Major study spotlights Gulf states' humanitarian aid
Posted on 24 June 2010
The report, by scholars in the Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit in the Department of Politics at the University of York, will be presented today at a conference on ‘Peace, Stability and Development in the Middle East and North Africa Region’ in Oslo. The study is the first-ever in-depth analysis of the scale and use of aid from Gulf states specifically in war-torn contexts.
It reveals that the Gulf states – principally Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – provide billions of dollars annually in aid to developing and conflict-affected countries. Though traditionally focused on fellow Arab nations in the Middle East and North Africa, the Gulf states have increasingly funded projects globally, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
What we have found is not so much that the Gulf States need to copy the models used by the US, UK or Europe but that, in many respects, they can serve as a model for reminding Western donors of the need for non-coercive forms of aid
Professor Sultan Barakat
The paper, by PRDU Director Professor Sultan Barakat and Research Fellow Steven A. Zyck, examines not only the size of Gulf states’ aid but also what it supports and how it can be made more effective.
It is released as the international community tackles reconstruction in Afghanistan and contemplates limited negotiation with the Taliban-led insurgency. The researchers suggest that the further involvement of some Gulf states, may help to promote effective reconstruction and stability in Afghanistan. They say this may be possible due to the Gulf states’ generous financial aid, appreciation for Islamic traditions, and successes in countries such as Lebanon, as well as a previous relationship with the Taliban during the 1990s.
Steven Zyck will present the findings of the study at the conference organized by the World Bank in partnership with the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).
The study is released through the Centre for the Study of Global Governance (CSGG) at the London School of Economics (LSE). It is part of CSGG’s Kuwait Programme on Development, Governance and Globalisation in the Gulf States, which is supported by the Kuwait Foundation for Advancement of Sciences.
The research was inspired by the PRDU’s study of housing compensation in the aftermath of the so-called “July War” in Lebanon in 2006. Professor Barakat and Steven Zyck found that Arab Gulf states had provided hundreds of millions of dollars to the housing sector alone through innovative means which had enabled displaced populations to return home quickly at war’s end. They subsequently sought to examine how Gulf state donors had intervened in other locations, including Bosnia-Herzegovina, Afghanistan, Iraq, the occupied Palestinian Territories and Yemen. The role played by the Gulf states in each of these contexts is addressed in case studies included within the forthcoming publication.
The researchers say that in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Saudi government funded a major programme of mosque restoration while providing and subsidizing electricity, food and education for a large proportion of the country’s Muslim population, though the project raised ethno-religious tensions . Following the recent violence in the Gaza Strip, the Arab Gulf pledged more than twice as much in financial assistance as the United States and European Union combined.
The final paper says that the Gulf states’ current generosity builds on a long-standing record of humanitarian action rooted in Islamic principles of zakat, or charity. The study aims to ensure that the aid is used as effectively as possible while helping to promote peace and stability.
Professor Barakat said: “What we have found is not so much that the Gulf States need to copy the models used by the US, UK or Europe but that, in many respects, they can serve as a model for reminding Western donors of the need for non-coercive forms of aid which recognise the legitimacy of recipient states.”
This report will, from July 2010, be available electronically at the PRDU’s website as well as at: www.lse.ac.uk/collections/LSEKP/donorship.htm
Notes to editors:
- More about the Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit at www.york.ac.uk/depts/poli/prdu/
- More about Kuwait Programme on Development, Governance and Globalisation in the Gulf States at www.lse.ac.uk/collections/LSEKP/aboutus.htm
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