Arab Human Development Reports: About AHDR

"The Arab Human Development Reports have become a strategic blueprint for UNDP programming in the Arab States region, informing development projects that are rooted in the region's priorities, capacities, and objectives."
Amat Al Alim Alsoswa Regional Director, UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States
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The Arab Human Development Report series has become a milestone in the broader debate over the development reform agenda in the Arab region, with AHDR recommendations increasingly reflected in development programming at the national and regional levels. The first Arab Human Development Report (AHDR) 2002, Creating Opportunities for Future Generations, defined three deficits impeding the human development of the Arab region:
      I. Knowledge
      II. Freedoms and
      III. Women's rights

" Without a strong and growing contemporary knowledge base of their own, Arab countries will be absorbed into the international knowledge society as passive consumers of other countries' proprietary knowledge, technology and services."
Arab Human Development Report 2003

The AHDR series identified knowledge as a cornerstone of human development: a means of expanding people's capabilities and a tool for overcoming human poverty.

Towards this goal, UNDP has launched a number of regional programmes:
- to promote information and communication technology for development (ICTD http://www.ictdar.org),
- to enhance educational quality assurance [http://www.arabtimss-undp.org ] at the primary, secondary and higher education levels, and to support longer-term capacity building in the region through the establishment of regional mechanisms.

" Governance in Arab countries is undergoing a process of reform. We hope that these Reports will help to plant the seeds of good governance in the region by inspiring a society-wide process of creative thinking, innovation and collective work in which all dynamic societal forces in Arab countries will take part."
Arab Human Development Report 2004

POGAR's activities range from capacity building and knowledge generation to policy advice and dialogue, creating strategic partnerships among government officials, civil society organizations, academics and donor agencies.

In response to AHDR 2002, POGAR constructed comprehensive legal databases [http://www.arablegalportal.org] in Arabic (Egypt, Iraq, Arab banking laws); translated, commissioned and published several studies on governance-related issues; and launched its own website (http://www.undp-pogar.org), which provides resources on governance reform in Arab countries.

"This Report calls for the temporary adoption of the principle of affirmative action or positive discrimination in expanding the participation of women to all fields of human activity in every Arab society according to the particular circumstances of each."
Arab Human Development Report (2005)

Center for Arab Women Training and Research (CAWTAR http://www.cawtar.org) - Based in Tunis, CAWTAR is an independent regional institution that promotes gender equality in the Arab World through research, training, networking and advocacy. Originally supported as a joint project of UNDP, Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organizations (AGFUND http://www.agfund.org ), and later the World Bank, CAWTAR has produced Arab Women Development Reports (AWDRs) since 2001. The AWDRs are a series of thematic periodical reports whose primary objective is to address the knowledge gap in gender-related research in the Arab region.

HIV/AIDS Regional Programme in the Arab States (HARPAS http://www.harpas.org ) - Based in Cairo, HARPAS works to heighten awareness and to build commitment and leadership in the regional response to HIV/AIDS. In May 2006, HARPAS launched a Regional Women Religious Leaders Forum in Cairo, Egypt that culminated in the Tripoli Declaration. The Declaration commits religious communities to advocate for an end to discrimination, and to protect women and children infected, and affected, by the HIV virus.

A multidisciplinary Advisory Group of more than twenty Arab thought leaders acting in their personal capacities oversaw the preparation of the Arab Human Development Reports. It comprised academics, intellectuals, opinion leaders and former policy makers from a range of Arab countries and from various schools of thought. Members were selected, taking into account the advice of their peers, for their expertise and intellectual independence and on considerations of geographical balance.

One-third of the Board's members were replaced each year to bring in Arab experts on the particular topic of the report under preparation. Care was exercised to ensure that regionally sensitive themes such as culture, religion, human rights and women's empowerment were analyzed by Arab authorities and contextualized.

A team of nine core and over thirty contributing Arab scholars worked independently of the sponsoring institutions to research and write the Reports, which were prepared in Arabic and translated into English.

The Arab Human Development Report (AHDR) series has become a milestone in the broader debate over the development reform agenda in the Arab region, with AHDR recommendations increasingly reflected in development programming at the national and regional levels. The pioneering first AHDR, issued in 2002, identified three critical development deficits - in the acquisition of knowledge, in political freedoms and in women's rights.

