MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Residents Put Onus on Government to Help the Poor

Gallup ^ | November 27, 2012 | Joana Silva, Victoria Levin, Matteo Morgandi, and Cynthia English

[ExxonPatrolUs]

This article is the first in a two-part series on social assistance in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region based on data collected for the forthcoming World Bank MENA flagship report, "Inclusion and Resilience: The Way Forward for Social Safety Nets in the Middle East and North Africa."

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- At least eight in 10 adults in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Tunisia say their respective governments should bear the primary responsibility for helping the poor in their countries, according to a forthcoming World Bank MENA flagship report. Far fewer residents identified other social actors, such as religious or charitable organizations or friends and family, as the ones who should be most responsible for social assistance.

These results are based on nationally representative surveys, which measure attitudes about, knowledge of, and support for social safety nets in Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, and Egypt. The findings reflect more than 4,000 interviews with adults, aged 15 and older, conducted in spring 2012. Gallup collected these data for the World Bank's forthcoming MENA flagship report, "Inclusion and Resilience: The Way Forward for Social Safety Nets in the Middle East and North Africa." Read the overview of the report in English or Arabic.

[uncommonsense]

So they really do want democracy - majority rule (as opposed to a republic)

[Amberdawn]

For mudslimes, the government = religion, so this doesn’t surprise me.

[BenLurkin]

I see Mena and I think of Dan Lassater.