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The number of young Arabs who believe they are better off after the toppling of various leaders has halved in four years.
Young people in the Arab world are becoming increasingly disillusioned with how the Arab Spring movement has shaped the region they live in, according to the results of a new survey released on Tuesday.
Five years after the movement toppled leaders and regimes in countries such as Tunisia, Yemen, Libya and Egypt, 53 percent of participants said they prioritise stability over democracy, according to the annual ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey.
The number of youth who believe the Arab Spring has improved the region has halved from 72 percent in 2012 to just 36 percent in 2016.
The survey conducted 3,500 face-to-face interviews with nationals aged between 18 and 24 years in 16 Arab countries and asked participants if they felt the Arab Spring movements had made them better off.
The survey, conducted by international polling firm Penn Schoen Berland, covered the six Gulf Cooperation Council states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates), Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia and Yemen. The survey did not include Syria due to the civil unrest in the country.
Government policy
Despite a shift towards a desire for more stability, two thirds of young Arabs want their leaders to do more to improve their personal freedoms and human rights, with the lack of women's rights seen as a major issue among participants in the six Gulf countries.
But 78 percent of respondents believe they are entitled to subsidised energy costs and goods, despite the sharp drop in crude oil prices squeezing the revenues of oil exporting Arab countries, many of which have moved to reduce public spending and launch subsidies reforms.
The impact of declining oil prices was a concern for 66 percent of respondents, up from 52 percent last year.
(Writing by Shane McGinley)
© Zawya 2016