To further encourage the development of AHDR-informed programming at the national-level, the Arab Human Development Report Trust Fund was established in 2003 with contributions from Denmark and the United Kingdom.

At Present, national AHDR projects are carried out in Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen, Bahrain, Somalia, Syria and Morocco. Development programming in the 17 UNDP Country Offices [http://www.undp.org/arabstates/] (COs) in the Arab region have been aligning to address these deficits in line with the national development agendas and UNDP's mandate of poverty alleviation [http://www.undp.org/poverty/] and the [Millennium Development Goals http://www.undp.org/mdg/ ] (MDGs).

At the Regional level, the Regional Bureau for Arab States http://www.undp.org/arabstates/ (RBAS) launched a number of regional programmes aimed to establish sustainable initiatives, benchmarks and institutions to address the three deficits.

In the area of knowledge, the regional programmes promote information and communication technology for development (http://www.ictdar.org ICTD), enhance educational quality assurance at the primary, secondary and higher education levels, and support longer-term capacity building in the region through the establishment of regional mechanisms.

The governance programme advances four pillars of good governance practice: (1) Rule of Law; (2) Transparency and Accountability; (3) Participation; and (4) Human Rights.

In the area of women's empowerment the HIV/AIDS Programme launched a Regional Women Religious Leaders Forum that culminated in the Tripoli Declaration and the Center for Arab Women's Training and Research (CAWTAR), originally supported as a joint project of UNDP, AGFUND [http://www.agfund.org], and later the World Bank, CAWTAR has produced Arab Women Development Reports since 2001.


