Fostering Human Capital in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries

The formation of human capital--the knowledge, skills, and health that people accumulate over their lifetimes--is critical for the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Human capital contributes not only to□ human development and employment but also to the long-term sustainability of a diver...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	El-Saharty, Sameh, Kheyfets, Igor, Herbst, Christopher H., Ajwad, Mohamed Ihsan
Format:	Book
Published:	Washington, DC: World Bank 2020
Subjects:	HUMAN CAPITAL EDUCATION LABOR MARKET LABOR SKILLS SKILLS DEVELOPMENT MORTALITY EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC RESPONSE
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/236551592799477607/Fostering-Human-Capital-in-the-Gulf-Cooperation-Council-Countries http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33946

id	okr-10986-33946
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-339462021-04-23T14:01:58Z Fostering Human Capital in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries El-Saharty, Sameh Kheyfets, Igor Herbst, Christopher H. Ajwad, Mohamed Ihsan HUMAN CAPITAL EDUCATION LABOR MARKET LABOR SKILLS SKILLS DEVELOPMENT MORTALITY EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC RESPONSE The formation of human capital--the knowledge, skills, and health that people accumulate over their lifetimes--is critical for the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Human capital contributes not only to□ human development and employment but also to the long-term sustainability of a diversified economic growth model that is knowledge based and private sector driven. This approach is critical, given that income from oil and gas will eventually decline and that the nature of work is evolving in response to rapid technological changes, in turn demanding new skill sets. The GCC governments have demonstrated their strong political will for □this shift: four of them are among the first countries to join the World □Bank’s Human Capital Project—a global effort to improve investments in people as measured by the Human Capital Index. The GCC countries face four main challenges: Low levels of basic proficiency among schoolchildren; A mismatch between education and the labor market; A relatively high rate of adult mortality and morbidity; A unique labor market , in which wages in the public sector are more generous than in the private sector and government employment of nationals is virtually guaranteed To address these challenges, this report outlines four strategies in a “whole-of-government” approach: Investing in high-quality early childhood development; Preparing healthier, better educated, and skilled youth for the future; Enabling greater adult labor force participation; Creating an enabling environment for human capital formation These strategies are based on best practices in other countries and feature some of the GCC countries’ plans, including their national “Visions,” to take their economies and societies further into the twenty-first century. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the GCC countries face additional challenges that may worsen some preexisting vulnerabilities and erode human capital. In response, the GCC governments have taken multiple measures to protect their populations’ health and their economies. Any□ country’s decision to reopen its economy needs to closely consider public health consequences to avoid a resurgence of infections and any further erosion of its human capital. The COVID-19 crisis underscores that the need to accelerate and improve investment in human capital has never been greater. Once the GCC countries return to a “new normal,” they will be in a position to achieve diversified and sustainable growth by adopting, and then tailoring, the strategies presented in this report. 2020-06-19T11:50:14Z 2020-06-19T11:50:14Z 2020-06-19 Book http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/236551592799477607/Fostering-Human-Capital-in-the-Gulf-Cooperation-Council-Countries 978-1-4648-1582-9 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33946 International Development in Focus; CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank Washington, DC: World Bank Publications & Research :: Publication Publications & Research Middle East and North Africa Middle East
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
topic	HUMAN CAPITAL EDUCATION LABOR MARKET LABOR SKILLS SKILLS DEVELOPMENT MORTALITY EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC RESPONSE
spellingShingle	HUMAN CAPITAL EDUCATION LABOR MARKET LABOR SKILLS SKILLS DEVELOPMENT MORTALITY EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC RESPONSE El-Saharty, Sameh Kheyfets, Igor Herbst, Christopher H. Ajwad, Mohamed Ihsan Fostering Human Capital in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries
geographic_facet	Middle East and North Africa Middle East
relation	International Development in Focus;
description	The formation of human capital--the knowledge, skills, and health that people accumulate over their lifetimes--is critical for the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Human capital contributes not only to□ human development and employment but also to the long-term sustainability of a diversified economic growth model that is knowledge based and private sector driven. This approach is critical, given that income from oil and gas will eventually decline and that the nature of work is evolving in response to rapid technological changes, in turn demanding new skill sets. The GCC governments have demonstrated their strong political will for □this shift: four of them are among the first countries to join the World □Bank’s Human Capital Project—a global effort to improve investments in people as measured by the Human Capital Index. The GCC countries face four main challenges: Low levels of basic proficiency among schoolchildren; A mismatch between education and the labor market; A relatively high rate of adult mortality and morbidity; A unique labor market , in which wages in the public sector are more generous than in the private sector and government employment of nationals is virtually guaranteed To address these challenges, this report outlines four strategies in a “whole-of-government” approach: Investing in high-quality early childhood development; Preparing healthier, better educated, and skilled youth for the future; Enabling greater adult labor force participation; Creating an enabling environment for human capital formation These strategies are based on best practices in other countries and feature some of the GCC countries’ plans, including their national “Visions,” to take their economies and societies further into the twenty-first century. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the GCC countries face additional challenges that may worsen some preexisting vulnerabilities and erode human capital. In response, the GCC governments have taken multiple measures to protect their populations’ health and their economies. Any□ country’s decision to reopen its economy needs to closely consider public health consequences to avoid a resurgence of infections and any further erosion of its human capital. The COVID-19 crisis underscores that the need to accelerate and improve investment in human capital has never been greater. Once the GCC countries return to a “new normal,” they will be in a position to achieve diversified and sustainable growth by adopting, and then tailoring, the strategies presented in this report.
format	Book
author	El-Saharty, Sameh Kheyfets, Igor Herbst, Christopher H. Ajwad, Mohamed Ihsan
author_facet	El-Saharty, Sameh Kheyfets, Igor Herbst, Christopher H. Ajwad, Mohamed Ihsan
author_sort	El-Saharty, Sameh
title	Fostering Human Capital in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries
title_short	Fostering Human Capital in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries
title_full	Fostering Human Capital in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries
title_fullStr	Fostering Human Capital in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries
title_full_unstemmed	Fostering Human Capital in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries
title_sort	fostering human capital in the gulf cooperation council countries
publisher	Washington, DC: World Bank
publishDate	2020
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/236551592799477607/Fostering-Human-Capital-in-the-Gulf-Cooperation-Council-Countries http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33946
_version_	1764479857397334016

Fostering Human Capital in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries

Similar Items