I. the Informal Economy
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2016 2016 Report Team Background and Regional Papers: Ziad Abdel Samad (Executive Director, Arab NGO Network for Development), Roberto Bissio (Coordinator, Social Watch In- ternational Secretariat), Samir Aita (President, Cercle des Economistes Arabes), Dr. Martha Chen and Jenna Harvey (WIEGO Network), Dr. Mohamed Said Saadi (Political Economy Professor and Researcher), Dr. Faouzi Boukhriss (Sociology Professor, Ibn Toufail University, Qunaitira, Morocco), Dr. Howaida Adly (Political Sciences Professor, National Center for Sociological and Criminilogical Research, Egypt), Dr. Azzam Mahjoub (University Professor and International Expert), ANND works in 12 Arab countries with 9 national networks (with an extended membership Mohamed Mondher Belghith (International Expert), Shahir George (Independent of 250 CSOs from different backgrounds) and 23 NGO members. Researcher). P.O.Box: 4792/14 | Mazraa: 1105-2070 | Beirut, Lebanon National Reports: Dr. Moundir Alassasi (Job Market and Social Protection in the Tel: +961 1 319366 | Fax: +961 1 815636 Arab World Researcher and Expert), Dr. Khaled Minna (Job Market Researcher and www.annd.org – www.csrdar.org Expert), Dr. Hassan Ali al-Ali (Independent Researcher, Bahrain), Dr. Reem Adbel Halim (Independent Researcher, Egypt), Saoud Omar (Unionist and Consultant to the International Industrial Union, Egypt), Hanaa Abdul Jabbar Saleh (National Accounts Expert, Iraq), Ahmad Awad (Phenix Center for Economic and Informat- ics Studies, Jordan), Rabih Fakhri (Independent Researcher, Lebanon), Moham- med Ahmad al-Mahboubi (Development, Media, and Gender Studies Expert and Consultant, Mauritania), Dr. Faouzi Boukhriss (Sociology Professor, Ibn Toufail University, Qunaitira, Morocco), Firas Jaber (Founder and Researcher, al-Marsad, Palestine), Iyad Riyahi (Founder and Researcher, al-Marsad, Palestine), Dr. Hassan Ahmad Abdel Ati (National Civil Forum, Sudan), Dr. Ashraf Othman Mohammed al-Hassan (Political Sciences Professor at the Sudan University), Syrian Center for Policy Studies, Dr. Ali Mohammed al-Nusairi (Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor Relations, Labor Relations Department, Yemen). Translation: Michel Dano, Abdel-Rahman Ayas Copyediting: Edwin Nasr “This publication was produced and published with the support of Diakonia, Swedish Devel- ANND Support Team: Ziad Abdel Samad, Salaheddine al-Jourchi, Zahra Bazzi, opment Cooperation, Ford Foundation, Norwegian People’s Aid, and IM Sweden. Farah Al Shami, Ghassan Makarem, Balsam Halawi, Aida Younes Opinions in the report do not necessarily reflect those of the supporting organizations. 5 FIRST SECTION SECOND SECTION 01. Introduction 06 Informal Labor: Policies’ drives and reality’s strain Algeria 131 02. Past and future of informal workers 09 Informal labor 03. Arab watch reposrt on economic Bahrain 134 and social rights 13 Informal Labor 04. The informal economy in arab nations: Egypt 138 A comparative perspective 49 Informal Labor 05. Informal work in Arab countries 72 Iraq 140 06. Neoliberal policies and formal labor Informal Labor in the Arab region 84 Jordan 143 07. Gender dimensions of informal labor 92 Informal Labor Lebanon 147 08. Informal labor in the Arab countries through international statistical indicators and data 100 Informal Labor Mauritania 160 09. Informal labor and migration in the Arab region 125 Informal Labor Sudan 165 Informal Labor Syria 170 TABLE OF CONTENT Informal Labor Yemen 174 6 7 Introduction Introduction Since the eruption of the Arab Spring, Arab countries have benefiting from the international economic, financial, and been facing major challenges that can almost be described as commercial ties that led to the emergence of the crony existential challenges. On the one hand, the past decades have economy. As a result, corruption and tax evasion spread shown us that states ruled by dictatorships without any sort of everywhere around the world, aggravating the situation even accountability have failed to provide basic needs and protect more. People subscribing to this point of view consider that the individual and collective rights of their citizens, and on the the problem lies in the adopted structure and leads to all other, transition from dictatorship towards democracy has not these morbid social phenomena; therefore, it widens the gap been easy and even more complicated than expected. between different social classes. Arab revolutions have erupted in protest against dictatorships Both sides agree that it is important to adopt a different that have excessively silenced and suppressed their peoples development model; however, they disagree on the elements and violently annihilated political diversity. However, social constituting this model. Those of the first stance tend to and