Can Arab Women be an engine of
growth?
Prof. Dr./ Yomn El Hamaky
Professor of Economics
Faculty of Commerce – Ain Shams University
Introduction
 Economic Participation of women has gained significant
importance as a vital contributor to Economic growth
worldwide.
 Applied studies have proved that taking gender perspective in
policy making can play vital role to achieve that.
 Despite that Arab Countries have achieved significant
progress to upgrade their Economies, They are not
participating effectively in world’s production mainly
because of lack of diversification in their economies which
reflect inefficiency of using resources.
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 Human resources are on top of unexploited assets.
 One of the most important reason behind that is the weak
economic role of women.
 The aim of this presentation is to clarify the main reasons
behind that as well as shedding light on the potentials for
more participation so that this can make Arab Women an
engine of growth.
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Part I.
Economic Participation of women worldwide
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Some Facts about Economic Participation of women
worldwide
 Worldwide, outside of the agricultural sector, in both
developed and developing countries, women are still
averaging slightly less than 78% of the wages given to men
for the same work, a gap which refuses to close in even the
most developed countries.(UNIFEM, 2000)
 Internationally, women are most often concentrated in
“feminized” professions, such as nursing and teaching, office
work, care of the elderly and disabled—termed “horizontal
occupational segregation”—where they tend to remain in
lower job categories than men.
5
Figure (1): Man and Women labor force participation (%)
worldwide comparison (years 2009 & 1980)
Lowest
Participation
worldwide
6
Source: World development indicators, 2011.
Generally:
 Women all over the world appear to be concentrated in
low-productivity jobs:
1. Small farms
2. Unpaid family works
3. Informal sector
 Women rarely rise to positions of power in the labor
market.
Employment
Segregation by Gender
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What do we mean by employment segregation by
gender?
 Employment segregation by gender refers to differences in the
kind of jobs men and women do. (World Bank, 2012). Segregation
results from a combination of gender- differentiated constraints in
access
to
specific
economic
opportunities
(including
discrimination) and sorting based on gender-based preferences.
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Employment segregation by gender: Worldwide
facts
Women are more likely than men to work in agriculture
(37 % of all employed women, against 33 % of all
employed men) and in services (47 % of all employed
women, against 40 % of all employed men). The opposite is
true for manufacturing. (ILO, 2010)
2. Women also are overrepresented among unpaid and wage
workers and in the informal sector. Women account for
about 40 % of the total global workforce, but 58 % of all
unpaid work, 44 % of wage employment, and 50 percent
of informal employment. (ILO, 2010)
1.
9
Employment segregation by gender: Worldwide
facts
Globally, women represent more than 50 percent of
employment in communal services (public administration,
education, health, and other social services) and among
professionals (including teachers and nurses), clerical
workers, and sales and service employees. (ILO, 2010)
4. They also represent more than 40 percent of
employment—equivalent to the female share of total
employment—in the retail and restaurant sectors and
among agricultural workers. (ILO, 2010; Anker, Melkas,
and Korten, 2003).
3.
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But, working women are not worse than
men:
 In fact, women are as efficient as men in
production when given access to the same
inputs—and that, when provided with the same
amount of resources, female farmers and
entrepreneurs can be as productive as their male
counterparts. (Goldstein and Udry, 2008)
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Part II.
Economic participation of Arabic Women
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Introduction:
Productivity by Economic Sectors in the Arab Region
 Oil resources have delayed the normal process of economic
transformation in the Arab region. This led to retarded productive
capacities and to a more rudimentary economic structure.
 Figure (2) shows that Services and manufacturing are the main
contributors to the expansion in value-added for all developing
countries, with 2.3 and 1.1% respectively. In the Arab region, 1.7% of
growth of value-added comes from services and only 0.4% from
manufacturing. Mining, on the other hand, added 1.3% to growth in
the Arab Region, compared to only 0.3% in developing countries as a
whole. Agriculture makes a considerably small contribution to growth
in the Arab region of roughly one-fifth of one percentage points,
compared to one quarter percentage point in the larger group of
developing countries.
