Akhtar, Shamshad2012-08-132012-08-132011-02https://hdl.handle.net/10986/9455The events of the last few weeks are a watershed for Tunisia, Egypt, and other Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries. The ongoing political events will resonate regionally and globally and, if followed by sound transitions to better governance structures, these events provide a unique opportunity to change MENA's political and social landscape. The root cause of the political turmoil in MENA is fatigue with longstanding authoritarian rule and weak political and economic governance as confirmed by public concerns over voice, social justice, accountability and access to services. The MENA region also has its strengths: its youth, resource base and the resilience shown during the global crisis. The economic and social impact will be significant in the short term with slippages in economic growth, fiscal revenues and tourism and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) receipts. Large parts of the population lack adequate access to jobs, land, services, finance and justice. They may be further affected as inflationary pressures grow depending, among others, on oil and food prices.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO FINANCEACCESS TO INFORMATIONACCESS TO JOBSACCESS TO SERVICESACCOUNTABILITYADVISORY SERVICESANTI-TRUST POLICIESBANK RISKBARRIERS TO ENTRYBUDGETARY SUPPORTCLEAN TECHNOLOGYCOMMODITYCONSOLIDATIONCREDIT INFORMATIONCREDIT INFORMATION SYSTEMSCREDIT LINESDEVELOPMENT STRATEGIESDIVERSIFICATIONECONOMIC CRISISECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC INTEGRATIONECONOMIC POLICYECONOMIC REFORMSEDUCATION SYSTEMEDUCATION SYSTEMSEMPLOYERSEMPLOYMENTEMPLOYMENT GENERATIONEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIESENTREPRENEURSHIPFEMALE LABORFEMALE LABOR FORCEFINANCIAL COSTSFINANCING FACILITIESFIRM LEVELFISCAL CONSOLIDATIONFISCAL DEFICITFOOD PRICEFOOD PRICESFOREIGN EXCHANGEFUND INVESTMENTGLOBAL ECONOMYGLOBAL EQUITYGLOBAL EQUITY MARKETSGLOBAL MARKETSHARMONIZATIONHEALTH SERVICESHIGH UNEMPLOYMENTHIGH UNEMPLOYMENT RATESINCOMEINFLATIONARY PRESSURESINNOVATIONINSTITUTIONAL CAPACITIESINSTITUTIONAL CAPACITYINSURANCEINTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICESINVESTMENT PLANKNOWLEDGE ECONOMYLABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONLABOR MARKETLABOR MARKET POLICIESLABOR MARKET POLICYLABOR MARKETSLABOR MOBILITYLABOR PRODUCTIVITYLABOR REGULATIONLABOR REGULATIONSLIBERALIZATIONMACROECONOMIC STABILITYMICROFINANCEMORTGAGESPENSIONSPOLICY ENVIRONMENTPORTFOLIOSPRICE VOLATILITYPRIVATE ENTITIESPRIVATE INVESTMENTPRIVATE SECTORPRODUCTIVITYPROTECTING WORKERSPUBLIC ENTERPRISESREAL SECTORRECEIPTSREGIONAL TRADEREGULATORY FRAMEWORKSRISK MANAGEMENTSAFETYSAFETY NETSSOCIAL EXCLUSIONSOCIAL INCLUSIONSOCIAL JUSTICESOCIAL PROTECTIONSOCIAL SECURITYSTUDENT LOANSSUPPLY CHAINSTAXTECHNOLOGY TRANSFERTOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITYTRADE FACILITATIONTRADE FINANCETRAINING PROGRAMSTRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENTSTRANSPARENCYTRANSPORTUNEMPLOYMENTUNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCEUNEMPLOYMENT RATESVOCATIONAL EDUCATIONVULNERABLE GROUPSYOUTH EMPLOYMENTWorld Bank10.1596/9455