economic demands were by far the most prominent propose more liberalism and liberation as they believe that demands as economic, social, geographic, gender, ethnic, the state is a failed state and that the market economy and religious inequalities widened. Perhaps, increasing mechanisms, with some control, can achieve growth rates poverty, unemployment, and marginalization were the factors that can address the social issues such as poverty and that led to the eruption of anger and revolutions throughout unemployment, while those opting for the second stance the Arab region. reiterate that the state should play an essential role in the development process, especially that they clearly differentiate Moreover, countries going through the experience of peaceful between development in all its forms as a human right based transition towards democracy, namely Tunisia, but also on freedom and right to self-determination, and growth as one countries where no Arab spring erupted, also affected by it of the factor supporting development among many others. like Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon, and some Gulf states, have ANND subscribes to the second position, which considers all faced the challenge of maintaining political stability, that the shifts occurring in the Arab region should be based threatened by the lack of social justice and dormant popular on a new social contract addressing the issue of the state, anger, occasionally expressed by groups of people demanding its nature, and its relationships with its components, thus to obtain their economic and social rights. The lack of some promoting human rights, secularism, and separation of of the major rights, like the right to work, social protection, powers. The economic and social aspects also have a share fair taxation, distribution policies, and many other rights, is in this contract, thus promoting citizenship in its three considered one of the main factors affecting stability. dimensions: civil, political and social. Even before the eruption of the Arab Spring, economic and Since the eruption of the Arab Spring, ANND’s publications social policies were considered a challenge to be highlighted have criticized all statements still considering that achieving and addressed, as successive UN reports covering the Arab higher growth rates should solve all development issues. region since 2002, followed later by international financial ANND seeks to build, with its members and partners, an institutions reports, namely the World Bank, had highlighted alternative vision addressing the basic components of the the importance of addressing these issues as they threaten desired development model. Therefore, it launched two political stability and do not protect tyrants from people’s research projects, one on tax justice and the other on social anger in the event that this anger erupts at the surface. Civil protection systems, and before that it issued a report on labor society has contributed to this dialogue. ANND had issued policy in relation with education, in addition to research on a several reports about the relationship between democracy variety of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) experiences and and social justice, and the connection between fulfilling on international business ties, focusing on investment policies development goals, public liberties, and democracy. Civil and service agreements and how they could be transformed society organization keep on emphasizing the importance of into effective tools to achieve development and not just this balanced relationship between creating a state and its growth as per the prevailing classical theories. All of these institutions on the one hand, and achieving social justice and research projects tackle the main components of the desired development on the other. The UN Millennium Declaration development model, which relies on addressing the structural and the sustainable development action plan subsequently defect and sets the foundations of social justice. approved by the UN in 2015, both confirm this relationship, particularly in Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals. The causal relationship between social justice and democracy The Arab Watch Report on Economic on the one hand, and building a state on the other, is the main 01 concern of organizations working on achieving development and Social Rights – Informal Labor and prosperity. However, the approaches proposed to address economic and social imbalances are very different Informal labor is considered as one of the main causes of from one another. Some consider that structural reforms instability faced not only by countries of the region, but also implemented in the past decades, in accordance with the by the whole world. According to the International Labor vision adopted by the Washington