Ahmed Aref

Over the past five years, labour policies in the countries of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have witnessed significant transformations driven by numerous macro-level challenges, such as demographic imbalance, dependence on hydrocarbon economy, political and security crises. Despite the challenges' commonality across the GCC, yet, policy responses related to labour were different from country to another. This article explores the macro-level challenges facing labour policymaking in the GCC, followed by an examination of social inclusion/exclusion patterns targeting expatriate workers in Qatar and Saudi Arabia due to the recent labour policy transformations. Both countries were selected to provide in-depth contextual analysis of the radical shift towards inclusion in Qatar and exclusion in Saudi Arabia.

This paper highlights the importance of housing welfare system in shaping family formation decision and family dissolution. The paper builds on the notion of the meaning of home as a spatial context in which human existence are performed. The meaning of control of housing space is often linked to the meaning of the family and the concept “ontological security”. Ontological security can be attained more through parental home ownership which leads to family cohesion and child well-being. A very limited number of studies examine the effects of housing welfare system on family formation and family dissolution. Qatari government is now encountering new challenges in the face of rapid economic growth and social transformation in the country. According to a 2011 report released by the Social and Economical Survey Research Institute (SESRI) at Qatar University, about two-thirds of women either marry late or never get married. The average age gap between bride and groom is dwindling from five years to 2–3 years. The fertility rate in Qatar has dropped from 5.7 per woman in 1990 to 3.6 in 2012. According the Qatar Statistic Authority, the number of divorces per 1,000 married Qataris has increased from 17.4 in 1995 to 19.2 in 2009. According to official data, 61% of divorces took place within the first five years of marriage, and 29% happened before consummation in 2009. What is behind these demographic and social changes and why has the number of never married women and divorce rate increased? Previous studies have explained some of these changes. This paper suggests that housing welfare system is affecting family formation decision and family dissolution in Qatar. How Housing welfare system have affected family formation and dissolution in Qatar is not only an interesting topic but also illustrates how “family policies” operate in a generous welfare state. The Government of Qatar takes a holistic approach in strengthening family cohesion, one of the main goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030 and National Development Strategy 2011–2016. For instance, the government supports programs that reduce economic and social vulnerability Qatari families and provide support systems for families with special circumstances. In addition, the government of Qatar aims to reduce the number of Qatar couples seeking divorce before consummation by 20% and after consummation by 40% by 2016. Qatar Housing welfare system has achieved at least two major goals in the last decades. One is the achievement of an urban development process that has urbanized the Qatari population. The other is the improvement of the standard of living of Qatari families. Utilizing a mixed-methods design and given the lack of careful studies and data on the subject, this paper attempts to assess the impact housing welfare system on family formation and dissolution in Qatar. The paper questions the sustainability of current practice and interrogates the ways in which it is open to abuse. Keywords Housing, Welfare, Polices, Qatar, Family, Formation, Dissolution

This article explores the dichotomy of policies in Arab Mashreq countries between austerity for the poor and prosperity for the rich. The article sheds the light on the unjust policy response to Covid-19, and investigates the people's resilience mechanisms, coping with poverty and exacerbated hardship.

Over the past five years, labour policies in the countries of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have witnessed significant transformations driven by numerous macro-level challenges, such as demographic imbalance, dependence on hydrocarbon economy, political and security crises. Despite the challenges' commonality across the GCC, yet, policy responses related to labour were different from country to another. This article explores the macro-level challenges facing labour policymaking in the GCC, followed by an examination of social inclusion/exclusion patterns targeting expatriate workers in Qatar and Saudi Arabia due to the recent labour policy transformations. Both countries were selected to provide in-depth contextual analysis of the radical shift towards inclusion in Qatar and exclusion in Saudi Arabia.

