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Page added on April 11, 2013
World Bank warns of a new ‘Arab Spring’ due to high unemployment in Mena
Dubai: Unemployment rate among young people in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region is the highest in the world, said a latest World Bank report which warned of a ‘high levels of vulnerability’ if governments do not take urgent steps to create jobs and ensure inclusive growth.
“As well as a source of frustration, the high level of joblessness translates into high levels of vulnerability,” said a latest report issued by the World Bank on Thursday. “The region still has large numbers of people living below the poverty line, around a quarter of the population in many instances.”
More than half the working-age population of the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region are neither employed nor in school, and both the share of women not working and the unemployment rate for young people are the highest in the world, said the report.
“Sadly, Mena holds two world records: three out of every four working-age women in Mena are outside the labour force, and one quarter of the youth population is looking for work but cannot find it,” said the report — Jobs for Shared Prosperity: Time for action in Mena.
Female participation in the labour force tends to be lower in Mena. Mena score on achievement of universal primary schooling is 95 per cent according to World Development Report statistics which is quite high, Dr Giyas Gokkent, Chief Economist at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, said,
“Undeniably, Mena economies will have to create a significant number of jobs and provide education given rapid population growth in the region. Mena population growth is estimated at about 1.8 per cent p.a. which is significantly higher than World population growth estimate of circa 1.2 per cent per annum,” he told Gulf News.
Poorer children have higher levels of malnutrition, in both the region’s low and medium-income countries, which can cause irreparable harm, lowering learning capacity and increasing risk of school drop-out, it says.
“The long range consequence is lowered adult productivity and generations trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty,” the report says.
Labour markets in Mena currently provide only a few good jobs for a few protected workers who are predominantly older and male. Young people and women are left to bear the brunt of these inefficient labour markets.
“The call for economic and social justice is intimately related to the need for more equal access to economic opportunities, jobs and more effective safety nets,” said Inger Andersen, World Bank Regional Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa. “By seizing this historical moment and fundamentally changing the rules of the game, the region can lay the foundations for inclusive growth, and provide the poor with the means to climb out of poverty.”
To solve this problem, the report identifies three areas of action. First, there needs to be a better business climate for the private sector to create the good jobs of the future. Lowering the barriers to both entry and exit of firms would create a dynamic private sector, which encourages investment and innovation, and ultimately increases the demand for labour, it said.
Second, the report argues for reforms across the region’s educational systems so that young people are equipped with the skills required for productive jobs in a vibrant private sector.
Third, the labour market and social protection policies in the region keep a few workers, mainly older and male, well protected, while the majority find themselves without any protection. The region needs to move towards protecting incomes for all, so that people can change employment in search of more productive jobs without risking their livelihoods.
Dr Gokkent said, the key is to have stability and moving towards a world class soft infrastructure to make it easy to start and do business in order to induce economic activity and attract foreign investment.
“The same sources of pressure such as rapid population growth also mean there is an opportunity and demand across a range of sectors in most countries in Mena,” he said. “At the same, there are significant pools of liquidity in oil-rich economies in the region where firms face more mature domestic markets and are eager for access to low penetration countries in the region. The right steps need to be taken to facilitate these flows.”
The Arab uprisings have created a demand for reform and provide an excellent opportunity for governments to address these longstanding issues.
“The old system that protected a privileged few while purchasing stability with universal subsidies is no longer viable or desirable,” said Steen Jorgensen, World Bank Director for Mena Human Development. “A new social contract that responds to the call for bread, freedom and justice is needed to unleash the region’s vast human potential and help the poor not just to survive, but thrive.”
As with reforms to the business climate and labour markets, the Arab awakening opens the possibility to truly provide social justice, by getting cash into the hands of poor people and removing the general subsidies that benefit the rich and powerful, the report says.
4 Comments on "World Bank warns of a new ‘Arab Spring’ due to high unemployment in Mena"
J-Gav on Thu, 11th Apr 2013 10:37 pm
There would be ample reasons for it to be not only an ‘Arab’ spring but, given the sheepleness of the peopleness in the so-called ‘Anglo-Saxon’ world, that seems rather unlikely. It’ll take more pain before that happens, by which time they will have firmed up all the mechanisms to control/suppress/infiltrate it (media, police state, legislation). Ugly. A lot of folks will be surprised and dismayed to discover that state of affairs … a little too late.
DC on Fri, 12th Apr 2013 12:47 am
I dont really care about so-called ‘Arab springs’ tbh. There is high un-employment everywhere, not just in the M.E. Being jobless and unable to provide for basic needs sucks no matter what part of the world you live in.
What I would like to know is,when are we going to have a North American Spring? I can think of several militaristic dictatorial regimes that dont represent the people and steal wealth, then waste it on useless weapons system and police state surveillance agencies that deserve to be brought down.
BillT on Fri, 12th Apr 2013 2:14 am
Yes DC, I was going to say the same thing. The real unemployment numbers put the US and Europe in the same category and also Japan. These are signs of the contraction of the world economy and will only get worse. There is no ‘Recovery’ coming, just more of the same.
Arthur on Fri, 12th Apr 2013 3:27 pm
As long as the western world insists on chasing our precious women into the workplace, morphing them into ugly workhorses and adding to the power of the huge selfdestructing resource extraction machine called industrial society, employment in the west is still 40% too high.
Here is a glimpse of the past… and future world, with more respect for true women’s rights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J–TDEHizVA
Staring at GDP, employment and growth figures and praying they must go up in order to attain the nirwana, means that you still do not get the peakoil point.