Transcript U.N.D.P. Arab Human Development Reports

U.N.D.P. Arab Human
Development Reports
2002 Report
2003: Knowledge
2004: Freedom & Governance
2005: Status of Women
Assessing Development
• HDI:
–Life expectancy
–Adult literacy & school enrollment
–GDP per capita
Assessing Development
• Amartya Sen: Development as Freedom
– Political freedom
– Economic facilities (markets & fair
distribution)
– Social opportunities (education &
healthcare)
– Transparancy guarantees
– Protective security (social safety nets)
Assessing Development
• AHDI:
Adds measures of Sen’s 5 freedoms
to HDI
Correlates highly with HDI
HDI / AHDI Rankings
• 2nd lowest region (only sub-Saharan
Africa lower)
• Freedom measure lowest of all
regions
• “Voice and accountability” lowest of
all regions
• 51% of youth want to immigrate
Progress
• Began late, but significant progress on…
Health: infant mortality & life expectancy
Education: teachers, schools &
enrollment
Population: growth slowed
Three Deficits
1. Freedom
2. Women’s Empowerment
3. Capabilities / knowledge
relative to GDP
Freedom & Democracy
“The wave of democracy that
transformed governance in most of
Latin America and East Asia in the
1980s and Eastern Europe and much
of Central Asia in the late 1980s and
early 1990s has barely reached the
Arab States.”
Freedom & Democracy
“Political participation in Arab
countries remains weak, as manifested
in the lack of genuine representative
democracy and restrictions on liberties.”
“Women remain severely
marginalized in Arab political systems
and broadly discriminated against in
both law and custom.”
Oil
• Wealth invested in industrialized countries
• Technology & technicians imported rather
than adopted and developed
• “Rentier State”:
Gov’t becomes employer – patron
Citizens not taxed – don’t demand
representation
2003 Report:
Towards a Knowledge Society
General Trends
• Progress in advancement of women,
“partly eclipsed by new setbacks in the
areas of freedom of opinion, expression
and association.”
• Knowledge production lags begin most
other developing regions
Knowledge
• Education declining in quality
• Public spending on education declined
since 1985
• Access to digital media low:
18 computers / 1000 people
(global average 78)
• Only 1.6% has Internet access
Knowledge
•
•
•
•
Stagnation in scientific research
Little investment in R&D
Low level of foreign investment
Oil wealth  imported technology, not
invention or re-invention
• Oil wealth  invested overseas, not in
MENA
• Brain drain: high % of scientists and
doctors leave
2004 Report:
Freedom and Governance
Freedom & Governance
“Despite variations from
country to country, rights and
freedoms enjoyed in the Arab
world remain poor.”
Freedom and Governance
Not due to culture:
World Values Study of 9 global
regions (including West) found “Arab
countries topped the list of those
agreeing that ‘democracy is better
than any other form of governance.’”
Freedom and Governance
In “the modern Arab state… the
executive apparatus resembles a
‘black hole’ which converts it
surrounding social environment into a
setting in which nothing moves and
from which nothing escapes.”
Freedom and Governance
“The so-called ruling parties
(where they exist) are, in reality,
simply institutions attached to the
executive… this means that
parliament is a bureaucratic adjunct
of the executive that does not
represent the people whose mistrust
in it continues to grow.”
Freedom and Governance
“The executive uses the ordinary
and exceptional judiciary to eliminate
and tame opponents, rivals and even
supporters who step out of line…”
Freedom and Governance
Corruption: “close supporters are
allowed to exploit their positions for
unlawful gain, while ‘enforcement of
the law’ against them remains a
weapon to ensure their continuing
and total loyalty.”
Freedom and Governance
“The key support buttressing the
power of the executive is the
intelligence apparatus… to the point
where the modern-day Arab state is
frequently dubbed ‘the intelligence
state.’”
2005 Report:
Status of Women
Status of Women: Health
• High rates of reproduction-related
morbidity & mortality:
• Mortality 1% in Mauritania; .07% in
Qatar
• HIV / AIDS rate still low
Status of Women: Education
• High rate of female illiteracy: 50%
• School enrollment lower than boys,
but perform better
• Women in majority in many university
humanities and social sciences
• Men outnumber women in science &
engineering
Economy
• Culture, economy, and laws cause women
to “encounter significant obstacles outside
family life that reduce their potential.”
• 1990 – 2003 increase in women working
highest in world
• But % of women working still lowest in
world: 33% (world: 56%)
Women’s Movement(s)
• Began early in 20th century; important
post-Independence gains
• Expanded and re-invigorated in 1980s,
and saw success in North African
countries
• 1990s “difficult years” for progressive
movements in MENA societies
Women’s Movements
“Relations within the family have
continued to be governed by the
father’s authority over his children
and the husband’s over his wife,
under the sway of the patriarchal
order….” and changes “cannot be
considered far-reaching.”