Reclaiming Dignity
Report: 1 to 13 August 2021
This report is also available in Arabic.
Demonstrators gather in downtown Beirut to protest the lack of justice and diminishing opportunities. Photo credit: https://www.fairobserver.com/.
All eyes were set on the results of the investigation of the Beirut Blast. Unfortunately, the second August 4 dawned, everyone’s intuition became clearer: In the end, the Lebanese people are living in a sectarian and oligarchic country were death is nothing but collateral damage or the cost of doing business. The west tried to intervene via diplomatic means. But as time passed by, Lebanon continued to commit assisted suicide, by which inflation and poverty started skyrocketing off the roof. By the time the west decides to intervene, directly on the ground, it would be too late as many are renewing their passports and booking flight reservations to escape the country.
1- The socio-economic situation
Egypt
Corona cases, deaths and recovered are distributed as follows:
-285,465 corona confirmed cases
-234,250 recovered
-16,625 deaths
Moody’s keeps Egypt’s credit rating at B2 with Stable Outlook , https://www.egyptindependent.com/.
During August, Egypt and its government welcomed the resumption of direct Russian flights to the Red Sea, insinuating a fruitful summer: it is expected that Russian tourists will alone add a 2-billion-dollar revenue to the tourism industry. Egypt is hoping to rejuvenate its pandemic-stricken tourism industry, to match the overwhelming success it had achieved so far and to boost the micro-economy in terms of small businesses. Nevertheless, Egypt is taking a risk by taking such a bold move in opening the economy; the appearance of the new Delta in the region and throughout the world has made it difficult for governments to take decisions as there are still a lot of unknowns.
Egypt currently retains a B2 level (Moody’s) implying stability continued confidence of international institution in the solidity of the Egyptian economy and its ability to deal with the coronavirus crisis. The confidence lies in the Egyptian economy’s ability to respond to the pandemic, which is evident as a result of the government’s continued implementation of economic, financial and structural reforms.
Jordan
Corona cases, deaths and recovered are distributed as follows:
-784,631 corona confirmed cases
-762,521 recovered
-10,222 deaths
Jordan’s economy still needs time to recover. Fortunately, its partners got its back.
In addition to all the help Jordan’s partners have been sending its way, the US transferred 600 million USD of the 1.65 billion USD it had promised for the ME nation. The reason behind this is to aid the country in its recovery phase as Jordan attempts to gear itself for what remains of summer. Yet, quick recovery without the help of its partners is deemed impossible, given the corruption and mismanagement in public offices. At the present moment, not much is spoken about the topic on public media as attention seems to be diverted to the billions of dollars coming their way.
Iraq
Corona cases, deaths and recovered are distributed as follows:
-1,784,594 corona confirmed cases
-1,605,296 recovered
-19,740 deaths
Iraqi PM launches mechanisms for economic reform program, www.arabnews.com.
Over the past decade or two, Iraq’s problems have kept piling up until electricity blackouts became increasingly recurrent. This has led to several violent demonstrations and clashes between citizens and the police. Nowadays, such a threat is re-emerging, once again threatening the political system. As such, a ‘white paper’ had been declared, in February, by Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi in an attempt to adopt “a strategy for a modern, prosperous, productive Iraq that invests its enormous potential and human energies, combats corruption and stops waste.” However, it wasn’t until the situation reached its criticalness that the government declared the implementation of the paper. Nevertheless, it is still unknown whether the nation will be able to put in place actual governance structures that fall under, oversight, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms which ensure that the reform process is administrated and managed effectively. For now, the World Bank Group has renewed its commitment to the continued support of Iraq, approving a new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) to form the basis of its 2022–2026 partnership with the country. Perhaps this is prelude to something more?
Lebanon
Corona cases, deaths and recovered are distributed as follows:
-583,718 corona confirmed cases
-542,510 recovered
-7,982 deaths
Blocking roads and using force: Lebanon is on a date with "the anger of the people", source: MTV.
