BEIRUT: The Arab world must tackle the global financial crisis, make provisions against climate change and seek to end regional occupation before the area can enjoy lasting stability, according to a new landmark security report. “The Arab Human Development Report 2009: Challenges to Human Security in the Arab Countries” was unveiled in Beirut on Tuesday, entreating Arab leaders to confront the economic and social crises which risk overrunning the region.
Speaking at report’s launch, in Beirut’s Grand Serail, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora focused on the issue of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, calling for “an end to occupation” and “[preparations] for the appropriate conditions for a fair and comprehensive solution to the sufferings of the Palestinian people.”
He added that fighting within individual states was preventing lasting regional stability from taking root.
“Putting an end to armed conflicts in Arab states is an essential condition for the security of the Arab human being,” said Siniora.
The report, produced in conjunction with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), was complied by more than 100 international and Arab writers and academics.
Amat al-Alim Alsoswa, assistant secretary general of the United Nations and director of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab Studies, said the report would have a “tremendous impact in the Arab countries and all over the world.”
She said that Lebanon’s recent successful elections proved to “the international community that democracy and peace are possible in our region and that Lebanon can play a pioneering role in this regard.”
However, due to recent regional conflict and acrimonious debate over ownership of the Arab lands, “the pursuit of human development in our countries has begun to falter,” said Alsoswa.
She insisted that attaining security in the region should be a strictly Arab affair: “We maintain our steadfast belief that only we Arabs can decide where we want to go and how we might arrive there.”
Among the topics detailed in the report, recommendations are proffered on how the Arab world can tackle poverty and end hunger, boost public health services and end armed conflict that has forced an estimated 17 million Arabs from their homes over the past 60 years.
The financial crisis, currently engulfing most of the developed world, is acutely affecting the Arab region, given that many countries within it rely heavily on revenue generated from oil exports. According to the report, oil constituted 75 percent of merchandise exports from Arab countries in 2006, the most recent year for which data is available.
“The collapse of the international financial system has affected each of the Arab countries – the few that enjoy abundance as well as the majority that do not,” said Alsoswa.
The crisis risked pushing millions of Arabs over the edge into poverty, according to the report. In Lebanon, one in four people survive on less than $4 a day. More than 300,000 people scrape by on just half that amount, rendering 8 percent of the population mired in extreme poverty.
In addition to economic perils, the report claims that climate change poses a serious threat to stability in the region.
If action is not taken, the burgeoning Arab population – set to hit 385 million by 2015 – will see millions more without regular access to drinking water in years to come. In particular, a 1.2°C rise in global temperature would lead to a 15 percent drop in water supply in Lebanon.
Although the Arab region contributes less than five percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, the area’s arid environment could leave people especially vulnerable to rising temperatures. “Arabs do not lack for deserts, but global warming would give us still more,” said Alsoswa. “It would also shrink what we are already short of, namely, precious water resources … turning millions into environmental refugees.”
The issue of Israeli occupation is addressed in the report, with many seeing it – in addition to the situation in Iraq and Somalia – as one of the main hurdles barring enduring Arab security.
“Occupation and military intervention in the region have the gravest effects on the Palestinian, Iraqi and Somalian people,” said Clovis Maksoud, professor of International Relations at American University in Washington DC and an Advisory Board member for the report. “The ongoing interventions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Iraq and Somalia undercut human security in other Arab countries as well.”
Siniora added: “There should be a radical reconsideration of the means adopted to regain the land [currently occupied by Israel].”
He stressed that the Lebanese people were united in assisting the region’s stabilization, as well as maintaining the security situation within Lebanon.
“The Lebanese are keen on coexistence,” said Siniora. “All the Lebanese agree that Lebanon is a finer nation for all its citizens but our Lebanese identity does in no way weaken our belonging to the Arab world. There is no contradiction between our Lebanese and Arab identities.”