بيانات صحفية

17 كانون الأول/ديسمبر 2013

Beirut

ESCWA Launches Publication on Promises of Arab Spring

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In the presence of civic activists, civil society organizations, academics, social researchers, local leaders and politicians from Lebanon, Jordan, Bahrain, Tunisia, Syria, Libya, Morocco, Egypt, and Yemen, ESCWA launched today its new publication entitled “Promises of Spring: Citizenship and Civic Engagement in Democratic Transitions”. The launching ceremony opened with a welcome note by Director of the ESCWA Social Development Division Frederico Neto, followed by a presentation on the said study by Chief of the Participatory Development Section Maha Yehya. In her presentation, Yehya said that the basic premise of this study is that citizenship is the foundation of democracy, that democratic practices need to go beyond procedural questions only such as voting and elections She explained that the publication begins with a chapter entitled “Text and Context: The People Want”. As for chapters two to four, they seek to address the challenges to Building Consensus and Maintaining Social Cohesion in Transition, through four key entry points for engaging with the Promises of Spring: first, Civil Society, Civic Activists, New Social Movements; second, the Civic State and Arab Uprisings; third, Social Justice and Consensus Building; and fourth, Social Cohesion and Transitional Justice. The publication ends with a fifth chapter entitled Arab Transitions Alternate Paths and Possible Trajectories that attempts to forecast possible trajectories for ongoing transitions in the region and from this infer the impact of these scenarios on issues such as participation, consensus building, social justice and social cohesion. Following the launching ceremony, a policy dialogue was held that engaged an audience of experts and policy makers on the value of the publication and its recommendations for the region.
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