The New Nation
Ramzy Baroud
When the first Arab Human
Development Report (AHDR) was published in 2002, a star glistened in a
vast, gloomy sky. The fact that a UN-sponsored report, authored by
independent Arab scholars would receive so much attention in Arab
media, was in itself a promising start. The fact that such terminology
as human security, personal security, economic security, etc - as
highlighted in the report - would even compete with the largely
ceremonial news bulletins' headlines in many Arab countries was in
itself an achievement. But then, the star quickly faded, the terms
became clichés, and the report, published seven times since then,
became a haunting reminder of how bad things really are in the Arab
World.
Those who wish to discredit Arab countries,
individually or as a collective, now find in these reports plenty of
reasons to fuel their constant diatribes; those who genuinely care and
wish for things to improve are either silent or muted.
The
last report, sponsored, like the rest, by the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP) was published in July 2009. It was the
grimmest. Its statistics are intriguing, although depressing. 2.9
million square kilometers of land in the Arab World are threatened by
desertification. Natural resources are depleting at an alarming level.
Birth rates are the highest in the world. Unemployment is skyrocketing.
50 million new jobs must be created by 2020. Arab oil-based economies
leave some Arab countries entirely vulnerable to market price
fluctuations or the depletion of oil altogether. While many economies,
especially in Asia are shifting or have already achieved great strides
into becoming knowledge-based economies, Arab economies are still
hostage to the same cycle of oil and cheap labor. In fact, 70 percent
of the Arab region's total exports, according to the report, is oil.
The
problem is not just economic, or environmental, it's societal as well.
Inequality is entrenched in many Arab societies. Women's rights are not
the only individual rights violated. Men's right are violated too, that
is if they are not members of the dominant group, which are either
divided by blind political allegiance, tribal or sectarian membership,
or economic leverage.
Admittedly, Arab societies are, of
course, not the only societies that suffer from these ills, but sadly,
the problems of Arab countries are most convoluted, accentuated by the
fact that there is little action to rectify the problem, neither at
individual country's level or using joint platforms, for instance, the
Arab League. Why didn't the Arab League hold an emergency summit
following the release of the first or even the last AHDR report?
One
would think that problems of such magnitude, ones that affect the lives
of 330 million people, are pressing enough for such gatherings.
Arab
media has been highlighting the issue and the shortcomings, some media
outlets more than others. But the discussion is largely political, at
times a mere attempt at discrediting this government or that leader,
and are still conducted in general terms.
The latest report
for example was supplemented by opinion polls conducted in four Arab
countries - Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco and occupied Palestine. One need
not emphasize the different human development challenges in these
countries, situated in diverse geopolitical settings.
One
cannot possibly devise the same solution to a country occupied by a
foreign army, to an independent country with untold oil wealth, to a
third with immense human potential but dire poverty.
Generalized
problems can only obtain generalized, thus superficial solutions.
Therefore, it has been summarily decided that the problem lies in lack
of education, not the inequitable and unrepresentative political
systems.
Education became the buzz word, as if education is a
detached value; therefore, education cities are erected in Arab
countries that can easily afford importing the best teachers and
curricula money can buy.
More, research institutions are also
making appearances in various Arab capitals. Those existing in rich
Arab countries are operated largely by foreigners, whose sense of
priority lies, naturally, elsewhere. One fails to grasp the wisdom.
But
of course, education is a mindset, a culture even. What is the point of
pursuing a PhD in a society where nepotism determines who does what?
It's most rational, from a self-seeker's point of view, to spend time
knowing and passing one's business cards to the 'right people' than
spending years of one's life pursuing a university degree.
UNDP
had recently launched "The Arab Knowledge Report 2009", jointly with
the United Arab Emirates-based Mohammad bin Rashid al-Maktoum
Foundation. Another depressing read, nonetheless. Governments were
criticized for paying lip service to 'reform', yet "widening the gap
between word and deed." It concluded that Arab countries are far from
being knowledge based societies. Numbers and more numbers told the
story:
Finland spends $1000 per person on scientific research,
while less than $10 are spent annually in the Arab world. More, the
number of published books averages one for every 491 British citizens,
while in the Arab world it's one for every 19,150. But that should not
be much of a surprise considering that one-third of older Arab citizens
are illiterate, two-thirds of whom are women. Meanwhile, more than
seven million children, who should be in school, are not. Illiteracy
stands at 30 percent in the Arab world.
Dr. Ghassan Khateeb,
of Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank believes that there "is
a direct relation between the lack of investment and the problematic
situation we find ourselves in relation to knowledge." "This is all
related to politics; the lack of democracy and the lack of knowledge
enforce each other," he was quoted as saying.
Paul Salem,
writing in the British Guardian, while recognizing the failure of Arab
governments, found that others are also, if not equally, responsible.
"The cost of a single month of Western military spending in Iraq or
Afghanistan would be enough to triple total aid for education in the
Middle East. The cost of two cruise missiles would build a school, the
cost of a Eurofighter a small university."
Alas, some Arab
governments, spend twice, if not three times more on their military
budget than invest in education. And keeping in mind that nearly one
out of every five Arab citizens lives below the poverty threshold of
two-dollars a day, the tragedy is suddenly augmented.
Arab
governments must rethink and reconsider their current priorities and
course of action. They must think and act individually, but
collectively as well, before the crisis turns into a catastrophe, as
will surely be the case if nothing is done.
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