Literature review on social exclusion in the ESCWA region

Focusing on the economic and social commission for western Asia (ESCWA), this review contains an overview and analysis of the concept of social exclusion. It aims to serve as the entry point into a broader analysis aimed at measuring the processes and dynamics of social exclusion by identifying areas on which to focus subsequent research and raising preliminary questions requiring further analysis.

While the broad notion of social exclusion is relatively new in the literature of the ESCWA region, it involves social problems that have long existed, notably poverty, unemployment and various forms of marginalisation.  This review argues that a partition of the region for the purpose of analysis could reflect the types of excluded groups under study.  Millenium Development Goal (MDG) reports for Egypt, Lebanon and Yemen, among the reports studied for this review, all indicate grave regional disparities in terms of human development with regard to the prevalence of illiteracy, gender discrimination and poverty. MDG reports also indicate the almost total elimination of illiteracy in oil-producing countries, which ideally eliminates illiteracy as a category of exclusion, or excludes the countries where there is no social exclusion because of illiteracy.

Key concluding remarks and propositions for further analysis include that:

• the empirical study conducted in Yemen sets a good example on how to initiate analysis of the problem, given that it aimed primarily at obtaining direct information relating to the issue of exclusion from identified groups and from policymakers
• in order to avoid uncertain or superficial analysis, it is equally imperative to study and understand the society to find causes and roots of social exclusion. Attention must be given to the way social institutions, political rights and economic processes interact to generate better livelihoods, social justice and social cohesion
• some recommend a bottom-up participatory process that could allow an initial understanding of what constitutes social exclusion, and who are considered most vulnerable, starting with data gathered from various concerned and interested groups
• multi-disciplinary research teams need to be formed in order to explore the variety of processes involved through the different disciplinary perspectives. Data is to be collected on processes of social exclusion, the social status of excluded groups and their perception of exclusion