UN Report on Arab World Development 2003

“Let me close now on a note of personal optimism. I believe that our living Arab heritage, our endlessly creative Arabic language and our eternal religion, Islam, are infinitely durable forces. These foundations of our civilization once supported a knowledge society that was the envy of the world. They will do so again if we clear away the defective social, economic and political structures we have piled on them. We can free our minds to reason without fear; free our people’s souls to breathe; and free our knowledge systems to grow into sources of new economic, social and technological strength. The Arab people deserve nothing less in this new millennium of knowledge.”

 

Dr Rima Hunaidi, UN Assistant Secretary General & Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab State, UNDP