underpinnings of the Arab oil economy and moves toward a more diversified, knowledge-based economy that provides sufficient employment.
Arab countries are greatly exposed to the fluctuations of oil prices, as oil accounts for more than 70 percent of the region's exports.
The report called for tackling poverty and ending hunger despite the comparative affluence of the region. An estimated one in five people in the Arab region live below the internationally recognized poverty threshold of $2-per-day, the report added.
Bron
RIYADH: A UN-sponsored report has called on Arab governments to make progress in human development and to do more for making the Arab world a good place to live in.
It called on Arab governments to create more jobs, allay security fears and take necessary measures to prevent desertification, which threatens about 2.9 million square kilometres, or roughly one-fifth of the total area of Arab countries.
“The natural resources are being depleted at an alarming rate, as population pressures mount in the Arab countries,” said the report entitled "Arab Human Development Report 2009 (AHDR)."
It said that the average number of live births per woman in the Arab region is 3.6 compared to a global average of 2.6. “With this growth rate, the region is expected to have nearly 385 million people by 2015, up from approximately 330 million currently,” said the report.
Giving an overview of the report, May Hamoud Al-Faraj, a spokeswoman for the Riyadh chapter of the United Nations Development Program said that the AHDR 2009 was the fruit of a two-year research process drawing on the efforts of many people.
The 288-page report, she said, talks about the human security issues in the Arab world, environmental protection, women's rights, Arab oil economy, public health, poverty and hunger, conflict and military intervention as well as how to make progress in terms of human development.
The report mentions growing unemployment in Arab countries. According to the Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning, the jobless rate among Saudis was 11.2 percent in the first half of 2008, but estimates by the report show that it is much higher.
The report said that the Arab world has the world's highest unemployment rate — 14.4 percent versus a world average of 6.3 percent. This is simply not proven by statistics available here. Given current population growth, Arab countries will have to create 50 million new jobs by 2020 in order to accommodate the anticipated work force. On the other hand, the report also called for safeguarding the rights of women by changing laws and attitudes which entrench gender-based discrimination.
The report notes that women in Arab countries have little access to justice and few possibilities of legal redress when they are victims of violence. In conflict areas, women's lack of safety and security increase sharply.
“Though violence against women can be found in every country, women in societies with entrenched male dominance, patriarchal kinship patterns, and legalized discrimination — the situation in many Arab countries — are acutely vulnerable,” said Munira Fakhro, former Associate Professor at the University of Bahrain and an advisory board member for the AHDR.
Fakhro has been quoted as saying that the human security of people in the Arab region depends, first and foremost, on the health of the environment that sustains the people.
In Arab countries, a widespread lack of human security undermines human development, according to the report. The report identifies several ways in which Arab countries can improve human security.
It also addresses the weak structural underpinnings of the Arab oil economy and moves toward a more diversified, knowledge-based economy that provides sufficient employment.
Arab countries are greatly exposed to the fluctuations of oil prices, as oil accounts for more than 70 percent of the region's exports.
The report called for tackling poverty and ending hunger despite the comparative affluence of the region. An estimated one in five people in the Arab region live below the internationally recognized poverty threshold of $2-per-day, the report added.
Bron