Wealth abroad and a defeated citizen … Figures on poverty in Arab countries



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The Arabs have a rich heritage of denouncing poverty, revolting it and working to provide a decent life worthy of mankind, on top of which is the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him , poverty, and the word of the companion Abu Dhar al-Ghafari :.

But with the Qatari state and the demand for Arab unity, poverty began to seep into the lives of Arab peoples, especially with the start of the second decade of the third millennium.

The United Nations has dealt with the issue of poverty and paid special attention to it, because the eradication of poverty is one of the goals it seeks to achieve in the third millennium, and has made October 17 of each year that celebrates the eradication of poverty, and has made the theme of its celebration in 2019 the theme of work on empowering children, their families and their communities “to eradicate poverty.

The discourse on the description of economic and social phenomena on the Arab side is still governed by the saying of the late national economist Dr Ramzi Zaki, “There is no Arab economy, but there are Arab economies”, due the absence of an Arab economy. unity, and so it is difficult to talk about Arab solutions to the exacerbation of the issue of poverty in the Arab world, where it has become isolated islands, in all. The worst part is that some Arab countries are on the path of fragmentation, in order to deepen the phenomenon of isolated islands at the national level.

Wars and political conflicts are among the biggest causes of poverty in the Arab world (Reuters)

The reality of Arab poverty
The Unified Arab Economic Report for 2018 indicates that poverty rates in Arab countries range from 4.8 percent in Morocco to 48 percent in Yemen.

It also confirms that events in the region, including civil wars, have led to an increase in poverty to more than 50% of the population in Syria and Yemen.

If poverty seemed to be his traits and his studies previously focused on non-oil countries, what is new is what led to the collapse in oil prices, as well as the war in Yemen in which l ‘Saudi Arabia led an alliance against the Houthis, and as a result, the Saudi economy was affected and manifestations of poverty appeared in Saudi Arabia, where 63% of Saudis requested support from the Citizen Fund, a fund established by the government in 2017, to deal with the socially negative effects of the austerity measures it implemented.

Egypt, which accounts for around 25% of the Arab population, is the country where poverty is increasing at alarming rates, especially after official statistics announced in July 2019 that the poverty rate among the Egyptian population reached 32, 7%, in addition to others who are vulnerable to the downside. below the poverty line, due to economic policies implemented for nearly six years, the tendency of the government to waste debt resources on non-development projects.

The 2017 report follows the phenomenon of multidimensional poverty in ten Arab countries, excluding the six Gulf States, and concludes that 41% of families in these countries suffer from multidimensional poverty and that 14% of the population of these countries suffer from extreme poverty. .

What about the children?
As for the children of these countries (under 18), the report indicates that 44% of the children of the ten Arab countries suffer from multidimensional poverty, and that 25% of these children suffer from extreme poverty.

These results reflect two important issues: the decline of development in the Arab region and the suffering of future generations because of poverty, if conditions persist, regression of development and armed conflict.

If conditions remain as they are, future generations will also suffer from poverty (communication sites)

Why are the Arabs missing?
The causes of poverty and its increase in the Arab region are many, including the lack of development projects of Arab countries in recent decades, which has made them among developing countries since their independence, as well as the absence of democracy as a system characterized by accountability and control by controlling people and institutions. The Arab peoples have suffered – and are still suffering – from the dictatorships of the monarchy and the republican regimes.

The state of armed conflict in some Arab countries and the state of political instability in others are among the factors that significantly contributed to the increase in poverty during the second decade of the third millennium. The infrastructure that has been destroyed as a result of these wars, and the internally displaced, or those displaced outside of it, are the mainstay of the current segment of the poor in the Arab region.

The failure of Arab governments to pay attention to education has a big impact on perpetuating poverty. The Arab countries do not produce technology, due to the delay of the curricula and the educational systems that compose them, which wastes the Arab peoples in taking advantage of the data of globalization, as have the emerging countries, and the region. Arab has become a big market for technological goods, as well as the rest of the traditional goods.

Although Arab countries obtained significant financial savings from oil booms, most of the investment from Arab oil states went to non-Arab countries, and until the latest data released on sovereign oil fund balances indicate they have around $ 2.8 trillion in fixed assets, yet oil countries are rushing to borrow Even the world’s largest oil company, Aramco, will offer some of its fixed assets for sale in the financial markets international.

The lack of justice in the distribution of wealth
One of the main reasons for the prevalence of poverty in the Arab region is the lack of equitable distribution of wealth, whether in oil or non-oil countries. The Arab countries do not know the policy of reconciliation between the income classes or strive to develop the segment of the middle class, because it is at the heart of the social fabric of any society.

Arab countries are also unaware of the existence of policies for fair wages, social protection for workers or the correlation between wages and prices, and workers are fulfilling their rights to a decent life, in accordance with what is stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As a result, the informal labor market prevails in Arab countries, resulting in further spread of poverty.

Arab countries do not know about workers’ social protection policy (Reuters)

The way to eradicate poverty
It is very important to raise awareness of the fight against poverty through education programs, media and religious institutions, but this must be accompanied and preceded by the cessation of armed conflicts and the adoption of political systems. democratic systems that allow control and accountability, and there will be real development programs linked to timetables, to provide employment opportunities and increase the improvement of individual and labor incomes to increase dependence on local production.

Perhaps one of the best outcomes of the existence of Arab democratic systems is to enable the poor to participate in governance through a system of decentralization in local government, so that the poor express their needs and manage their resources. in a way that improves their conditions and pulls them out of the cycle of poverty.

It is also the duty of time for Arab investments to return to the region, and to ensure their presence and the preservation of their assets, as they are not permitted foods, with the availability of suitable environments for their survival and their development, and for their returns to be preserved for their owners, and not a place for the ambitions of managers or incompetent business leaders.

The reform of educational programs in the Arab region must have a part in solving the problem of poverty, so that the educational institution stops graduating unemployed people who do not manage the labor market well or who have a culture. negative towards work as a value. , and education systems must adopt curricula that are dominated by practical and vocational training, in order to save the workforce.

In conclusion, we hope that next year will come when the Arabs have succeeded in fighting poverty.



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