Posted on 07/02/2002 5:35:19 AM PDT by kattracks
CAIRO, July 2 (AFP) - A UN agency has found that Arab countries score the "lowest freedom" rating in the world, seriously handicapping development in the 22-member Arab League, in a report released here Tuesday.The UN Development Programme (UNDP) said that lack of women's empowerment in the region and deficiences in the education sector were the two other main factors slowing down development.
Using a "freedom index ..., the extent of freedom in Arab countries, compared to the rest of the world, shows that out of the seven regions of the world Arab countries had the lowest freedom score in the late 1990s," it said.
And based on indicators of "voice and accountability", including civil liberties, political rights and media independence, "the Arab region has the lowest value of all regions of the world," the UNDP report said.
"Political participation in the Arab region is still limited compared to other regions in spite of noticeable improvements in some Arab countries in the past quarter century," it said.
"Civil society actors continue to encounter several external constraints in playing their role effectively," said the report, pointing notably to "bureaucratic constraints".
The report, the first of its kind to cover such issues in the Arab League's members, was presented to the media at the League's Cairo headquarters.
A goal probably shared by the UN.
So must our government.
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