MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA: BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS FOR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Transcription

1 13-14 November 2012, Amman, Jordan PROGRAM MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA: BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS FOR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Venue: Landmark Hotel, Al-Hussein Bin Ali Street, Amman Jordan 13 November 2012 Policy dialogue for a Social and Economic Development Plan Venue: Rum Hall II Translation: English/Arabic/French Welcome Coffee 09:00 09:30 Registration 9:30 10:00 Welcome & Introduction - Jan Royall, Vice-President, Party of European Socialists - Libor Roucek, Vice-President, Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament - Hasan Barghouthi, Director, Democracy and Workers Rights Centre & Global Network Arab States - Conny Reuter, Secretary General, SOLIDAR Video mobilizing for social justice in North Africa Policy dialogue 1: Promoting social and economic development and decent work Chair: Libor Roucek, Vice President of the S&D Group 10:00 11:30 Speakers: - Basem Kamel, Member of the Egyptian Assembly, ESDP Egypt - Rachid Malaoui, Syndicat National Autonome des Personnels de l Administration Publique, Algeria - Mohamed Bennour, Spokesperson, FDTL Tunisia - Paulina Lampsa, PES Presidency Member, Pasok Greece - Giacomo Filibeck, Coordinator International Department, PD Italy Rapporteur: Linda Alkalash, Daem Observatory for consultation and training - Tamkeen for human rights program, Jordan Video decent work and social protect around the world Global Network With the support of:

2 Policy dialogue 2: Building progressive welfare states Promoting Social Protection Chair: Conny Reuter, Secretary General, SOLIDAR : Speakers: - Jamal Rhmani, Member of the Political Bureau, USFP Morocco - Marianna Barsoum, Abgad Hawaz Foundation, Egypt - Jamil Mohammed Jamil Hajaref, Assistant of Abbas Zaki, Fatah Commissioner for Arab relations and relations with China - Azzam Smadi, Independent Trade Union Confederation, Jordan - Mohamed Laaouini, Asociación Bades por la Animación Social y Económica, Morocco Rapporteur: Myriam Benromdhane, Social Development & Empowerment Center, Tunisia Video Global Network activities in the Arab region Lunch Venue: Colours Restaurant Policy dialogue 3: Instruments for development trade, democracy and human rights Chair: Carina Hägg, Member of Parliament, SAP Sweden Speakers: - Emilio Menendez del Valle, Member of the European Parliament - Jan Royall, Vice-President, Party of European Socialists - Paola Salwan Daher, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Egypt - Nabeel Shaath, Member of the Central Committee and International Relations Commissioner, Fatah Palestine - Farida Ghulam, former president of the Bahrain Young Ladies Association - Alsaqladi Mohamed Ghaleb Ahmed, Former Minister, Yemen Rapporteur: Mohammed al Bakri Union of Agriculture Work Committees, Palestine, Gaza Closing session 16: Chair: Javier Moreno Sanchez, Secretary General of the Global Progressive Forum Presentations by rapporteurs of the policy dialogues Presentations of the policy dialogue declaration 14 November 2012 Action plans for Social and Economic Development Venue: Rum Hall II Translation: English/Arabic/French 09:30 10:00 Welcome Coffee 10:00 10:30 10:30 12:30 Introduction: Working together for social progress - Hasan Barghouthi, Director, Democracy and Workers Rights Centre & Global Network Arab States Working Groups: Action plans for Social and Economic Development Building partnerships for social and economic development 2

