This timely volume describes and analyzes critical aspects of the labor market and social protection in the Arab world. Its authors address the complex interrelationship that has evolved between labor, human development, and, above all, social well-being in the Middle East and North Africa region—an interaction that is viewed against the backdrop of a globalization process that is a crucial shaping factor in national and international relations alike. The authors examine in detail the implications for workers of the new forms of insecurity being ushered in by the globalization era. At the forefront is the issue of social protection, which of itself creates a number of dilemmas for policymakers, since formal social security gives cover to only a small percentage of the labor force. The idea of social reinsurance, which would integrate the informal sector and allow for social dialog, emerges at various levels, and there is general agreement that any such dialog, or new social contract, must include government, the private sector, and civil society. This book is the product of the Mediterranean Development Forum, a partnership of ten Middle East and North Africa think tanks, and the World Bank Institute. Contributors to the volume include Ali Abdel Gadir Ali, Alan Abrahart, Victor Billeh, Moez Doraid, Ibrahim A. Elbadawi, Maurice Girgis, Iqbal Kaur, Noha El-Mikawy, Valentine Moghadam, Marsha Pripstein Posusney, and Zafiris Tzannatos.

Heba Handoussa is Managing Director of the Economic Research Forum for the Arab Countries, Iran and Turkey, a well established regional think-tank and networking organization. She is a member of Egypt's Shura Council and an advisor to the government of Egypt and to several international development organizations. Zafiris Tzannatos was formerly Sector Manager, Social Protection in the Middle East and North Africa Region, at the World Bank, where he is currently Adviser to the Managing Director.