Publication: Arab Donors' Early Response to the Arab Spring
Loading...
Published
2012-07
ISSN
Date
2013-10-16
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
The World Bank's 2010 study, Arab Development Assistance: four decades of cooperation, and the subsequent note, Arab donors respond favorably to the global financial crisis (Rouis 2011), showed that the three Gulf countries - Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have provided generous aid financing over the years. This paper, which extends the analysis to 2010 for Arab overseas development assistance (ODA) and to 2011 for the assistance provided by the Arab regional financial institutions, confirms that this generosity continues in the wake of the global economic crisis and the events of the Arab Spring movement. The paper shows that Arab assistance has been responsive in addressing critical development and humanitarian needs in developing countries. There are preliminary indications that Arab donors and financial institutions have made some adjustments in response to the needs of the Arab countries going through the unprecedented political transition sparked by the Arab Spring. Arab donor countries and financial institutions have responded favorably and promptly during the global economic and financial crisis. Their increased assistance to countries affected by the Arab Spring has yet to materialize beyond the stage of pledges and commitments.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Rouis, Mustapha. 2012. Arab Donors' Early Response to the Arab Spring. MENA Knowledge and Learning Quick Notes Series;No. 69. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16170 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Response of the Arab Donors to the Global Financial Crisis and the Arab Spring(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-12)Development assistance from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and Arab financial institutions has been responsive in addressing development and humanitarian needs in many developing countries. Since the global financial crisis (2008-2011), the combined net official development assistance (ODA) from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE peaked at US$ 6.5 billion in 2008at the height of the global financial crisis. It has since remained relatively high at US$ 4.8 billion annually on average. Total ODA from the three also increased significantly as a share of gross national income, yielding a weighted average of 0.55 percent during 2008-2011, compared to 0.49 percent in the previous four years. The share of Arab financial institutions' aid to International Development Association (IDA) recipients grew by 9 percentage points between 2005-2007 and 2008-2012, reaching 47 percent of total commitments. The overall annual average of financial assistance provided to Arab Spring countries by Arab financial institutions in 2011 and 2012 was slightly higher than the average during the global economic and financial crisis, which in turn was nearly 70 percent higher than the average prior to the crisis. The Gulf countries pledged substantial financial support to the countries undergoing political transitions in the wake of the Arab Spring, but disbursements lagged behind those countries' acute needs. Saudi Arabia has pledged the most funding in this regard.Publication Arab Donors Respond Favorably to the Global Financial Crisis(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-08)The World Bank's 2010 study, Arab Development Assistance: four decades of cooperation, showed that Arab countries have been generous donors over the years, particularly the three Gulf countries - Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which represent over 90 percent of total Arab aid provided by those countries on which information is available. This paper confirms that the generosity extends to the period of the global financial and economic crisis. Arab Gulf countries and regional financial institutions were responsive to this new reality and collectively scaled up financial assistance to address critical development and humanitarian needs in developing countries.Publication Arab Development Assistance(Washington, DC, 2010-06)This study provides an overview of Arab official development assistance (ODA) over the past four decades. Trends in volume, composition, and direction are discussed in chapter two and the institutional framework is discussed in chapter three. Over 90 percent of Arab development assistance is provided by three countries: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).Publication Arab Development Assistance : Four Decades of Cooperation(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-08)Over the past four decades, Arab aid, which has been relatively under-studied, has played an important role in global development finance. Arab donors- predominantly the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)-have been among the most generous in the world, with official development assistance (ODA) averaging 1.5 percent of their combined gross national income (GNI) during the period 1973-2008, more than twice the United Nations target of 0.7 percent and five times the average of the Organisation For Economic Co-Operation And Development (OECD)- Development Assistance Committee (DAC) countries. In addition to government-to-government aid, Arab donors have established a number of specialized financial institutions to provide development assistance to low-income countries. Assistance through these institutions increased substantially by 4.4 percent per year in real terms over the period 1990-2008. There are good reasons to believe that Arab aid will continue to play an important role in international development assistance into the foreseeable future. Arab donors have recently increased their aid volumes, and Arab financial institutions are well capitalized, with the capacity to scale up assistance.Publication Finance for Development(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-11)Over the past couple of decades, global financing for development has changed dramatically. The biggest shifts have been the rapid increase of net private financing flows to developing countries, in particular to middle-income countries (MICs); the sustained growth of official development assistance (ODA) from Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members, even excluding debt relief; the emergence of MICs as growth poles and sources of ODA with different approaches to aid delivery than those of DAC donors; and the expanded role of private aid. In addition, past trends of proliferation, fragmentation and earmarking of aid have continued. This paper reviews broad trends in global financing for development, with a focus on ODA and the growing importance of new development partners such as the so-called BRICS. In this context, it discusses the implications of this changing landscape for aid effectiveness and the role of ODA going forward.