3 The morning sessions will aim at: Defining social, economic and political priorities Mapping the active social and political forces in the region Developing joint initiatives between CSOs, Trade Unions and progressive political parties Working Group I: Working Group II: Drawing a joint road map for social protection Venue: Rum Hall II Moderator: Mohammed Hussainy, Member of the Leading Board of the Jordanian Social Democratic Party - Nadeem Mansour, Egypt Center for Economic and Social Rights - Samar Hawash, Working Women Society for Development, Palestine Joint perspectives on a Social and Economic Development Plan Venue: Break-out room Moderator: Anja Wehler-Schoeck, Resident Director, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Jordan & Iraq - Dauod Deek, Assistant Deputy Minister of Social Affairs and Head of the EU-PA Subcommittee on Social Affairs, Palestine - Abdullah Khalid, Al Messala Foundation, Iraq - Saber Barakat, EFITU, Egypt 12:30-15:00 Rapporteur: Carlos Cabo, Solidaridad Rapporteur: Rolf Stocker, SOLIDAR Internacional, Spain Switzerland Lunch Venue: Colours Restaurant Working Groups: Action plans for Social and Economic Development The afternoon sessions will aim at: Developing a joint advocacy initiative for the promotion of the freedom of association in MENA Drawing a joint road map for promoting the freedom of association as a key mean to achieve the promotion of an action plan for Social and Economic Development Establishing focal points in preparation of the WSF Working Group III: Working Group IV: 15:00-17:00 Drawing a joint road map for social protection Moderator: Kamal Al Mashreqi, Change Academy, Jordan - Farroudja Moussaoui, Amusnaw Cultural Association, Algeria - Haitham Maleh, Human Rights Activist Rapporteur: Marta Iglesias MPDL, Spain Joint perspectives on a Social and Economic Development Plan Moderator: Hussein Gohar Head of Foreign Affairs Committee - ESDP - Jamal Chahdi, Centre des Droits des Gens, Marocco - Fatima Ramadan, Independent Trade Union Federation, Egypt Rapporteur: Elena Cozzani ARCS-ARCI Jordan office Building partnerships for social and economic development 3

4 Outcome of the working groups and closing session 17:00 18:00 Conclusions: Ines Ayala Sender, Member of the European Parliament Presentations by rapporteurs of the working groups ****** BACKGROUND PAPER I PROMOTING SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND DECENT WORK The current economic turmoil in the MENA region is analysed by many as being fed by two main economic trends. First, the region relies very much on the external demand, and thus global economic trends, such as instable commodity prices and tourism flows. Second, there is an inherent tension between the region s demographic and economic structures, the latest being unable to generate employment opportunities for a growing young and dynamic labour forces. Until late 2010, the MENA region was on track for economic recovery, with an acceleration of growth from 2.1 percent in 2009 to 3.9 percent in But this failed to generate enough jobs for a young, growing population with youth unemployment rates ranging from 21 % in Lebanon to 30% in Tunisia and 32% in Morocco. Creating jobs and securing a strong domestic demand will take time and will require long term, progressive, economic and social reforms, to build a new sustainable growth model for the Arab World. If job creation is not accompanied by improvement in the quality of life, through decent salaries and redistributive policies, the region will fail to ensure social stability on the short term, and to develop its internal demand on the long term. Boosting job creation, especially for young people and women, will require comprehensive employment policies, including investments in labour intensive industries and creating the necessary conditions for the creation of economic opportunities for everyone will have to be put in place: stable, democratic, and accountable institutions; sustainable economic development; fair and balanced trade agreements; etc. With the Arab Spring and the new constitutions, the Arab world has a unique opportunity to build a new, sustainable model of welfare state, based on social cohesion. Its young and dynamic labour force is an asset, and has a huge potential to foster economic growth in the region, if investments in young people s education, employment, health care, and economic empowerment are made. Main questions for the policy dialogue: 1. Education, healthcare and decent life for all are a pre-requisite to Democracy: How can progressive policies towards education foster democracy and economic competitiveness at the same time? What are the key social demands that need to be addressed in the short term to combat poverty and economic exclusion? How to make sure economic growth leads to social development and reduction of poverty? How to include civil society in the policy making process in order to build strong and long term social inclusion policies and ensure democratic control over the political and economic power? 2. Decent work for decent life: How to ensure decent life for all? What does decent work and progressive social policies mean in that respect? What kind of labour laws should be put in place? How did the trade union foster this world campaign "decent work, decent life" and what does it mean for world progressive movements? What kind of instruments, such as international labour standards, can be used to achieve decent work for all? How can the EU response thus far be assessed? 3. The challenge of economic growth and economic and social inclusion: How can social justice help developing domestic demand in a globalised world? How to ensure economic and social inclusions of Building partnerships for social and economic development 4