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Figure (2): Sectoral composition of growth rate of value-added for the
Arab Countries, & Developing Countries 1970-2009
- Arab Countries -
14
- Developing Countries -
Source: UN, Arab Development Challenges Report 2011
Introduction:
Employment and productivity in the Arab Region
Figure (3): Average employment and output shares of the Arab region
including GCC countries (A) and without GCC countries (B), 1991-2004
15
Source: UN, Arab Development Challenges Report 2011
Introduction:
Employment and productivity in the Arab Region
Source: UN, Arab Development Challenges Report 2011
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Introduction:
Employment and productivity in the Arab Region
 Incomplete economic transformation of the Arab region and oil-
led patterns of development have created a situation in which high
productivity jobs have been scarce.
 Figure (3) shows that even though the economies of non-GCC
countries are less dominated by oil and gas, mining and utilities
still account for 31% of GDP while only providing jobs for 1% of
the population. At the same time, manufacturing remains very
much marginal, only contributing 10% of GDP and employing 8%
of the workforce. One tragedy is the limited contribution of
agriculture (12%) to GDP while the sector continues to employ
around 30% of the population. This reflects the technological
stagnation of the sector, which leads to a relative decline of the
productivity per person of the sector.
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Introduction:
Employment and productivity in the Arab Region
 Many Arab countries are increasingly turning into import-
oriented and service-based economies, with services
accounting for the highest share of GDP in the region,
excluding GCC (42%) and the major share of employment at
52%. The types of services found in Arab countries fall at the
low end of the value chain, contribute little to local
knowledge development and lock countries into inferior
positions in global markets. This trend, which has been at the
expense of Arab agriculture and industrial production, is
therefore of concern.
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Introduction
Labour market statistics for the Arab Region
 Employment by sector varies by country. Some gulf oil exporter
countries have a small primary sector and a relatively large
public administration sector, while in North African countries
the situation is reversed.
 Women’s unemployment rates are significantly higher in most of
the countries, in some cases up to three times as high.
 The region reports some of the highest youth unemployment
rates in the world. Here too, sharp differences exist by sex as
unemployment rates among young women are, in some
countries, two to three times higher than among young men, and
five to nine times higher than for the total (youth + adults)
unemployed population.
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Figure (4): Labour force participation rates, 2008
Source: Source: ILO, Trends Econometric Models, September 2009
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Economic participation of women has been progressively increasing in the region
although it remains noticeably low compared to all other regions in the world.
Women’s labour force participation is positively associated with rising education
levels.
Figure (5): Employment shares by sector for the Arab Region - 2008
52%
Female
8.80%
39.30%
49.50%
Male
22.80%
27.80%
0%
21
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Source: ILO, Trends Econometric Models, September 2009
60%
Services
Industry
Agriculture
Figure (6): Employment shares by status for the Arab Region - 2008
70%
61.40%
60%
50%
Male
Female
48.60%
40%
30%
30%
18.20% 19.80%
20%
8.20%
10%
12.20%
1.60%
0%
Wage & Salaried
Workers
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Employers
Own Account Contributing
Workers
family Workers
Source: ILO, Trends Econometric Models, September 2009
Introduction
Economic Diversification in Arab Economies
 The economies of the Arab countries lack diversity, a situation
which has remained unchanged since the early 1990s. Oil exports
are still the main economic engine of the region. (UNDP, 2009)
 The structural fragility of Arab economies: Oil-led growth has created
weak structural foundations in Arab economies. Many Arab
countries are turning into increasingly import oriented and
service based economies.
 The types of services found in Arab countries fall at the low end of
the value adding chain, contribute little to local knowledge
development, and lock countries into inferior positions in global
markets. This trend, which has been at the expense of Arab
agriculture, manufacturing and industrial production, is therefore
of concern. (UNDP, 2009)
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Introduction
Economic Diversification in Arab Economies
Key Industries in Arab Region
 Arab Oil-rich countries: Mainly Oil & Fuel Products
 Arab Oil – Poor Countries: Textile and clothing, Some machinery and
equipment, Chemical industries
Generally, the Arab region is the least industrialized region of
the world, accounting for a meager 12% of the region’s GDP,
the lowest amongst all developing regions. Moreover, this
small share is heavily concentrated in the production of lower
value added petroleum related, food, chemical and rubber
and plastic products, which together make up nearly 60% of
the total manufacturing output of the region (Figure7).
Consequently, it is only able to trade in elementary goods.