HDR/MDG Reports - Global HDR Reports - Arab Human Development Reports - Other Regional HDR Reports - National HDR Reports (view all): - View by Topic/Theme: - National MDG Reports (view all): Resources - AHDR Statistics (all indicators): - MDG Statistics (all indicators): - Arab Countries UNDP Offices: - Related Publications - Related Weblinks Search & Navigation - Home - Arabic Version	Arab Human Development Report A Report Prepared for Arabs by Arabs! - AHDR Series: Impact on the Ground - Contributors - AHDR Trust Fund The AHDR Series: Impact on the Ground "The Arab Human Development Reports have become a strategic blueprint for UNDP programming in the Arab States region, informing development projects that are rooted in the region's priorities, capacities, and objectives." Amat Al Alim Alsoswa Regional Director, UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States more ... The Arab Human Development Report series has become a milestone in the broader debate over the development reform agenda in the Arab region, with AHDR recommendations increasingly reflected in development programming at the national and regional levels. The first Arab Human Development Report (AHDR) 2002, Creating Opportunities for Future Generations, defined three deficits impeding the human development of the Arab region: I. Knowledge II. Freedoms and III. Women's rights I. KNOWLEDGE " Without a strong and growing contemporary knowledge base of their own, Arab countries will be absorbed into the international knowledge society as passive consumers of other countries' proprietary knowledge, technology and services." Arab Human Development Report 2003 The AHDR series identified knowledge as a cornerstone of human development: a means of expanding people's capabilities and a tool for overcoming human poverty. Towards this goal, UNDP has launched a number of regional programmes: - to promote information and communication technology for development (ICTD http://www.ictdar.org), - to enhance educational quality assurance [http://www.arabtimss-undp.org ] at the primary, secondary and higher education levels, and to support longer-term capacity building in the region through the establishment of regional mechanisms. II. GOVERNANCE " Governance in Arab countries is undergoing a process of reform. We hope that these Reports will help to plant the seeds of good governance in the region by inspiring a society-wide process of creative thinking, innovation and collective work in which all dynamic societal forces in Arab countries will take part." Arab Human Development Report 2004 The Programme on Governance in the Arab Region (POGAR) works to advance four pillars of good governance practice: (1) Rule of Law; [http://www.arab-niaba.org, http://www.arabruleoflaw.org ] (2) Transparency and Accountability; (3) Participation; and [gender and citizenship, http://www.arabparliaments.org/ ] (4) Human Rights. [http://www.arabhumanrights.org/en/] POGAR's activities range from capacity building and knowledge generation to policy advice and dialogue, creating strategic partnerships among government officials, civil society organizations, academics and donor agencies. In response to AHDR 2002, POGAR constructed comprehensive legal databases [http://www.arablegalportal.org] in Arabic (Egypt, Iraq, Arab banking laws); translated, commissioned and published several studies on governance-related issues; and launched its own website (http://www.undp-pogar.org), which provides resources on governance reform in Arab countries. III. WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT "This Report calls for the temporary adoption of the principle of affirmative action or positive discrimination in expanding the participation of women to all fields of human activity in every Arab society according to the particular circumstances of each." Arab Human Development Report (2005) The Regional initiatives to advance women's empowerment include: Center for Arab Women Training and Research (CAWTAR http://www.cawtar.org) - Based in Tunis, CAWTAR is an independent regional institution that promotes gender equality in the Arab World through research, training, networking and advocacy. Originally supported as a joint project of UNDP, Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organizations (AGFUND http://www.agfund.org ), and later the World Bank, CAWTAR has produced Arab Women Development Reports (AWDRs) since 2001. The AWDRs are a series of thematic periodical reports whose primary objective is to address the knowledge gap in gender-related research in the Arab region. HIV/AIDS Regional Programme in the Arab States (HARPAS http://www.harpas.org ) - Based in Cairo, HARPAS works to heighten awareness and to build commitment and leadership in the regional response to HIV/AIDS. In May 2006, HARPAS launched a Regional Women Religious Leaders Forum in Cairo, Egypt that culminated in the Tripoli Declaration. The Declaration commits religious communities to advocate for an end to discrimination, and to protect women and children infected, and affected, by the HIV virus. Contributors A multidisciplinary Advisory Group of more than twenty Arab thought leaders acting in their personal capacities oversaw the preparation of the Arab Human Development Reports. It comprised academics, intellectuals, opinion leaders and former policy makers from a range of Arab countries and from various schools of thought. Members were selected, taking into account the advice of their peers, for their expertise and intellectual independence and on considerations of geographical balance. One-third of the Board's members were replaced each year to bring in Arab experts on the particular topic of the report under preparation. Care was exercised to ensure that regionally sensitive themes such as culture, religion, human rights and women's empowerment were analyzed by Arab authorities and contextualized. A team of nine core and over thirty contributing Arab scholars worked independently of the sponsoring institutions to research and write the Reports, which were prepared in Arabic and translated into English. 2005 Report Team: http://www.undp.org/arabstates/PDF2005/AHDR4_07.pdf 2004 Report Team: http://www.undp.org/arabstates/PDF2004/10PR_AHDR04_E.pdf 2003 Report Team: http://www.undp.org/arabstates/ahdr/press_kits2003/5_AHDR03_bios.qxd.pdf 2002 Report Team: http://www.arab-hdr.org/contents/2002/contributors-e.pdf AHDR Trust Fund The Arab Human Development Report (AHDR) series has become a milestone in the broader debate over the development reform agenda in the Arab region, with AHDR recommendations increasingly reflected in development programming at the national and regional levels. The pioneering first AHDR, issued in 2002, identified three critical development deficits - in the acquisition of knowledge, in political freedoms and in women's rights. To further encourage the development of AHDR-informed programming at the national-level, the Arab Human Development Report Trust Fund was established in 2003 with contributions from Denmark and the United Kingdom. At Present, national AHDR projects are carried out in Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen, Bahrain, Somalia, Syria and Morocco. Development programming in the 17 UNDP Country Offices [http://www.undp.org/arabstates/] (COs) in the Arab region have been aligning to address these deficits in line with the national development agendas and UNDP's mandate of poverty alleviation [http://www.undp.org/poverty/] and the [Millennium Development Goals http://www.undp.org/mdg/ ] (MDGs). At the Regional level, the Regional Bureau for Arab States http://www.undp.org/arabstates/ (RBAS) launched a number of regional programmes aimed to establish sustainable initiatives, benchmarks and institutions to address the three deficits. In the area of knowledge, the regional programmes promote information and communication technology for development (http://www.ictdar.org ICTD), enhance educational quality assurance at the primary, secondary and higher education levels, and support longer-term capacity building in the region through the establishment of regional mechanisms. The governance programme advances four pillars of good governance practice: (1) Rule of Law; (2) Transparency and Accountability; (3) Participation; and (4) Human Rights. In the area of women's empowerment the HIV/AIDS Programme launched a Regional Women Religious Leaders Forum that culminated in the Tripoli Declaration and the Center for Arab Women's Training and Research (CAWTAR), originally supported as a joint project of UNDP, AGFUND [http://www.agfund.org], and later the World Bank, CAWTAR has produced Arab Women Development Reports since 2001.