August 4 passed and nothing changed. Still, necessary goods are being smuggled out of the country thus robbing the country of what little it has. Lebanase spend much of their day searching for fuel at overcrowded gas stations. In some cases, tensions over scarce fuel supplies descended into deadly violence involving guns, knives and hand grenades. For instance, an incedent occurred in Akkar involving the explosion of a fuel depot and the concequent death of 20 people. Some indicated that there was a drive-by shooting which resulted of a certain disagreement, or the fuel was stored in unsafe manner. Either way, all Lebanese know that this is an example of multiple hidden time bombs just ready to explode. As for the issue regarding elctricity, many parts of the capital are being left without it as the menacing heat wave in Lebanon intensifies. Moreover and to make things worse, medicine is becoming non-existent as cancer and chronic illness patients take to social media to express their grievances.
Although this is a country where everything falls on deaf ears, the situation became so terrible that talks or daydreams of international internvention is ever becoming a reality. However, intervention for some reason, is still off the table. Afterall, intervention whether humanitarian or military, is a costly thing during an age of donor exhaustion and global economic decline. Moreover, it remains to be seen what the negotiations behind closed doors, between Lebanon’s corrupt power holders and foreign governments, will lead to. In all cases, we have reached a critical stage no other arab nation has reached. Even during the ugliness of the 15-year civil war, things were not this bad.
Palestine
Corona cases, deaths and recovered are distributed as follows:
-321,031 corona confirmed cases
-313,448 recovered
-3,625 deaths
Biden’s Mideast point man urged Israel to aid a teetering PA, photo source: WAFA.
Since Palestinians are still suffering from the latest escalation, having their homes destroyed and livelihoods wiped off the map, there was some courtesy from Palestine’s European partners. France for instance, contributed 500,000 Euros to WFP operating in the country, to address the immediate food shortage. The funds will be used to provide electronic food vouchers to more than 32,000 people for one month to purchase diverse nutritious food of their choice from 200 retail shops across the Gaza Strip. In this way, the people are fed and economy is stimulated, although at a minor scale. Mimicking such a decision and heeding to local and international pressure, Israel decided to issue at least 16,000 more work permits to residents from West Bank. However, engaging in a skirmish with a much weaker opponent or bullying, will take more than a few work permits.
Syria
Corona cases, deaths and recovered are distributed as follows:
-26,409 corona confirmed cases
-22,166 recovered
-1,940 deaths
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad had tasked the current Prime Minister Hussein Arnous with forming a new cabinet in the country. https://www.plenglish.com/.
During August, Syrian president signed a decree approving a new government in an attempt to shift things. However, not much changes have been made as seemingly only 5 positions were altered; new names were appointed to lead the ministries of information, social affairs and domestic trade and consumer protection. Meanwhile, the Syrian people expect the new cabinet to deal with the increasing poverty which now affects 80 percent of the population, and the Syrian pound which has plummeted to unprecedented lows against the dollar on the black market. One should not also forget the extended chronic power cuts, which is aggravated by fuel shortages and the rising prices of basic items such as fuel, bread, rice and sugar. In other words, the new cabinet has a lot to handle, especially when the country is still plastered with sanctions and Turkey stealing lands.
Nevertheless, there are some efforts to restore the country’s economy. For instance, the Syrian government has announced signing three contracts with private investors to rehabilitate large factories in the sugar and cement sectors. At least one of these involves a company owned by the powerful Katerji family. Moreover, the government has announced it has finished preparations to boost gas production to respond to the growing energy crisis.
Unfortunately, time is short and many analysts doubt that the new reshuffled government will be able to revamp the country. After all, Syria is still an inflexible, vertically driven state (supreme boss to employee relationship) overrun with red tape and mismanagement. Moreover, the plight of hunger is expected to increase significantly in the next three months including this August as food insecurity reaches worrying levels, a UN report has found.
Cyprus
Corona cases, deaths and recovered are distributed as follows:
-109,253 corona confirmed cases
-90,755 recovered
-461 deaths
https://cyprus-mail.com/.
With the ‘circular’ economy put into motion, remote working, digital transformation and sustainability, are the general headlines that were put forward. Hence, many large businesses in August, lauded the idea and expressed their determination to see that happen. As such, they also claimed that will surely improve the sustainability of the economy. Such optimistic views exist during a time covid-19 is still at large and the global economy is still contracting. Generally speaking, the EU is currently restoring its economy and Cyprus presents itself as a cog, pushing the European machine forward. Nevertheless, it all depends on the spread of the Delta variant and its implications on the economy. Cyprus, however, seems one step ahead of everyone in terms of operating under difficult circumstances.
Communication and Public Relations Department