AMMAN - Recent political changes have the potential to transform a region burdened by a lack of economic opportunities and insecurity into one of enlightenment, experts said on Monday.
HRH Prince Hassan, chairman and founder of the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) Forum, stressed that the region's main challenges stem from "rentierism and clientelism".
"A collaboration between the government, private sector and civil society - or what I call the 'third sphere' - is surely the best foundation from which to approach this," Prince Hassan said at the opening of the 5th annual WANA Forum meeting yesterday.
The two-day conference, which is gathering 100 young leaders from across WANA, aims to highlight means to build on the current movement for change in the region and utilise social media in promoting peace.
The Prince noted that few could have predicted that the massive changes taking part in the region would not be led by politicians, intellectuals, or Western intervention, but by young Arab men and women.
"The reality around us would have been unthinkable 12 months ago," he said, citing recent developments in several Arab countries.
"Thanks in part to events in Tahrir Square and beyond, WANA [region] is no longer regarded by the outside world as the breeding ground for the uncritical acceptance of intolerant ideas," Prince Hassan highlighted.
Despite the positive changes on the ground, Prince Hassan noted that the region still spends a greater proportion of its GDP on arms than anywhere else in the world.
"Between 2001-2003, WANA spent over $8 trillion on arms purchases, with spending expected to double over the coming nine years... and yet in no other region is insecurity such a physical and psychological fact of life," the Prince highlighted.
Employment is another challenge facing the WANA region, the Prince added, citing World Bank figures indicating that the region requires up to 100 million jobs by 2020, with 60 per cent of the population under the age of 30.
Also during the opening session, Sally Moore, member of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party and the Youth Coalition of the Egyptian Revolution, discussed her experience in the Egyptian revolution.
"It wasn't a revolution for bread but a revolution for freedom," Moore, a physician, noted during a session highlighting the nature of the changes in the WANA region.
"Tahrir for me was utopia... I slept there for 14 days and as a Coptic Christian, witnessing Christian masses along with Muslim prayers were such amazing moments," she added.
Also yesterday, Yohei Sasakawa, chairman of the Nippon Foundation, a supporter of the WANA Forum, said the West Asia-North Africa region is on the verge of a "huge" transition requiring it to reevaluate its strength, values and capacity.
© Jordan Times 2011
