The number of poor people in the Arab countries is on the rise… And so is the number of unemployed… Crises are growing… Challenges are increasing… Ambitions appear to be huge, but then turn out to be limited. This can be read in the faces of some "frustrated" young Arabs who wait for jobs on sidewalks, or at coffee shop tables – even the youth of the wealthy Gulf states are affected by unemployment. Many of them have resorted to "connections" to get a job or solicited jobs from foreigners who head companies and institutions in their countries, in order to find jobs that help them make a living and secure their future. There are 17 million unemployed people in the Arab countries. The Arab Labor Organization speculates that the number is likely to increase to 20 million, as around 3.5 million are expected to lose their jobs due to the repercussions of the global financial crisis. In parallel, the proportion of unemployed youth is more than 50% of the total population in most Arab states, making unemployment rates among its youth the highest among the countries of the world. Poverty rates in Arab states are still high, according to "The Challenges of Development in the Arab Countries" report drafted by the Arab League recently, in cooperation with the United Nations program. According to the report, 140 million Arabs are living below the poverty line, i.e. half the Arabs are considered to be very poor. I recalled a Chinese proverb that defines wisdom as the "comb a person gets after he becomes bald," after the meeting of the Arab social affairs ministers revealed the wisdom of "baldness" in their heads. They turned the meeting into a wave of objections and placed hindrances before a study that reveals the reality of the situation in the Arab states that are between the hammer of poverty and the anvil of unemployment. The report was attacked by the Arab social affairs ministers who expressed reservations on it, and even threatened not to ratify it. Syrian Minister Diala al-Hajj Aref objected to its content, under the pretext that the statistics are inaccurate and cited from unreliable sources. Libyan Minister Ibrahim al-Zarouk rejected the report, under the pretext that it ignores certain topics, without which it cannot succeed, as it did not consider the Arab wealth to be for all Arabs. Palestinian Social Affairs Minister Majida al-Masry supported the Libyan minister, and denounced the report because Palestine and Iraq were not listed among the poor countries in the region. As for the Iraqi minister, he rejected the report, saying that it was unfair to his country. Poverty is invading Arab societies, and unemployment is widely spreading among the youth. But these [ministers] keep on objecting and protesting, although it is all attributed to poor government policies and weak plans of the ministries in question. According to the estimations of the Arab Labor Organization, the unemployment rate among young people in the Middle East and North Africa was 25.7% in 2003. This is the highest rate worldwide, and surpasses the international rate by 77.8%. This requires the Arab governments, especially the ministries in question, to move in accordance with plans that have a clear timetable, rather than reject the studies and reports and rush to request assistance and aid in order to draw a new living plan for the citizens in the Arab world, through providing job opportunities for the youths and combating poverty – especially since many challenges still face these countries, such as the scarcity of water and the phenomenon of climate change which will alter the geography of some countries. I listened to the statement of Mona Hammam, deputy regional director of the UNDP regional bureau for Arab states, who talked on behalf of the people. She affirmed that the rates of progress do not meet the aspirations of the people, and that "in order to achieve the developmental objectives, we need a political willpower that prioritizes development as an urgent need, which requires an untraditional business approach, focusing on existing development gaps of priority and on urgent and decisive action to address them." Will the Arab ministers of labor and social affairs turn against themselves and their governments, and work for the sake of the people, through encouraging the social funds to invest some of their money in agricultural, industrial, and business projects, thus benefiting the people and providing new job opportunities for the young generations? All solutions are contingent upon the political willpower. So the coming ten years will perhaps pass by with solutions remaining absent…But this does not prevent optimism.
