Oliver Pearce

The global economic crisis comes at a time when countries and citizens in the Arab region have been trying to adjust to wildly fluctuating food and fuel prices. In addition, the region is increasingly affected by climate change, with increasing desertification, rising coastal waters and scarcity of fresh water. The confluence of these crises exposes explosive vulnerabilities across the region, at the centre of which are poverty and unemployment. This calls for intervention from different stakeholders; and responses to the economic crisis should take into account the need to tackle the other crises as well. Arab governments should strengthen co-ordination, enable citizens to participate in setting development priorities, and orient social policies to reduce poverty in a sustainable and equitable way.
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