As part of the conference series on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) organized by Casa Árabe, we will be analyzing Goal 1 on poverty on June 17. The debate will be broadcast live for all audiences on our YouTube and Facebook Live channels.
Worded in terms of “Ending poverty in all its forms everywhere,” SDG1 is a crucial issue for the Middle East and North Africa region. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), around 40.2 million people suffer from hunger in this region, mainly as a result of conflict.
The situation is acute in countries that have endured wars, including Syria and Yemen, to which one may add Iraq, Sudan and Libya, where, according to FAO, 28 million people are malnourished. The problem of food insecurity is compounded by the high rates of unemployment affecting the youngest population. World Bank data indicate an average unemployment rate of 22% for males and 39% for females, with alarming cases such as Tunisia, where unemployment affects 40% of the youth population. Huge income inequality is another factor contributing to stagnation.
Against this backdrop, what strategies can be adopted to alleviate poverty in the region? In a context as complex as today’s, with a global pandemic that limits collective action, what mechanisms can be put into practice?
To address these issues, Casa Arabe will be joined by three specialists from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) based in Beirut: Khalid Abu-Ismail, head of the Economic Development and Poverty Section; Vladimir Hlasny, Economic Affairs Officer, and Sama El Hage, main researcher. The panel will be rounded off with Ziad Abdel Samad, executive director of the Arab NGO Network for Development. The event will be moderated by Karim Hauser, Casa Árabe’s International Relations Coordinator.
Ziad Abdel Samad is a co-founder and executive director of the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND), based in Beirut since 1997. ANND’s members include 35 NGOs and 10 national networks from 12 Arab countries active in monitoring and protecting social and economic rights. He also serves as an instructor in leadership, human rights, citizenship and conflict resolution at the Lebanese American University.
Khalid Abu-Ismail is a senior economist at UN-ESCWA, a policy advisor to the Economic Research Forum and a former policy advisor to the UNDP, as well as a faculty member with the Department of Economics at the Lebanese American University. He is the main author and a co-author of over 20 emblematic UN publications, including the “Arab Vision 2030 Report” (2015), the “Arab Development Challenges Reports” (2009 and 2012), “Arab Middle Class” (2014) and “Rethinking Economic Growth” (2012). He holds a PhD in Development Economics from the New School for Social Research in New York.
Sama el Hage is a senior researcher at ESCWA, where she constructed the JAW Index, which measures justice in the Arab world for 18 countries. She is also responsible for calculating different levels of the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) for Arab countries and develops the regional database for national strategic plans.
Vladimir Hlasny is an Economic Affairs Officer at ESCWA-UN (Beirut), working on the research team for poverty and inequality. Previously, he was an Associate Professor of Economics at Ewha Womans University (Seoul). His work focuses on labor market conditions and the distribution of economic profits in Asia and the Middle East. His research has been published in general interest magazines, such as the Journal of Economic Surveys, World Bank Economic Review, Development and Change and Social Science Quarterly. He holds a PhD in Economics from Michigan State University.
Photo: Chaoyue 超越 PAN 潘 . Palestinian Refugee Woman
More info: casaarabe.es/eventos-arabes/show/ciclo-sobre-objetivos-de-desarrollo-sostenible-ods#15121
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