Publication: The Middle East and North Africa: A New Social Contract for Development
Loading...
Other Files
97 downloads
74 downloads
98 downloads
Date
2011-04-06
ISSN
Published
2011-04-06
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Robert B. Zoellick, President of the World Bank Group, discussed the political firestorm that engulfed Tunisia and the wider Middle East and its lessons for a new social contract for development that goes beyond the region itself. He argued for modernizing multilateralism in the Arab World, reforming international institutions to reflect power shifts in the world. Development economics must be democratized. Investment in the Arab World needs to be more diversified, while the governments increase accountability and reduce corruption and conflict. The new Arab voices are calling for dignity and respect and a series of changes amounting to a new social contract. While the World Bank once steered away from political topics, today our shareholders know that corruption is a drag on economies, strangling opportunity and taxing the poor. Now, anticorruption, gender, and transparency are vital to the practices of the World Bank Group. The upcoming new World Development Report stresses the role of legitimate institutions and governance. Citizen participation matters. Zoellick discussed job creation and safety nets as keys to maintaining development momentum in the region.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Zoellick, Robert B.. 2011. The Middle East and North Africa: A New Social Contract for Development. Delivered at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington, DC, April 6, 2011;. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29643 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Supporting Social Accountability in the Middle East and North Africa : Lessons from Transitions(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-01)Social accountability is increasingly recognized as a way to make governance reforms and development efforts more effective in responding to the needs of citizens. Supporting initiatives that strengthen social accountability at the regional and national levels is consistent with the priority the Bank places on social and economic inclusion, citizen participation, and the quality of governance. The longer paper provides a brief overview of some experiences in the Middle East and North Africa (MNA) Region and international experiences from Indonesia, Turkey and the Philippines supporting social accountability during political and economic transitions. The full paper was prepared for a conference around the 2011 Annual Meetings in Washington, DC and included high-level policy makers from Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Indonesia and the Philippines. A panel of civil society organizations from the MNA Region exchanged perspectives about social accountability in the region, emerging opportunities and remaining challenges in making government more effective through an informed and engaged citizenry.Publication Initiatives Supporting Demand for Good Governance Across World Bank Group Sectors and Regions(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008-08)This preliminary stocktaking report on the demand for good governance is an effort of the Demand For Good Governance (DFGG) peer learning network to bring together and highlight the wealth of existing knowledge and practices currently available to support DFGG across the World Bank. This report puts forth a framework with key principles for organizing the complex universe of DFGG efforts across sectors and regions. The paper also identifies entry-points areas of development assistance and illustrates a few good practice examples supporting and strengthening DFFG for the World Bank as it builds its understanding of the areas where the institution can scale-up these activities. This report identifies a wide-range of activities supporting DFGG, however, it is worthwhile to note some challenges in collecting information on these activities. The report provides a more detailed review of the overall findings of DFGG work across the Bank. This paper constitute the following sections: an overview of the key DFGG elements in the organizing framework; entry-points for strengthening demand for good governance with case study examples; summary of key findings of the stocktaking; and finally, some challenges that the World Bank needs to address to mainstream DFGG operationally. The annexes constitutes of the following parts: annex one is a compiled list of notable demand for good governance activities supported by the World Bank identified in the stocktaking exercise and by World Bank Vice President Units; annex two provides a brief description of projects to show how the projects and or elements within the projects support DFGG efforts; annex three provides an overview of broad categories of tools and mechanisms supporting DFGG elements in activities; annex four provides a list of World Bank staff contacted and interviewed in the stocktaking exercise; and annex five provides a list of references reviewed.Publication Better Governance for Development in the Middle East and North Africa : Enhancing Inclusiveness and Accountability(Washington, DC, 2003)Development is often defined in terms of its economic aspects, as increased material well-being through ensured employment and income for all who want it. But as knows anyone whose children go to schools of poor quality, have no clean water to drink, or face the threat of violence, development is also about having access to adequate social services. And development is ultimately about human development-the quality of material living, with wider choices and opportunities for people to realize their potential, plus the guarantee of those intangible qualities that characterize all more-developed societies: equality of treatment, freedom to choose, greater voice, and opportunities to participate in the process by which they are governed. Virtually all constitutions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region enshrine those values of development, and public governance is one of the mechanisms through which the values are secured for the people. From getting a driver's license in Casablanca to voting in municipal elections in Beirut, public governance relationships in the MENA region, as elsewhere, manifest themselves in almost every situation in which individuals and groups interact with the government. The challenge for governments and people throughout the region is to expand the interactions that are smooth and productive and to minimize the ones that are frustrating and wasteful-in a move toward "good" governance. If public governance is the exercise of authority in the name of the people, good governance is exercising that authority in ways that respect the integrity, rights, and needs of everyone within the state.Publication Civil Society, Public Action and Accountability in Africa(2011-07-01)This paper examines the potential role of civil society action in increasing state accountability for development in Sub-Saharan Africa. It further develops the analytical framework of the World Development Report 2004 on accountability relationships, to emphasize the underlying political economy drivers of accountability and implications for how civil society is constituted and functions. It argues on this basis that the most important domain for improving accountability is through the political relations between citizens, civil society, and state leadership. The evidence broadly suggests that when higher-level political leadership provides sufficient or appropriate powers for citizen participation in holding within-state agencies or frontline providers accountable, there is frequently positive impact on outcomes. However, the big question remaining for such types of interventions is how to improve the incentives of higher-level leadership to pursue appropriate policy design and implementation. The paper argues that there is substantial scope for greater efforts in this domain, including through the support