What are the successes and failures of the United Nations?

Why are Arab nations so incredibly backward?

• Results of the United Nations sponsored 2002 Arab Human Development Report (arab-hdr.org). Here are some highlights: -Only 0.6% of the Arab population uses the Internet -Only 1.2% has a personal computer -Investment in research and development does not exceed 0.5 per cent of gross national product, well below the world average -The utilizationof Arab women’s capabilities through political and economic participation remains the lowest in the world -About 65 million adult Arabs are illiterate, two thirds of them women -Illiteracy rates are much higher than in much poorer countries -Science and technology output is quantifiable and measurable in terms of number of scientific papers per unit of population. The average output of the Arab world per million inhabitants is roughly 2 per cent of that of an industrialized country -Number of research scientists: US 466,211; Saudi Arabia 1,915 -The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) includes GEM (gender empowerment measurement) which reveals that women suffer “a glaring deficit” in women’s empowerment. Among regions of the world the Arab region ranks next to last as measured by GEM -If the steady deterioration in the quality of education in the Arab countries and the inability of education to meet the requirements of development are not reversed, the consequences for human and economic development will be grave -The number of illiterate people is still increasing, to the extent that Arab countries embark upon the twenty-first century burdened by over 60 million illiterate adults, the majority of whom are women -Other, more cultural behaviours common in the Arab world can also have an adverse health impact. These include intermarriage between close relatives, promotion of early marriage, and female circumcision -The Arab region has the lowest level of access to ICT (Information and Communication Technology) of all regions of the world, even lower than sub-Saharan Africa -High maternal mortality (death during child birth) is a key health challenge facing most Arab countries. -GDP in all Arab countries combined stood at $531.2 billion in 1999 (70% related to oil), less than that of a single European country, Spain, ($595.5 billion) -Political participation is less advanced in the Arab world than in other developing regions (developing nation = a low level of material well-being) -Deprivation in terms of basic human-development parameters is about 32.4 per cent as measured by the human poverty index (HPI) which defines deprivation in terms of short lives, illiteracy and lack of basic services. -Out of 7 world regions the Arab countries had the lowest freedom score in the 1990’s (Watch them blame us for the failures of Islam)

• Answer:

  Theocracy. People should consider this when voting based on religion.