On 10 February, ESCWA participated in a webinar on “Wealth Inequality and Cost of the Poverty Gap in Arab Countries amidst COVID”, organized by the Economic Department at SOAS University of London (School of Oriental and African Studies), as part of a series of webinars on "Intensifying Inequalities and the Limitations of Global Capitalism".
ESCWA stressed that the notoriously high inequality of wealth in the Arab region required stronger societal solidarity and shared responsibility of the private and public sectors for uplifting marginalized people out of poverty.
ESCWA also put forward its proposal for a solidarity wealth tax, which could comfortably cover the cost of closing the poverty gap in middle-income countries in 2019. However, a higher rate would be required in the least developed countries and in all Arab countries for 2020 and 2021, due to the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo: Sami Sabreen, Egypt
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16 Feb 2021
Wealth Inequality and Cost of the Poverty Gap in Arab Countries amidst COVID
