Problems and Challenges Facing the Arab World

There are serious problems and challenges facing the Arab world today.They require immediate attention:

1. Global weather change and its impact on the Middle East and North African regions, such as the decreasing rainfall and the problem of desertification.

2. Population growth and its negative impact on economic development. The population is expected to double, 345 million people to over 600 million, the next 25 to 30 years.

3. Insufficient food production in all Arab states. They all rely on food import to meet their basic needs.

4. Shortage of fresh water which caused the Middle East to be among the driest regions in the world. More than 2/3 of Arab countries are classified as water poverty stricken.

5.Official unemployment rate in the Arab world is 15%, which is a very conservative estimate. Some studies notes that at least 100 million new jobs need to be created in the next 25 years for the young generation that will be entering the labor market.

6. Poverty and the high rate of illiteracy which are of major human and economic concerns. More than 40% of the Arab world population are living below the poverty index level , which is 2 dollars per day, per person. Poverty is definitely associated with the high rate of illiteracy. It has been estimated that at least 1/3 of the adult population in the Arab world cannot read or write. This is translated into more than 60 million people.

I will further discuss and analyze the above problems and challenges facing the Arab world. Keep checking my posts for further information.