Publication: Development and Human Rights in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) : Challenges and Opportunities
Date
2011-06
ISSN
Published
2011-06
Author(s)
Lind, Lene
Gustafsson, Sara
Raghavan, Vikram
Abstract
Many parts of Middle East and North
Africa (MENA) have experienced volatility and fragility due
to conflict over the course of the region's long and
complex history. These conflicts have had significant impact
on economic and human development indicators. Also, and more
recently, massive protests and unrest have flared across
several parts of the region. In Egypt and Tunisia these
protests have led to historic political changes, even as the
situation is still unfolding in others. These changes are
likely to have significant consequences, especially for
citizens' participation and involvement in the
development process, which are increasingly articulated
through the prism of human rights. This fast brief aims at
assisting staff to form a better understanding of these
issues. Conflict, as currently witnessed in the MENA region,
is not only a tool for destruction and suffering, but also a
vehicle for social and political change. Violent conflict,
however, prevents the kind of stability necessary for human
and economic development and for reaching the overall
Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of human security for all.
With more than 1,5 billion people living in countries
affected by conflict, the World Development Report 2011
(WDR) underlines the negative impact of persistent conflict
on a country's or a region's development prospects
and notes that no low-income conflict affected state has yet
achieved a single MDG.
Citation
“Lind, Lene; Gustafsson, Sara; Raghavan, Vikram. 2011. Development and Human Rights in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) : Challenges and Opportunities. MNA Knowledge and Learning Fast Brief; No. 86. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/bd47864d-8fe3-5ae8-9ab3-d904eefaac57 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”