No
Emergency Summits for Arab Human Development Crisis
9 November 2009
By Ramzy Baroud
When the first Arab Human Development Report (AHDR)
was published in 2002, a star glistened in a vast,
gloomy sky. The fact that a UN-sponsored report,
authored by independent Arab scholars would receive so
much attention in Arab media, was in itself a
promising start. The fact that such terminology as
human security, personal security, economic security,
etc – as highlighted in the report – would even
compete with the largely ceremonial news bulletins’
headlines in many Arab countries was in itself an
achievement. But then, the star quickly faded, the
terms became clichés, and the report, published seven
times since then, became a haunting reminder of how
bad things really are in the Arab World.
Those who wish to discredit Arab countries,
individually or as a collective, now find in these
reports plenty of reasons to fuel their constant
diatribes; those who genuinely care and wish for
things to improve are either silent or muted.
The last report, sponsored, like the rest, by the
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) was
published in July 2009. It was the grimmest. Its
statistics are intriguing, although depressing. 2.9
million square kilometers of land in the Arab World
are threatened by desertification. Natural resources
are depleting at an alarming level. Birth rates are
the highest in the world. Unemployment is
skyrocketing. 50 million new jobs must be created by
2020. Arab oil-based economies leave some Arab
countries entirely vulnerable to market price
fluctuations or the depletion of oil altogether. While
many economies, especially in Asia are shifting or
have already achieved great strides into becoming
knowledge-based economies, Arab economies are still
hostage to the same cycle of oil and cheap labor. In
fact, 70 percent of the Arab region’s total exports,
according to the report, is oil.
The problem is not just economic, or environmental,
it’s societal as well. Inequality is entrenched in
many Arab societies. Women’s rights are not the only
individual rights violated. Men’s right are violated
too, that is if they are not members of the dominant
group, which are either divided by blind political
allegiance, tribal or sectarian membership, or
economic leverage.
Admittedly, Arab societies are, of course, not the
only societies that suffer from these ills, but sadly,
the problems of Arab countries are most convoluted,
accentuated by the fact that there is little action to
rectify the problem, neither at individual country’s
level or using joint platforms, for instance, the Arab
League. Why didn’t the Arab League hold an emergency
summit following the release of the first or even the
last AHDR report? One would think that problems of
such magnitude, ones that affect the lives of 330
million people, are pressing enough for such
gatherings.
Arab media has been highlighting the issue and the
shortcomings, some media outlets more than others. But
the discussion is largely political, at times a mere
attempt at discrediting this government or that
leader, and are still conducted in general terms. The
latest report for example was supplemented by opinion
polls conducted in four Arab countries - Kuwait,
Lebanon, Morocco and occupied Palestine. One need not
emphasize the different human development challenges
in these countries, situated in diverse geopolitical
settings. One cannot possibly devise the same solution
to a country occupied by a foreign army, to an
independent country with untold oil wealth, to a third
with immense human potential but dire poverty.
Generalized problems can only obtain generalized, thus
superficial solutions. Therefore, it has been
summarily decided that the problem lies in lack of
education, not the inequitable and unrepresentative
political systems. Education became the buzz word, as
if education is a detached value; therefore, education
cities are erected in Arab countries that can easily
afford importing the best teachers and curricula money
can buy. More, research institutions are also making
appearances in various Arab capitals. Those existing
in rich Arab countries are operated largely by
foreigners, whose sense of priority lies, naturally,
elsewhere. One fails to grasp the wisdom.
But of course, education is a mindset, a culture even.
What is the point of pursuing a PhD in a society where
nepotism determines who does what? It’s most rational,
from a self-seeker’s point of view, to spend time
knowing and passing one’s business cards to the ‘right
people’ than spending years of one’s life pursuing a
university degree.
UNDP had recently launched “The Arab Knowledge Report
2009”, jointly with the United Arab Emirates-based
Mohammad bin Rashid al-Maktoum Foundation. Another
depressing read, nonetheless. Governments were
criticized for paying lip service to ‘reform’, yet
“widening the gap between word and deed.” It concluded
that Arab countries are far from being knowledge based
societies. Numbers and more numbers told the story:
Finland spends $1000 per person on scientific
research, while less than $10 are spent annually in
the Arab world. More, the number of published books
averages one for every 491 British citizens, while in
the Arab world it’s one for every 19,150. But that
should not be much of a surprise considering that
one-third of older Arab citizens are illiterate,
two-thirds of whom are women. Meanwhile, more than
seven million children, who should be in school, are
not. Illiteracy stands at 30 percent in the Arab
world.
Dr. Ghassan Khateeb, of Birzeit University in the
occupied West Bank believes that there “is a direct
relation between the lack of investment and the
problematic situation we find ourselves in relation to
knowledge.” “This is all related to politics; the lack
of democracy and the lack of knowledge enforce each
other,” he was quoted as saying.
Paul Salem, writing in the British Guardian, while
recognizing the failure of Arab governments, found
that others are also, if not equally, responsible.
“The cost of a single month of Western military
spending in Iraq or Afghanistan would be enough to
triple total aid for education in the Middle East. The
cost of two cruise missiles would build a school, the
cost of a Eurofighter a small university.”
Alas, some Arab governments, spend twice, if not three
times more on their military budget than invest in
education. And keeping in mind that nearly one out of
every five Arab citizens lives below the poverty
threshold of two-dollars a day, the tragedy is
suddenly augmented.
Arab governments must rethink and reconsider their
current priorities and course of action. They must
think and act individually, but collectively as well,
before the crisis turns into a catastrophe, as will
surely be the case if nothing is done.
- Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an author
and editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His work has
been published in many newspapers, journals and
anthologies around the world. His latest book is, "The
Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's
Struggle" (Pluto Press, London), and his forthcoming
book is, “My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s
Untold Story” (Pluto Press, London), now available for
pre-orders on Amazon.com.
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EsinIslam.Com
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