Source: Aljazeera
BY Jad Chaaban
Beirut – Arab youths are suffering from pervasive social exclusion, the highest unemployment levels in the world, and low female labour force participation, the Arab Human Development Report for 2016 has found. The annual report, entitled Youth and the Prospects of Human Development in a Changing Reality, was launched at the American University of Beirut in late November by the United Nations Development Programme.
The report brings to light a number of matters worth considering.
On one hand, the Arab region as a whole has achieved remarkable progress in educational enrolment and the fight against illiteracy, especially among women. Overall extreme poverty and hunger have declined, and there has been an increase in life expectancy.
Yet on the other hand, the region has witnessed a dramatic increase in armed conflict, militarisation and violence. Fifteen years ago, when the first Arab Human Development Report, or AHDR, was published, five out of 22 Arab states were witnessing conflict or political violence. Today, this number has gone up to 11.
Half of the Arab region is living in conflict, and the situation does not seem to be improving.
Categories: Middle East, The Muslim Times