5 all actors of the society, including women, young people, ethnic minorities, etc? What role can fair trade play in that respect? BACKGROUND PAPER II BUILDING PROGRESSIVE WELFARE STATES PROMOTING SOCIAL PROTECTION The present day realities evidence rising social exclusion and inequality in wealth and expenditure in the Middle East and North Africa. Although the region appears to have done well in human development (as highlighted in the UNDP 2010 Global Human Development Report), the rate of progress on human development has slowed down noticeably since This poor performance confirms that the region has failed to transform its wealth into an improvement in human welfare; one of the root causes of the Arab Spring(s). Social security policies in most Arab countries are social insurance programmes that provide long-term benefits for old age and in case of disability and death. Such plans cover workers on regular contracts in the public sector as well as workers in the formal private sector. Other categories of workers, such as temporary workers, agricultural workers and domestic or migrant workers, are excluded from legal coverage in some countries. Few formal social security mechanisms exist to cover the risk of unemployment, while social assistance plans and other formal social safety nets tend to be fragmented and weakly coordinated. The coverage of unemployment compensation in the region remains the lowest in the world. Institutional weakness constitutes one of the most important causes of social and economic exclusion in the region. The weakness of institutions responsible for providing essential public services such as social security, health care and education is a major obstacle against equitable access to social and economic development opportunities. In order to prevent further deterioration of inequalities, there is urgent need for social and economic development measures that could include progressive taxation, minimum wages and social security stabilizers in social protection systems and public expenditure policies. However, the majority of countries spend already more than 5% of their GDP on social protection, indicating that the region faces the difficult choice between either continuing with the current inefficient and poorly targeted measures or stepping up investment in social capital. On the path towards poverty reduction and social inclusion governments, social partners, civil society and international organisations have to work together to design and implement modern social protection programs focussing on focus on reducing sub-national disparities and with attention to particularly vulnerable groups as women, children and young people, disabled persons, internally displaced people and minorities. Main questions for the policy dialogue: 1. What are the main social and economic challenges that could become policy priorities within the approach to develop progressive welfare policies in the region? 2. Can the main social protection building blocks, as the set of basic guarantees for income security, access to healthcare and education, be guaranteed and implemented in the region? And how can their coverage be extended to achieve more effective coordination between social security and employment policies? 3. How can progressive political movements, social partners, civil society and international actors work together to combat institutional weaknesses and in particular promote accountable governance, combating corruption and ensuring freedom of information on local and national levels? BACKGROUND PAPER III Building partnerships for social and economic development 5

6 INSTUMENTS FOR DEVELOPMENT TRADE, DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS Trade can be seen as a key factor for economic and social development; the successful use of trade can boost a country's development. Currently, the European Union (EU) is after Asia the second trade partner of the Arab world with 16% of all exports to the EU and 29% of imports originating from the EU. At the same time 46% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) originates from the EU in the Maghreb region and 26% Mashrek. Labour market estimates of the ILO (May 2011) for Arab States and North African Countries from 2006 to 2010 indicate that with the exception of the small Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia these economies are characterized by high unemployment rates, with significant variations within countries by sex, age and education. Although the global economic crisis did not have a large negative impact, the region reports some of the highest youth unemployment rates in the world. In many of the countries, youth unemployment rates are at least double the total rates (between two and four out of ten people aged 15 to 25 are unemployed). The effective use of trade, investment and productive policies within a sound macroeconomic framework can help countries lift all (young) people in the region out of poverty, hunger and malnutrition, illness and illiteracy. In order for trade policies to be effective and a driver for social and economic development in the region, it is important that that accountability and transparency, government effectiveness, the rule of law and human rights are promoted. In addition, labour market institutions need to be strengthened to help narrowing income inequalities through inclusive labour markets, increasing productivity through measures that support labour mobility while encouraging employment stability and promoting mechanisms for wage determination that raise living standards for all. The European Institutions have several bilateral cooperation instruments that can promote social and economic development in the region, including: bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, investment policies, instruments for democracy and human rights, development cooperation instruments and (Development) association agreements. Between 1998 and 2005 the EU concluded association agreements with seven countries in the southern Mediterranean, and at the end of 2011 new negotiations with Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia have been launched. Main questions for the policy dialogue: 1. What is the importance human rights and democracy to ensure that trade, investment and productive policies within a sound macroeconomic framework can contribute to social and economic development in the region? 2. How can European and / or International Instruments for Development, as bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, instruments for democracy and human rights and development cooperation instruments, contribute to promoting social and economic development? 3. What can be done on European (External Action Service) and Member State levels, in the context of ongoing (Development) association agreements negotiations, for promoting social and economic development in the Arab world? Building partnerships for social and economic development 6