1. Selected
Development Indicators
for Arab Countries,
Turkey and Iran
Perrihan Al-Riffai
A presentation based on WDI indicators and
2011 IFPRI report “Beyond the Arab Awakening…”

2. Purpose
Overview of the state of food security
and poverty in Arab Countries,
Turkey and Iran
To inform participants before the
voting
Other support material for participants:
IFPRI report “Beyond the Arab Awakening…”

3. Objectives and Selected Indicators
• Reduce rural poverty
– GDP per capita, Rural and urban poverty
• Increase food security, nutrition and health
– Micro-level food insecurity, Macro-level food
insecurity
• Improve sustainability of natural resources
– Share of population using improved drinking water
source, Water stress & economic growth
• Enhance opportunities for and participation of
women
– Ratio of girls/boys in primary & secondary education,
Women employed in non agricultural sectors

4. GDP per Capita ($)

5. Rural and Urban Poverty (%)
IFAD. Rural Poverty Report. 2011

6. Social indicators may not have improved…

7. Micro-level Food Insecurity

8. Macro-level Food Insecurity

9. Share of population using
an improved drinking water source (%)

10. Water stress & economic growth outlook
used (%)

11. Ratio of girls to boys
in primary and secondary education

12. Share of women employed
in non-agricultural sectors (%)

13. Conclusions
• Several indicators are alarmingly high
• Poverty and income inequality, and more
broadly the deficiency of social indicators, are
likely higher than official numbers suggest
• We need a multi-sectoral approach to
address the challenges and move forward
• Due to budgetary limitations, we need to
prioritize fund allocation to the research and
policy agenda of the region

14. YOU will decide!