This policy brief presents research undertaken by Dr Rana Jawad (University of Bath) which began in 2000 into the social welfare systems in the MENA region. It offers a broad mapping of the institutional structures that underpin social policy there. In addition to long-standing programmes of universal food and fuel subsidies, the research highlights the complex interplay of informal social assistance for vulnerable groups who cannot work and employment-based welfare provision which gives preference to male and public sector workers. In consequence, welfare systems in the region primarily address the symptoms rather than the causes of poverty.

A number of recommendations are made for the development of new social policies in the region, and the role civil and religious activism can potentially play.