The Gender and Public Policy program is committed to supporting the Dubai School of Government’s goal to promote good governance and contribute to capacity building in the region.

Since the spark of the popular movements across the Arab world, the critical debate about Arab youth’s political empowerment and the innovative uses of social media has been ongoing in policy and academic circles.

The passionate debate on the impact of social media in the Arab world has continued throughout 2011 and 2012. However, it has largely moved beyond the classical polarized perception of the rigid paradigms of technologically deterministic’ views and the overly-romanticized ‘people power’ ones.

Arab Social Media Report: The Role of Social Media in Arab Women’s Empowerment Vol.1 No.3 Racha Mourtada, Fadi Salem with May Al Dabbagh and Ghalia Gargani November 2011

The second Arab Social Media Report highlights and specifically analyzes usage trends of online social networking across the Arab region based on data collected in the first quarter of 2011. In this edition, the report analyzes data on Twitter and Facebook users in all 22 Arab countries, in addition to Iran, Israel and Turkey, highlighting the role they played in the civil movements that swept the region during that period.

The Arab Social Media Report, produced by the Dubai School of Government’s Governance and Innovation Program, is the first in a quarterly series that will highlight and analyze usage trends of specific networking tools across the Arab region. In its inaugural edition, the report analyzes data on Facebook users in all 22 Arab countries, in addition to Iran and Israel.

This report is based on an exhaustive review of source material in Arabic, French and English, including interviews with members of the Dubai and Djiboutian business communities, shipping and logistics agents and traders, and international aid organizations. It is the first systematic investigation of the origins and economic impact of a 10-year partnership, one the author argues holds potentially serious implications for the aid/investment balance in Africa.

This report is based on an exhaustive review of source material in Arabic, French and English, including interviews with members of the Dubai and Djiboutian business communities, shipping and logistics agents and traders, and international aid organizations. It is the first systematic investigation of the origins and economic impact of a 10-year partnership, one the author argues holds potentially serious implications for the aid/investment balance in Africa.The full monograph will be published in late summer, 2010.

The recommendations in this report are proposed to facilitate the development of institutional alliances that need to take place in order to capitalize on social entrepreneurship, boost economic opportunities for young people in the Middle East, and prepare the region become more fully integrated into a rapidly changing global economy.

This report, based on three years of research, provides a framework for addressing the economic challenges facing young people in the Middle East.