Women’s underestimation and underrepresentation is a wide-spread phenomenon over the globe. With time, some countries worked on diminishing any type of discrimination between genders, while others fell-behind on this matrix. A special tool used to measure the degree of inequality is the Women’s Business and The Law Index, an index that consists of several political, social, and monetary indicators such as:
Freedom of Movement
Starting a job
Getting paid
Managing assets
Getting Married
Having children
Managing a Business
Getting a pension
The above-mentioned index scores each country based on its progression and standing in regards to the 8 indicators that cover almost all the angles of sustaining a proper life. How Can Countries Improve Their Score?
Certain first-world countries such as the United States, Canada, and Western Europe have succeeded in increasing their Business and Law score for women by applying foundational rules and quotas.
Following by example, remaining countries can try implementing one or more of the following solutions:
– Establishing a quota on governmental representation
– Shedding light on women’s crucial role in the business world, as supported by many studies and experiments.
– Establish recruitment targets to select women candidates and support them to join/run a political party.
Brazil has been struggling with the challenges of unemployment, job inequality, and insufficient income from labor. The Unemployment Rate in Brazil was recorded at 6.34 percent in 1985 and started increasing to reach a historic high of 30.5 percent in 2020. According to a recent CUT/Vox Populi public opinion survey, 62 percent of Brazilian workers fear losing their job. And according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the rise represents an extra 489,000 unemployed people in Brazil, adding to the total of 14.8 million.
Mainly there are many reasons behind this high unemployment rate in Brazil and the most important one is the decrease in the GDP per capita growth over the years. Also, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed Brazil to unprecedented health, social and economic challenges, leading to a 4.74 percent GDP decline in 2020, followed by a rebound in 2021 which affects negatively the Unemployment rate.
Below is a bar chart that shows the GDP vs the Unemployment rate over the last 35 years:
“It is the devil’s excrement. We are drowning in the devil’s excrement. —Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso, former Venezuelan oil minister”
The narrative fifty years ago A country discovers vast amounts of oil reserves. Leaders across the world are green with envy.
The underlying assumption Profits generated from exporting this natural resource, commonly referred to as black gold, transforms a nation from rags to riches.
The narrative today Rentier states are war-torn, corrupt, and led by dictators whose power is fueled by the sale of this precious commodity.
I invite you to read Michael Lewin Ross’ “The Oil Curse”. An excellent resource for those who want to understand why such a valuable commodity leaves its owners worse off than their counterparts.
Take Iraq and the United Arab Emirates. Two neighboring countries. Both rich in natural resources. One destroyed by war and conflict. Another a model for quality of life, political stability, and investment. Why are they so different?
The dependencies oil creates on an economy can be catastrophic in the sense that they create patronage systems between the state and its citizens, making it increasingly more difficult to create sustainable economies over time.
How? The notion that a state is responsible for extracting and selling oil to benefit the country is flawed. Upon exporting oil, Iraq has employed more and more government employees to “pay” its citizens what it owes. The creation of these governmental positions, most of which are redundant in nature, has caused high levels of bureaucracy within each governmental body, making it increasingly more difficult for businesses and start-ups to get their businesses off the ground. Iraq ranks 172nd in the World Bank “Ease of Business” scale. It takes 51 days to register property. It also takes 167 days to deal with construction paperwork and permits. This has had detrimental effects on other industries in Iraq. Iraq’s predominant reliance on oil revenue, coined with electricity shortages, a suffering educational and healthcare system, and an unstable geopolitical climate, makes it increasingly more difficult to wean the average citizen off governmental positions and rations and encourage them to work in the private sector.
In comparison, the UAE ranks 16th on the “Ease of Business” scale, and it takes 1.5 days on average to register property. It also takes 47.5 days to get construction permits, nearly a third of how long it takes in Iraq. Their government expenditure levels are half of what Iraq’s are, whereas the average worker’s productivity value is nearly double.
Where do we go from here? For starters, digitalizing the public sector, something that is already underway in the Kurdistan Region, albeit off to a slow start, can help lower redundant employment positions, all while increasing productivity levels. A digital transformation will also pave the way for a simpler business start-up registration process, making it easier for entrepreneurs and businesses to take off, attract foreign investment, and grow the private sector.
