Crumbling Economy, Deep Poverty, and Food Insecurity in the Arab Region
Analysis by Jana Al Hassanieh, Staff Writer
July 7th, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a new source of unrest and instability for the Arab Region that frankly cannot handle any further tension and conflicts! War-bombed Syria, conflict-hit Yemen, and corruption-led Lebanon are sheer examples of Arab countries suffering from jeopardized livelihoods, each country in its own way and magnitude. This year, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) reported that the Arab Region is the only region in the world that has witnessed an increase in extreme poverty from 2010 levels.
The Arab Region is faced by political corruption, weak local capacity building, weak institutional development, and ineffective law enforcement, regulations, and legislations. All of these settings have worsened the social and political impacts of the food insecurity crisis and increased poverty, accordingly violating basic human rights and freedoms and contributing to social injustice and inequities. The Arab Sustainable Development Report (ASDR), published on June 10th by UN ESCWA, reveals that we are not on track to reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, and there are many critical barriers to achieving them in the Arab Region.
The Arab Region faces challenges to reaching SDG 8 that calls to promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all; and SDG 16 that calls to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
These challenged and almost impossible to reach goals, SDGs 8 and 16, have halted the possibility of reaching any other SDG and in specific held back the countries from reaching: SDG 1 that calls to end poverty in all its forms everywhere, SDG 2 that calls to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture, SDG 3 that calls to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, SDG 6 that calls to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, and SDG 10 that calls to reduce inequalities within and among countries.
Having the highest income inequality in the world, the Arab States face threatened social cohesion, discrimination, social exclusion, and marginalization. The poor social, political, economic, and environmental governance systems have widened the gaps and worsened the challenges facing water and food security in the Arab Region.
A paper published on June 9th, written by the Chief of Economic Development and Poverty Section at UN ESCWA, reports that COVID-19 has exacerbated the pre-existing weak governance systems in the Arab Region, consequently intensifying inequality and deep poverty.
Lebanon
The dual water scarcity and food insecurity situation, in the presence of the worldwide economic crises, have triggered social unrest in many countries, including the Republic of Lebanon. Lebanon is currently facing a collapsing economy, sinking currency value, major unemployment, income inequality, wage cuts, capital control measures, restricted foreign currency transactions, corrupt political systems, governmental inaction, and lack of dialogue and engagement with stakeholders and civil society. Lebanon’s currency has so far lost over 80% of its value since last September. This country’s high dependence on food imports and present currency devaluation have caused many citizens to no longer be able to afford the spiraling food prices. Several citizens have started to go into gardening within their households. Others are searching garbage dumps for food, begging others on social media accounts for basic necessities and financial support, and pleading others for trading clothes and shoes for food and other essential commodities. Many have turned to the streets protesting for their basic rights in a country suffering from a devastating economic crisis. Many businesses and shops have shut down either temporarily or permanently. Lebanese youths no longer have faith in the country’s politicians nor the future of their country, many of which have applied for immigration. The Lebanese government has voiced its interest in receiving emergency financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, the government has refrained from implementing the IMF’s insisting conditions on political reforms to the public sector because of their fear that the IMF will stand against the government’s nepotism, cronyism, and embezzlement.
Photo which circulated through various social media platforms went viral nationally and internationally.
Yemen
War-torn Yemen is another Arab country facing further tragic and devastating conditions threatening its citizens’ livelihoods. It is a real-life example of how violence and armed conflicts have degraded nutrition, intensified food insecurity, and collapsed water, sanitation, and health systems for millions of people. Yemen is currently troubled by COVID-19, violent conflicts, decades-long civil war, flash floods, and widespread communicable diseases including cholera, malaria, diphtheria, and dengue fever. All these have aggravated poor sanitation, restricted the access to healthcare facilities, damaged institutions and infrastructure, and caused famine.
UNICEF reports that malnutrition has hit 2 million children under 5 years in Yemen, and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) accounts that 24.1 million Yemenis, out of a total population of 29.8 million, are in need of humanitarian aid, 14.3 million of which are in critical and severe need. The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) accounts that, without Humanitarian Food Assistance, 20 million Yeminis would be severely food insecure.
Source: “Looming famine in Yemen could put two million mothers at risk of death – UN agency”, (UN OCHA/Giles Clarke) , https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/11/1024652
Syria
The multifaceted impacts of conflict, displacement, and the dire economic crisis in Syria have attributed to over 5.6 million Syrian refugees, fleeing from their country in search of better living conditions, and 6.2 million Syrians internally displaced within the 14 governates of Syria. Bleakly, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) accounts that 8 out of 10 citizens in Syria live below the poverty line. The Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN accounts that 9.3 million Syrians are severely food insecure and a further 2.2 million Syrians are at risk of food insecurity.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP), the world's largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting boosted nutrition and food security, provides lifesaving food for 4.5 million Syrians each month.
Source: “Syria still needs you”, (WFP, 2019), https://insight.wfp.org/syria-still-needs-you-e609c491760b
Furthermore, the Arab Region is the most water stressed region in the world, with a water stress level six times higher than the world’s average water stress. Water scarcity in the Arab region requires collective action as it threatens food security and human health. It increases the pressure on already stressed water systems in countries which are impacted by intermittent access to water, and insufficient and inequitable distribution of the water resources. In Yemen, according to the FAO, 85% of farming households lack access to water and fuel for irrigation, consequently shrinking their crop production rates by 52%, and thereby aggravating their food insecurity conditions.
Each of the mentioned Arab countries suffers from a devastating economic crisis that is pushing the country towards food insecurity and famine. Each country is indeed hit on different levels and extents but a common feature between them all is the repulsive political corruption, coupled with the financial meltdown, that caused the citizens to hit rock bottom, pleading for support, applying for immigration, or even committing suicide.