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Obama says Mideast countries must ‘lift up their citizens’ Call for responsive governments at Dubai summit amid turmoil
(about 1 hour later)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — U.S. President Barack Obama says governments across the Middle East that make a “commitment to justice and human rights” will continue to have a friend in America. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — World leaders including U.S. President Barack Obama called Monday for governments to be responsive to and inclusive of their citizens, especially as the unrest of the Arab Spring still reverberates across the Middle East.
Obama also noted the ongoing strife shaking the Mideast in the years following the 2011 Arab Spring. Those gathered for the World Government Summit in Dubai offered no immediate solutions to the crises gripping the region, like low global oil prices, global warming and the rise of violent extremism. But all acknowledged that keeping government responsive to its citizens remains crucial.
Obama said: “As we’ve seen in the tumult across the Middle East and North Africa, when governments do not lift up their citizens, it’s a recipe for instability and strife.” “As we’ve seen in the tumult across the Middle East and North Africa, when governments do not lift up their citizens, it’s a recipe for instability and strife,” Obama said in a video address shown at the summit.
Obama made the comments in a video address shown Monday at the World Government Summit in Dubai. World leaders are gathered in this city-state in the United Arab Emirates for several days of talks about the future of governance. Yet since the 2011 Arab Spring began, turmoil grips large sections of the Middle East, including portions of Iraq and Syria under the control of the Islamic State group. Governments across the region that rely on global oil sales have begun cutting their spending as crude prices now stand around $30 a barrel, down from $107 over the last 19 months.
Meanwhile, youth unemployment is high in the Mideast, as well as increasingly in Europe and the developed world, causing many to grow suspicious of those governing them, said Jose Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
“It is the curse of modern times,” he said.
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim echoed that point, calling on governments to remain open and transparent with their citizenry.
“Governments that operate in opaque, exclusive and unaccountable ways or fail to empower local authorities often plant the seeds of discontent,” he said. “When governments don’t allow the public to participate in decisions, it breeds suspicions.”
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Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.