of external aid agencies. Such efforts and support should, however, build on existing political and civil society structures (rather than transplanting "best practice" initiatives from elsewhere), and be structured for careful monitoring and assessment of impact.Publication Globalization and Firm Competitiveness in the Middle East and North Africa Region(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002-06)Globalization has increased competitive pressures on firms. Together with rapid technological change, it has altered the environment in which firms operate. While globalization offers unprecedented opportunities for firms to act successfully, it simultaneously heightens the risks for firms lagging behind. In an open and liberalized world, increasing firm competitiveness has become a major challenge. This book provides a thorough analysis of the competitiveness of firms in the Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA). It is organized into four parts which detail the different issues related to firm competitiveness from global rules for business, regional business environment, corporate governance, and the key economic sectors of small/medium size enterprises, and tourism. In addition, the book also addresses key issues for the future of the region including the real challenges facing firms' operations and efficiency, the ability of MENA firms to compete in global markets, the impact of small, and medium size enterprises on the stimulation of growth, and the economic potential of the tourism sector.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Global Economic Prospects, June 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-11)After several years of negative shocks, global growth is expected to hold steady in 2024 and then edge up in the next couple of years, in part aided by cautious monetary policy easing as inflation gradually declines. However, economic prospects are envisaged to remain tepid, especially in the most vulnerable countries. Risks to the outlook, while more balanced, are still tilted to the downside, including the possibility of escalating geopolitical tensions, further trade fragmentation, and higher-for-longer interest rates. Natural disasters related to climate change could also hinder activity. Subdued growth prospects across many emerging market and developing economies and continued risks underscore the need for decisive policy action at the global and national levels. Global Economic Prospects is a World Bank Group Flagship Report that examines global economic developments and prospects, with a special focus on emerging market and developing economies, on a semiannual basis (in January and June). Each edition includes analytical pieces on topical policy challenges faced by these economies.Publication Services Unbound(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-12-09)Services are a new force for innovation, trade, and growth in East Asia and Pacific. The dramatic diffusion of digital technologies and partial policy reforms in services--from finance, communication, and transport to retail, health, and education--is transforming these economies. The result is higher productivity and changing jobs in the services sector, as well as in the manufacturing sectors that use these services. A region that has thrived through openness to trade and investment in manufacturing still maintains innovation-inhibiting barriers to entry and competition in key services sectors. 'Services Unbound: Digital Technologies and Policy Reform in East Asia and Pacific' makes the case for deeper domestic reforms and greater international cooperation to unleash a virtuous cycle of increased economic opportunity and enhanced human capacity that would power development in the region.Publication Business Ready 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-03)Business Ready (B-READY) is a new World Bank Group corporate flagship report that evaluates the business and investment climate worldwide. It replaces and improves upon the Doing Business project. B-READY provides a comprehensive data set and description of the factors that strengthen the private sector, not only by advancing the interests of individual firms but also by elevating the interests of workers, consumers, potential new enterprises, and the natural environment. This 2024 report introduces a new analytical framework that benchmarks economies based on three pillars: Regulatory Framework, Public Services, and Operational Efficiency. The analysis centers on 10 topics essential for private sector development that correspond to various stages of the life cycle of a firm. The report also offers insights into three cross-cutting themes that are relevant for modern economies: digital adoption, environmental sustainability, and gender. B-READY draws on a robust data collection process that includes specially tailored expert questionnaires and firm-level surveys. The 2024 report, which covers 50 economies, serves as the first in a series that will expand in geographical coverage and refine its methodology over time, supporting reform advocacy, policy guidance, and further analysis and research.Publication The Journey Ahead(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-31)The Journey Ahead: Supporting Successful Migration in Europe and Central Asia provides an in-depth analysis of international migration in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and the implications for policy making. By identifying challenges and opportunities associated with migration in the region, it aims to inform a more nuanced, evidencebased debate on the costs and benefits of cross-border mobility. Using data-driven insights and new analysis, the report shows that migration has been an engine of prosperity and has helped address some of ECA’s demographic and socioeconomic disparities. Yet, migration’s full economic potential remains untapped. The report identifies multiple barriers keeping migration from achieving its full potential. Crucially, it argues that policies in both origin and destination countries can help maximize the development impacts of migration and effectively manage the economic, social, and political costs. Drawing from a wide range of literature, country experiences, and novel analysis, The Journey Ahead presents actionable policy options to enhance the benefits of migration for destination and origin countries and migrants themselves. Some measures can be taken unilaterally by countries, whereas others require close bilateral or regional coordination. The recommendations are tailored to different types of migration— forced displacement as well as high-skilled and low-skilled economic migration—and from the perspectives of both sending and receiving countries. This report serves as a comprehensive resource for governments, development partners, and other stakeholders throughout Europe and Central Asia, where the richness and diversity of migration experiences provide valuable insights for policy makers in other regions of the world.Publication Fixing the Foundation(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-09-20)Countries in middle-income East Asia and the Pacific were already experiencing serious learning deficits prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-related school disruptions have only made things worse. Learning poverty -- defined as the percentage of 10-year-olds who cannot read and understand an age-appropriate text -- is as high as 90 percent in several countries. Several large Southeast Asian countries consistently perform well below expectations on adolescent learning assessments. This report examines key factors affecting student learning in the region, with emphasis on the central role of teachers and teaching quality. It also analyzes the role education technologies, which came into widespread use during the pandemic, and examines the political economy of education reform. The report presents recommendations on how countries can strengthen teaching to improve learning and, in doing so, can enhance productivity, growth, and future development in the region.