Despite the fact that the GCC states have witnessed considerable educational attainment for women and increased female labour force participation, yet, they are characterized by higher rates of gender gap due to fewer granted economic and political opportunities for women.
Through decades of gulf studies, accumulated evidence examined the relationship between oil revenue and women empowerment, where the GCC states appear on the surface to exhibit the correlation between oil wealth and gender discrimination. Literature shows that in times of high oil revenues, fewer improvements to women’s economic rights appeared and less participation in the labor market occurs. In turn, times of lower oil prices would, witness an expansion of women’s economic rights and public agency within the labor market.
Examining the nexus between these two factors, this paper will explore the relationship between oil wealth and women’s participation within the labor force of Kuwait and Qatar and its relationship to the policy context. The paper will contextualize this correlation within the macro level frame of patriarchy, tribalism, socioeconomic and demographical driving forces.
This will be examined within the context of these two extreme rentier states as they represented not only some of the Middle East’s highest oil or gas producing countries but are among the few countries within the wider Arab region that are listed among the ranks of countries with very high human development rates. Thus, to test this inverse correlation between oil prices and the status of women within the economy of the oil-exporting nations of the Kuwait and Qatar, this paper examines the
national approaches of both states towards the participation of local women in the labor force over the past decade, a period of time that witnessed two episodes of significant decreases in oil and gas revenue both at the global and regional levels (e.g. 2008-2009 and 2014-2015).
This analysis contextualizes pre-existing statistical data on local women’s participation in the labor force within a textual exploration of official government statements and work policies and programs designed to target this issue and its related socioeconomic challenges during this specific period in order to examine the validity of the gendered oil curse narrative and its generalizability as it relates to the Arab Gulf region.

This policy brief provides a critical overview on parenting styles in the MENA region. It explores the context, which supports or hinders positive parenting within MENA realities. The brief analyzes parenting education programs in the region and explores whether it speaks to parenting styles or if there is a dichotomy between the both. The conclusion provides a set of recommendations for better parenting programs in the MENA region.

This co-authored project used rapid impact assessment tools to examine the impact of housing welfare system on family formation and family dissolution in Qatar
It was awarded the first posters prize in the social sciences pillar - Annual Research Conference 2016 (ARC 16).
http://www.qscience.com/doi/pdf/10.5339/qfarc.2016.SSHAPP2665

This study maps -at macro level- the current functions of the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the Arab region, with a particular focus on the challenges faced by the NGOs in functioning the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) within the context of conflict and humanitarian settings.
The study used (2659) NGOs from the (22) Arab States as an area sample to classify the Arab NGOs into 3 categories; social-oriented, political-oriented and economic-oriented NGOs. The results showed the majority of NGOs in the Arab region is social-oriented NGOs (74) %, followed by (20) % political-oriented NGOs, then (6) % economic-oriented NGOs. The highest representation of the political-oriented NGOs is located in the Arab Mashreq States, and the lowest of these NGOs is in the Gulf States. As for the economic-oriented NGOs, the highest percentage is in the Arab Maghreb States, followed by the Gulf States, and the lowest percentage is located in the Arab Least Developed Countries (Arab LDCs).
The M&E mechanisms were examined in (3) case studies of national, regional and international NGOs working within the context of conflict and humanitarian settings. The results highlighted that the M&E functions is limited to the field work of observers and activists; the levels of challenges vary from the legal constrains, security restrictions, killing and abduction by the armed groups in the conflict zones.

Keywords:
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), Conflict and Humanitarian settings in the Arab Region, Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDGs 2030).

This position paper I presented as the head of the Egyptian delegation to the international conference; "Strengthening the Role of Parliament in Addressing the Social Impact of Economic Reforms and Promoting E-Parliament in Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon”, organized by the International Development Law Organization in cooperation with the Institute for Relations between Italy and the Countries of Africa, Latin America, the Middle and Far East (IDLO-IPALMO), Rome, Italy, 13 July 2011.

The study tries first to illustrate -at the macro level- the dimensions of the intersected relationship between political power and economic wealth in international relations, then the scope is narrowed down to provide an answer to the main research questions; how can countries use their economic wealth to support their political power and achieve political goals? In the other hand, how can countries use their political power to gain more economic wealth? A case study of US aid to Egypt was chosen as evidence to prove this particular relationship.