Poverty remains a serious problem in the Arab states
Regional, Politics, 10/18/2003

Starting as of late 1980s, many Arab states adopted a structural adjustment and stabilization programs in an effort to structure their poorly performing centrally- planned economies and reduce mounting imbalances.

These programs included price reforms, external and domestic trade liberalization, the reduction of budget deficits, inflation stabilization, privatization and a general effort to promote private- sector- led growth.

In some instances the reforms paid off in the 1990s, with the gross domestic product (GDP) per capital showing a positive trend and poverty rates appearing to decline especially in Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia. Events in many Arab states, however, have resulted in a worsening of poor people's livelihood and increased poverty rates. These events include severe political and security problems in Gaza and the West Bank and Somalia; severe and recurring drought in Morocco; and a reduction in workers remittances in Yemen following the Gulf war.

In 1998, the Arab states accounted for a total population of about 273 million, with as much as 47% of that population living in rural areas ( 127 million). This sub-region is characterized by a fragile agro- ecological base and persistently high population growth rates. In 1998, the total number of poor people in the various countries ranged from 75 million to 110 million, including some 55-81 million rural poor.

Previous government policies and investments in this sub-region have favored the urban areas. Neglect of the rural sector has resulted in poor transport and social infrastructure, high rates of rural illiteracy ( especially for girls), weak local institutions, poor integration with the national economy m, and in large numbers of rural youth migrating to urban areas.

On average, the agricultural sector's contribution to the national economies of Arab states sub-region is low ( about 16 percent), despite the fact that about 36% of the economically active population is engaged in agriculture. This reflects the sector's low productivity and the poor integration of rural people in the rest of the economy.

As expected, poverty continued to be mainly a rural phenomenon; 60-70 % of the poor live in rural areas and, depending on the poverty line used, about 40-60% of the rural population is considered poor. One troubling development in the sub-region is the worsening of poverty trends and income inequality in many countries.

Illiteracy is concentrated mainly in the rural areas; in most countries, illiteracy rates are almost twice as high in the rural areas than in the urban areas.

Rural poverty in the Arab states is driven by a combination of macro and household - level factors. At the macro level; the limited availability of good arable land and of water, and the impact of drought and floods, continue to have a major impact on the livelihoods of the rural population. Furthermore, the central- planning model adopted by many countries in the post independence period has left a legacy of misallocated resources, inefficient use of existing factors of population and disincentives to invest in the agricultural sector, all of which have contributed to the poor productivity and performance of the rural economy. Poor public investments in physical infrastructure and social services in the rural areas, combined with the geographic isolation of many such areas, have further marginalized the rural poor. In general. The rural population, especially women, has very little political influence, is poorly organized and is often not reached by social safety nets and poverty programs.

According to a UN study conducted to this effect, fertility rates in the Arab states are still very high, resulting in a high dependency ratio; about 30-45 % of the population is less than 15 years old. Life expectancy levels at birth of less than 60 years such as in Djibouti, Somalia, the Sudan and Yemen, indicate poor levels of health. Illiteracy rates have also remained high. As a result, the rural population is less productive, has a low skills base and is unprepared to face the challenges of the new millennium, including free markets enterprise and globalization. This gives rise to serious concern, given that one of the main objectives set forth in the United Nations Millennium Declaration is, by the year 2015, to half poverty, establish universal prime education and considerably improve health condition.

The UN report said that for practical reasons and to target its projects more effectively, IFAD identifies the rural poor in terms of their livelihood systems and, or shared characteristics such as ethnic group or gender. The major rural poor groups found with the Arab states sub-region in terms of production systems are scale farmers, nomads and pastoralists, artisanal fishermen and wage laborers.

Rural women play a critical role in all agricultural activities and, as more and more men move into- off farm employment, their importance to agriculture is growing. In terms of personal characteristics, the group with the highest incidence of poverty are displaced persons, women headed households and unemployed youths.

According to UN figures, almost half of the world's population nearly three billion people live in poverty. They earn less than 2 dollars per day. Out of that population, nearly 1.2 billion live in extreme poverty, attempting to survive on less than one dollar per day and over three quarters of this number ( 900 million ) live in the rural areas suffering from poverty and hunger and attempting to derive their income mainly from agriculture and other related activities.

These numbers have sent a warning sign to the international community to place poverty reduction at the top of development efforts. As a result, in the World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen, March 1995), 186 national governments resolved to eradicate world poverty.

In December 1995, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 50/107 proclaiming the first UN decade for the Eradication of Poverty ( 1997- 2006). In September 2000, the UN General Assembly adopted the Millennium Development Goals, including the challenging goal to cut in half extreme poverty in the world by 2015.

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