World Bank wants reform
The world's top financial organisations call on the Arabs to change their social and political traditions. Mohamed Darwish writes from Dubai
Although Dubai's hosting of the annual meetings of the boards of governors of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 17 to 24 September was by all means a success, the two organisations failed to find a formula to fill the gap separating the world's poor and rich. Estimates indicate that the world's richest 20 per cent command 80 per cent of the world's income.
Decision makers from 184 countries came up with little more than "concepts" as they sought to resolve the problems facing developing countries and remove the impediments to growth in the Middle East and South Africa. The gathering, held regularly since 1946, had never convened in the Arab region before.
In a news conference held at the end of the convention, World Bank President James Wolfensohn said that all participants were committed to curbing poverty and boosting development, in accordance with the millennium plans endorsed in Montreal and Johannesburg. Wolfensohn was not specific on the measures that are needed to eliminate poverty, while admitting that the assistance given to the poorest nations falls short of their needs. The World Bank and the IMF, he noted, still hope for an extra US$16 billion in aid to these countries. So far, there is no indication that such sums would be forthcoming. The lack of tangible measures to bridge the gap between the world's poor and rich was particularly poignant, for it came right after the Cancun meetings failed to produce any measures to help developing countries compete with the agricultural products of major industrial countries.
There was a hint of acrimony in the air. The world's top international financiers and Arab countries came closer than ever before in voicing their mutual misgivings. Mohamed Khalfan Ben Kharbash, United Arab Emirates minister of state for financial and industrial affairs, criticised the World Bank and the IMF for their lack of interest in the Arab region. Ben Kharbash complained that only three per cent of the World Bank officials are Arabs and noted that the activities of the World Bank and the IMF in the region were "below expectations".
Three weeks ahead of the meeting, the World Bank released four reports, all quite critical of the Middle East and North Africa. In these reports, the World Bank argues that the region lacks good governance and discourages the participation of women in public life, and that its governments have failed to encourage development, stimulate investment and boost employment.
The four reports -- on investment, governance, women and unemployment -- state that development will not pick up speed unless governments in the region adopt the Bank's proposed formula for "good governance". Political meddling? Perhaps.
Only last week, the Bank released a report about regional unemployment. The report notes that unemployment runs at 15 per cent in the region and says that a comprehensive package of political and economic reforms is needed to attract foreign investments to the region. The total workforce in the Middle East numbered 104 million in 2000, and is expected to rise to 146 million by 2010 and 185 million by 2020, which means that the region needs to create over 100 million jobs in the next two decades, the report says.
Despite women's increasing participation in the workforce, they are still facing restrictions in the labour market and limitations in the workplace. Unemployment is 50 per cent higher among women than men, the report mentions.
Economic reforms, the report says, depend on the credibility of the governments and the ability of their institutions to manage a complicated and long-term process of change. The report calls for a better system of governance, advising governments to see economic performance as a process closely linked with the quality of administration. In the Middle East, governments and people should enter into a new social contract combining political with economic reform, for selective reforms imposed from above are no longer sufficient, the report adds.
The report specifies the measures political systems in the region have to conduct. To accelerate the pace of reforms, it says, governments must engage in a national dialogue on labour reforms, reconsider their programmes on the redistribution of wealth, and rethink the terms of the social contract.
Arab officials participating in the meeting faced the criticism with benign indifference. Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly on condition of anonymity, an Arab finance minister said that Arab countries prefer not to address such matters in international gatherings in order not to avoid "domestic and international repercussions".
One Arab voice, however, challenged the views of the Bank. Abdullatif Al-Hamad, chairman of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, said that the Bank cited inaccurate figures. For example, the number of new jobs required in the region over the next two decades is 50 million, and not 100 million as the Bank claims. His rebuttal, if anything, indicates the poor quality of statistics available on the region. Perhaps a simple effort to collect and analyse economic data in the region could spare it some of the worse international criticism to which it is now subjected.
Only three days before the unemployment report came out, the Bank released a report on "Gender and Development" in the region, noting that despite the growth of women participation in the region's workforce over the past three decades -- from 23 per cent in 1970 to 32 per cent in 2000 -- the ratio of women in the workforce is among the lowest worldwide. The gains achieved in women's health and education in the Middle East and North Africa are not matched with advantages in the labour market, the Bank says.
Gender discrimination is a persistent problem in the region, according to the Bank. Women, better educated than anytime before, have higher expectations and working skills, but not enough opportunity to make use of their abilities. If women's employment were to keep up with the improvement in their education and their ratio to the population, the Bank argues, the average household income could increase by up to 25 per cent.
Every working person in the Middle East and North Africa, the Bank notes, supports two or more individuals who do not work -- twice as large a ratio as in East Asia. A common misconception is that more women in the workforce would reduce the number of jobs available to men. International statistics, the Bank says, indicate that this is simply untrue.
In a clear criticism of local traditions, the Bank argues that the social norms of the region hinder women's participation in the workforce. Family traditions, for instance, make men the sole providers of their families, and personal status laws give men a unilateral right to divorce women and the power to demand their obedience.
Countries in the region must review their laws with a view to giving women equal constitutional rights, the Bank says, urging better day care for children, continual upgrading of education, and reform of labour laws.
With such a venerable international financial organisation stepping into the turmoil of political, economic, and even religious traditions in the region, it is hard not to wonder about the motives behind the recommended reforms. Is this a promise of hope, or an attempt to soften the character of the Arab region and make it malleable to globalisation? Either way, the problem of poverty in the region is expected to persist for some time to come.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 2 - 8 October 2003 (Issue No. 658)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/658/re4.htm