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Working Without Borders(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-07-24)Online gig work poses both opportunities and challenges for governments and workers. On the upside, it offers prospects for income generation, especially in developing countries, where most people work in low-productivity, low-quality, often informal jobs. The virtual and often temporary nature of gig work also provides flexibility for often neglected groups such as women, youth, migrants, and people with disabilities. These jobs could be a stepping-stone to bet¬ter-quality jobs for low-skilled workers by helping them learn critical digital skills and close the digital divide. But most gig jobs offer little to no protection for workers, with uncertain income streams and no clear career pathways. Depending on local labor regulations, many gig workers are not protected against unfair practices, abuse or injuries while working. Gig work also raises challenges for managing data security and privacy. The report examines how countries can navigate the promise and perils of online gig work. It reveals that the online gig workforce is much larger than previously assumed with an estimated 154 million to 435 million Online gig workers around the globe. For the first time ever, the report mapped and tracked regional platforms and gig workers who work in languages other than English. Key messages are: • Online gig work is expanding, accounting for up to 12% of the global labor force and is a growing source of income for millions. • Demand for online gig workers is rising faster in developing countries than in industrialized countries. • Local gig platforms play a vital role in the local labor market, but they face challenges in establishing a viable business model, and opportunities for long-term growth. • Online gig work can support inclusion by providing work opportunities for youth, women, and low-skilled workers. • Gig workers, like most other informal sector workers in developing countries, are often outside the purview of labor regulations. • The gig economy can offer opportunities locally to build digital skills, increase income-earning opportunities, and facilitate social protection coverage of informal workers.Publication Digital Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13)All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.Publication Reboot Development: The Economics of a Livable Planet(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-09-01)“Reboot Development: The Economics of a Livable Planet” explores how the foundational natural endowments of land, air, and water—long taken for granted—are under growing threat, putting at risk the very progress they helped create. For generations, natural resources have powered development, supporting health, food, energy, and economic opportunity. Today, strains on these resources are intensifying. This report argues that failing to maintain a livable planet is not merely a distant environmental concern, but a present economic threat. Drawing on new data, the report shows that over 90 percent of the world is exposed to poor air quality, degraded land, or water stress. Loss of forests cuts rainfall, dries soils, and worsens droughts, costing billions of dollars. The nitrogen paradox emerges—fertilizers boost yields but overuse in some regions harms crops and ecosystems. Meanwhile, air and water pollution silently damage health, productivity, and cognition, sapping human potential. The report warns that these hidden costs are too large to ignore. Yet the message is not one of constraint but of possibility. Nature, when wisely stewarded, can drive growth, create jobs, and build resilience. The report shows that more efficient resource use—like better nitrogen management and forest restoration—yields benefits that far exceed the costs. It also urges a shift to cleaner sectors and producing “better things,” noting that these provide new sources of growth, creating more jobs per dollar invested. The findings are clear: Investing in nature is not only good for the planet, it is smart development.Publication Digital Progress and Trends Report 2023(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-05)Digitalization is the transformational opportunity of our time. The digital sector has become a powerhouse of innovation, economic growth, and job creation. Value added in the IT services sector grew at 8 percent annually during 2000–22, nearly twice as fast as the global economy. Employment growth in IT services reached 7 percent annually, six times higher than total employment growth. The diffusion and adoption of digital technologies are just as critical as their invention. Digital uptake has accelerated since the COVID-19 pandemic, with 1.5 billion new internet users added from 2018 to 2022. The share of firms investing in digital solutions around the world has more than doubled from 2020 to 2022. Low-income countries, vulnerable populations, and small firms, however, have been falling behind, while transformative digital innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI) have been accelerating in higher-income countries. Although more than 90 percent of the population in high-income countries was online in 2022, only one in four people in low-income countries used the internet, and the speed of their connection was typically only a small fraction of that in wealthier countries. As businesses in technologically advanced countries integrate generative AI into their products and services, less than half of the businesses in many low- and middle-income countries have an internet connection. The growing digital divide is exacerbating the poverty and productivity gaps between richer and poorer economies. The Digital Progress and Trends Report series will track global digitalization progress and highlight policy trends, debates, and implications for low- and middle-income countries. The series adds to the global efforts to study the progress and trends of digitalization in two main ways: · By compiling, curating, and analyzing data from diverse sources to present a comprehensive picture of digitalization in low- and middle-income countries, including in-depth analyses on understudied topics. · By developing insights on policy opportunities, challenges, and debates and reflecting the perspectives of various stakeholders and the World Bank’s operational experiences. This report, the first in the series, aims to inform evidence-based policy making and motivate action among internal and external audiences and stakeholders. The report will bring global attention to high-performing countries that have valuable experience to share as well as to areas where efforts will need to be redoubled.Publication The Government Analytics Handbook(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-09-28)The Government Analytics Handbook presents frontier evidence and practitioner insights on how to leverage data to strengthen public administration. Covering a range of microdata sources—such as administrative data and public servant surveys—as well as tools and resources for undertaking the analytics, it transforms the ability of governments to take a data-informed approach to diagnose and improve how public organizations work. The "Handbook" is a must-have for practitioners, policy makers, academics, and government agencies. It is available as a single volume in print or digital formats, and as chapters for modular use. Additional tools, data and background information are available at worldbank.org/governmentanalytics. “Governments have long been assessed using aggregate governance indicators, giving us little insight into their diversity and how they can practically be improved. This pioneering handbook shows how microdata can be used to give scholars and practitioners granular and real insights into how states work, and practical guidance on the process of state-building.” —Francis Fukuyama, Stanford University, author of State-Building: Governance and World Order in the 21st Century - "The Government Analytics Handbook is the most comprehensive work on practically building government administration I have ever seen, helping practitioners to change public administration for the better.” —Francisco Gaetani, Special Secretary for State Transformation, Government of Brazil - “The machinery of the state is central to a country’s prosperity. This handbook provides insights and methodological tools for creating a better shared understanding of the realities of a state, to support the redesign of institutions, and improve the quality of public administration.” —James Robinson, University of Chicago, coauthor of Why Nations Fail