Civil society, media and accountability in the Arab Region

Over the past ten years, many groups in Arab states have been seen to be more disadvantaged, politically and economically, than was previously the case. Tensions within the region have been seen to have adverse impacts on the livelihoods of various groups in the Occupied Territories, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Algeria – to the extent that political change in key Arab states appears to have moved away from liberalisation rather than towards it. In this regard ruling establishments looked first to their own survival, by playing off sections of the political opposition against each other,

This paper attempts to show how civil society in the Arab States can hold those in power to account, against a backdrop of vulnerability to state interference. In reviewing a series of case studies, the author argues that the success of civil society groups is often hinged to relative strength of all civil society and human rights advocacy groups iwithin different country contexts. She approaches this argument under the banner of two broad categories

activism for women’s political participation
activism against human rights abuse
The author further argues that the campaign for women’s political participation was not a party-political one, it has made more headway in countries with a functioning multi-party system than in those without, inspite of it not being a party political one. Conclusions drawn from this paper are:

activists involved in these struggles noted the importance of wider social development, fluid political relations, a well-established NGO sector, the positive impact of visible interim successes, and the importance of good relations with the press
that the most urgent reason for calling power-holders in the Arab region to account is the very lack of mechanisms for enforcing accountability.

Publisher: Human Development Report Office
Year of Publication: 2001