Peace can undermine entrenched autocratic systems, says Ashrawi

At a workshop on 'Fundamentals of Political Reform: Shifts in Governance', held on the sidelines of the first day of the Arab Strategy Forum, Ashrawi said that conflict enables autocratic systems to justify their rule and maintain status quo in the name of security. Peace, she said, can undermine these systems and bring about more reform and accountability.

The workshop addressed the main obstacles to reform in the Arab world and how these obstacles can be overcome. It also discussed key reform-related issues that the Arab countries should deal with by 2020 and the main approaches and pre-requisites for successfully dealing with political and administrative reform in order to achieve transparency.

Robert P. Beschel Jr., Lead Public Sector Specialist of the World Bank MENA Vice-Presidency talked about Global Governance Trends at the workshop. He outlined seven key trends including the Breakup of Empires & Rise of New States, the Expansion of Democratic Regimes, the Reduction in the Role and Size of the State, Decentralization, Rise of the Anti-corruption Agenda, Growth in E-Governance and the Rise of "New Public Management". However, many of these trends, he said, were felt only distantly in MENA

The 1990s were the second most prolific decade in history in terms of new state creation, said Beschel Jr. There was a significant global increase in the number of democracies during the 1990s. However, in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region there was a democratic deficit.

As a result of liberalisation and privatisation, there was widespread global reduction in the role and size of the state. While the Latin American and Caribbean region witnessed the greatest decrease in the role of the state with a 54 per cent reduction, the least amount of change occurred in the Middle East and North African region with just 3 per cent reduction. The region also fared worse on issues of decentralisation and on public voice, accountability and participation, said Beschel Jr..

"Currently there is a significant turn towards decentralisation across the world. As a political phenomenon, decentralisation is widespread," he added. Out of the 75 developing and transition countries with populations greater than 5 million, all but 12 claim to be embarked on some form of transfer of political power to local units of government.

The recent years have also witnessed a global expansion of e-government. The MENA region's index of 1.76 in 2002 for the implementation of e-government compared favourably with the global index 1.62. The UAE had an index of 2.17. The index was developed by the UNPAN Global Survey of E-Government in 2002. The measures included web presence; telecommunications infrastructure and human capital.

The premiere annual event, Arab Strategy Forum, has six Organising Partners and two Media Partners. They are Emirates National Oil Company Ltd (ENOC), Abraaj Capital, PricewaterhouseCooper, DaimlerChrysler, National Bank of Dubai and Gulf News, in addition to Media Partners Al Sharq Al Awsat and CNN. The Arab Strategy Forum will provide valuable insights, which will help in improving the status of the Arab World.