Another solution, which in my opinion is a byproduct of digital transformation of government processes, is the expansion of the private sector. Unless the average citizen acknowledges the dependency oil creates on the economy, and the finite (and frankly, volatile) nature of this resource, Iraq will not be better off than it is today.
Around the world, we’re seeing clear evidence that our climate is changing. Floods, drought, heatwaves, and forest fires have all become more extreme in recent years.
As CO2 emissions in the atmosphere increase climate change increases.
One billion children are at ‘extremely high risk’ of the impacts of the climate crisis – UNICEF.
Over time, CO2 emissions have kept on increasing, and there are many reasons behind it. Between 1960 and 2020, CO2 emissions grew by over 90%, with emissions from liquid fuel consumption, electricity and heat production making up to 80% of CO2 emissions
This increase in CO2 emissions has led to a serious issue leading to Climate change and making life harder for all communities around the world, especially communities who struggle in finding clean water and it has impacted different aspects of their lives.
Every day, fragile water supplies are at even greater risk of disappearing completely. Drought or floods can damage water supplies and spread disease at the other extreme.
Belita in Malawi would agree. She relies on open water sources like Lake Chilwa for her livelihood. But the lake is prone to the whims of changing weather patterns.
“Due to drought last year, I was not able to produce enough food for my family,” she told us.
“However, I was determined to save my life and that of my children by cultivating a small garden.”
Lake Chilwa is the second biggest lake in Malawi.
Belita and her community rely on it for transport, fishing, and doing business.
At some points of the year, the lake suffers from extreme flooding. At other times, it dries up. Some years, the lake evaporates completely, devastating the community.
In 2019, Cyclone Idai struck, scarring the lake and land further. Leaving the community benefiting from the Lake suffering to find clean water, and continue working in their businesses.
“It used to take 25-40 years for natural drying cycles to occur.
“But now, every three to five years there is an extreme recession in Lake Chilwa.
“This is the impact of climate change.”
– Environmental scientist, Professor Sosten Chiotha
Action Needs to be Taken!
As climate change impacts our planet’s health and ecosystems, we all must do our part to reduce its negative effects. One way to help lessen the effect of climate change is to reduce our carbon emissions.
Countries like the United States, European Union, and the Arab World need to take initiative in decreasing their CO2 emissions through:
Governmental regulations forcing companies to lower their carbon footprint
Reducing air travel
Switching to clean energy through solar panels, wind turbines, and geothermal energy
Initiating projects to help communities affected by climate change and finding innovative ways to lessen the impact of climate change on their lives.
Diabetes is a chronic health condition that has been increasing globally and in the Middle East in particular. The global estimate of people living with diabetes in 2019 is half a billion and is estimated to increase by 25 % in 2030 and reach 51 % by 2045. The below Map shows high prevalence of diabetes in the middle east with specific high levels in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon reaching an average Diabetes prevalence of 19.6%.Potential solutions can follow an Upstream approach – or addressing the problem at its source by decreasing the risk of developing diabetes from infancy. According to CDC evidence suggests that exclusive breastfeeding for a minimum of 6 months in infancy may reduce the prevalence of diabetes in later life. However, the lack of continued support for exclusive breastfeeding led to a recent decline in the practice in the Middle East according to UNICEF.
To validate this point the below map visualization shows that countries with high diabetes prevalence also have low levels of exclusive breastfeeding by mothers for 6 months. Specifically, here we highlight Saudi Arabia’s case in the Middle East which has an average value of only 4.72 %. If we take Peru as an example, the below box plot show that they have high exclusive breastfeeding levels and low prevalence for diabetes.
Recommendations:
In light of these findings, we can conclude that breastfed babies have lower risk of developing diabetes therefore one way to decrease diabetes prevalence would be to decrease the child’s risk for diabetes from infancy. Helpful implementations would include to:
Help pregnant women learn about the importance of breastfeeding for their babies and themselves.
Give mothers the support they need to breastfeed their babies
Use community-based organizations to promote and support breastfeeding