(UNDP, 2011)
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Figure 6: Structure of manufacturing for oil-poor (A) and oil-rich (B)
countries in 1990s and 2000s
Furniture
Machinery and transport
Basic and fabricated metal
2000s
Wood, paper and pinting
Furniture
Machinery and transport
Basic and fabricated metal
Chemicals
Wood, paper and pinting
Textiles
Food
0
Fuel
10
1990s
Textiles
20
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Food
2000s
Fuel
1990s
30
(B)
Chemicals
(A)
Source: Authors estimates based on UNIDO and UNSD online
Note: Oil-poor countries included are: Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia and oil-rich countries included are:
Kuwait, Oman and Qatar.
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The Economic participation of Arabic
Women: Main Characteristics
 Arabic women work predominantly in the public sector (mostly in
the education and health sectors). For the Arab Gulf countries, the
vast majority of women employed are in the public sector.
 Arabic women work mainly in services: 49 % of women’s
employment.
 Arabic women are more likely to be in “vulnerable employment” than
men: vulnerable employment accounts for 39 % of women’s versus
33 % of men’s employment (for MENA countries)
 The female unemployment rate is much higher and the
unemployment gender gap much wider in MENA than in other
regions. The female unemployment rate is much higher in the 15–24
age group.
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The Economic participation of Arabic
Women: Main Characteristics
 Arab women suffer from employment segregation by
gender: They are concentrated in low-productivity, low
pay jobs.
 They mainly work in public sector, they are
overrepresented among unpaid workers and in the
informal sector, and they rarely rise to positions of
power.
 In fact, a deep analysis of the progress of economic
participation of Arab women shows that it is relatively
weak compared to the potential capacity of Arab women.
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Main Challenges: Arab women regional
specificities
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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Lack of gender mainstreaming in economic planning for
Arab countries.
Lack of gender – budget performance in using financial
resources.
Poor efficiency of institutions, especially in Ministries and
related organizations.
Low solidarity in promoting gender equity in the
management of trade and development policies nationally.
Inefficiency of gender active labor market policies
(Successful experiences: East Asian, Latin American, as well
as the EU countries)
Lowest political female representation of women
worldwide
Main Challenges: Arab women regional
specificities
7. Lowest female formal labour activity worldwide
8. Very high female illiteracy rate: 50% of female adult
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
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population
Problematic traditions and beliefs that form taboos
Weak civil society and democratic institutions
Political instabilities that reflect upon better focusing upon
democratic and social justice issues
challenging current global economic policies which seem to
exacerbate social injustice and gender inequality
Inadequate sex-disaggregated data
Not enough qualitative studies
How To address challenges?
The Role of Government & Private Sector
Role of Government
Role of Private Sector
• Macroeconomic policies (fiscal
policy, monetary policy, commercial
policy)
• Demand for labor
• Market Labour Policy
• Specification on job training
• Gender-budget based performance
capabilities of governmental
institutions
• Demand for relative economic
activities
• Gender planning & Gender
awareness
• Clusters (Feeding industries,
complementary industries, import
substitution, export promotion)
• System of monitoring and evaluation • Corporate social responsibility to
(gender achievements)
combat poverty through micro-credit
• Capability of government to
cooperate with civil society
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•Training
Conclusion & Recommendations
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Conclusion
 The interaction of employment segregation with
gender differences in time use and access to
inputs and with market and institutional failures
traps women in low-paying jobs and lowproductivity businesses. Breaking out of this
productivity trap thus requires interventions that
lift time constraints, increase access to productive
inputs among women, and correct market and
institutional failures. (World Bank, 2012)
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Recommendations
 Elimination of illiteracy and implementation of universal access to





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education is considered to be the first step to women economic
empowerment.
Encouraging initiatives of governments and civil society for
women’s economic independence and political engagement.
Establishing gender-responsive budgeting is essential for
monitorable and transparent gender-oriented economic policy.
Building the capacity of women in decision making positions and
to facilitate dialogue on gender issues within economic and
political structures.
Removing impediments to women’s equal access in employment
and trade
Developing countries should take into account gender equity
issues as part of their own trade and development solidarity policy
towards developing countries.
Recommendations
 Enacting new laws to prevent gender discrimination. And




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Enforcing legal frameworks that already exist that support
women’s rights.
Establish gender-sensitive rules to guide employment
practices of domestic and foreign firms, including global
corporations, by building on existing multilateral instruments
(such as the ILO conventions on fundamental workers’ rights
and other conventions with regard to home-based work and
part-time work).
Increase gender-awareness in labor ministries by increasing
financial resources and technical capacities in this area.
Involvement of the civil society and the private sector in
promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Enhancing capacity building programs for Arab women
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Thank You
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