Kuwait Times
Kuwait, Jan 20: In a draft resolution issued by delegates at the Arab Economic Summit, the Arab leaders called for introducing a comprehensive program for cutting unemployment rates in Arab states through the Arab Labor Organization and related bodies in the member states.
The draft resolution designates the years from 2010 to 2020 as the "Arab decade for employment and reducing poverty by half," and gives priority to developmental policies in the Arab states in order to boost employment rates and create jobs, curb unemployment and improve living standards.
It also called for focusing national efforts on the development of human resource and effective training, in line with the labor market's requirements, as well as raising production efficiency and developing the three existing Arab training centers.
The draft resolution further called on Arab governments to take the necessary steps to facilitate the movement of the Arab workforce between member states, and support private sector initiatives and those of Arab finance institutions and funds in the implementation of employment programs with the aim of reducing unemployment rates.
It tasked the Arab Labor Organization and the Arab League Secretariat with presenting a periodic report on what has been achieved in this area.
On the issue of poverty, the resolution called for implementing the Arab program for combating poverty and financing its programs for four years, while inviting Arab finance institutions to contribute to financing them.
The draft resolution further called for putting socioeconomic policies in place which would facilitate the reduction of poverty rates by half by 2015, and committed the delegates to financing social security networks and providing the required financing for small and medium-sized projects.
Finally, the draft resolution tasked the Council of Arab Social Affairs Ministers with following up on the implementation of this program and reporting to the summit on progress in this area. Arab leaders also called for the introduction of an emergency Arab food security program.
The resolution tasked those Arab governments which would from the program to grant preferential treatment to investment in different fields related to the program.
It urged Arab, regional, and international investment institutions and funds to finance the program, invited the private sector to invest in it and tasked the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development (AOAD) with following up the program in coordination with all the bodies concerned, as well as providing a regular report on the program to the summit.
On water security, the resolution tasked the Council of Arab Water Ministers with preparing a strategy for water security in the Arab region to face challenges and requirements related to sustainable development.
In addition, it approved a project for integrated management of water resources, and called upon Arab finance funds and institutions to contribute to supporting the project, tasking the Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD) with monitoring the execution of the project in cooperation with concerned national bodies in Arab countries and preparing a periodic report on this to the summit.
They also called for the quick completion of the Arab electrical linkage project and called for the removal of all obstacles facing the project.
The resolution also called for amending national legislations and legal frameworks in order to facilitate the project while calling on the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) to provide the required funding for the execution of the Arab electricity linkage in partnership with the private sector.
It underscored the importance of including the private sector in the establishment of an Arab electrical energy market and tasked the Arab electricity ministers with cooperating with AFESD to place a timeline and mechanism for executing the project and prepare a periodic report to be presented to the summit on this issue.
As for the railway linkage system, the draft resolution called for launching the project in line with the plan placed by the Council of Arab Transport Ministers and for member states to take steps to adapt their national legislations to remove all obstacles facing the completion of the project.
The resolution also called for placing a financing mechanism for the project based on commercial factors and allowing the private sector and Arab, regional and international finance institutions and funds to invest in the project.
It tasked the Arab transport ministers to follow up the implementation of the project and to prepare an agreement to this effect, along with a periodic report on what had been completed in this area.