Economic Research Forum (ERF)

Irène Selwaness

Author

Irène Selwaness
Associate Professor, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University

Irene Selwaness is as an associate professor at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University, Egypt. She received her master’s degree in quantitative economics and her PhD in labour economics from Université Paris 1– Panthéon Sorbonne. Her research examines economic development issues with interests in social protection, social policy, labour market analysis, and gender issues. Current projects include work on social protection, expansion of social insurance coverage, social policy and employment regulations, gender and labour markets, and the future of work, with a focus on the Middle East. Selwaness is a Research Fellow of the Economic Research Forum in Cairo, Egypt. She has consulted for a number of organizations including the ILO, the World Bank, the UN ESCWA,The Population Council, GIZ, and ODI.

Content by this Author

Social insurance in Egypt: between costly formality and legal informality

The rates of participation of Egyptian workers in contributory social insurance has continued to decline, even during times when the country has had positive annual growth rates. This column discusses key institutional elements in the design of the current social insurance scheme that have contributed to the growing gap in coverage, particularly the scheme’s cost and eligibility requirements.

Supporting employment opportunities for women in Egypt’s ICT sector

In Egypt today, the labour market has become increasingly inhospitable for women, with the decline in public sector jobs in recent decades. But this column highlights a potential cause for optimism. Female jobs in ICT are on the rise, having grown at a compound rate of 6.4% per year, compared with a decline of 1% per year for non-ICT jobs. To make the most of this promising trend, Egyptian policy-makers should aim to foster an attractive investment climate for international firms, with a focus on building up ICT training and offering more remote working opportunities.

Women’s employment and care work in MENA during the pandemic

Across the world, Covid-19 and associated policy measures that closed schools and nurseries led to increased care work for married women in households with young or school-aged children. But as research reported in this column shows, in the Middle East and North Africa, married women had already selected out of the types of work that were difficult to reconcile with care work, with the result that married women did not exit employment disproportionately during the pandemic.

Recognising and redistributing unpaid care work in Egypt

Countries like Egypt with significant gender imbalances in unpaid work typically have low female labour force participation. As this column reports, unpaid domestic care responsibilities fall primarily on women, hindering their ability to participate in the country’s paid economy. It is essential to nurture changes in policies and social norms that recognise and redistribute unpaid care work and reward paid care work.

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Trust in Lebanon’s public institutions: a challenge for the new leadership

Lebanon’s new leadership confronts daunting economic challenges amid geopolitical tensions across the wider region. As this column explains, understanding what has happened over the past decade to citizens’ trust in key public institutions – parliament, the government and the armed forces – will be a crucial part of the policy response.

Growth in the Middle East and North Africa

What is the economic outlook for the Middle East and North Africa? How is the current conflict centred in Gaza affecting economies in the region? What are the potential long-term effects of conflict on development? And which strategies can MENA countries adopt to accelerate economic growth? This column outlines the findings in the World Bank’s latest half-yearly MENA Economic Update, which answers these questions and more.

Climate change: a growing threat to sustainable development in Tunisia

Tunisia’s vulnerability to extreme weather events is intensifying, placing immense pressure on vital sectors such as agriculture, energy and water resources, exacerbating inequalities and hindering social progress. This column explores the economic impacts of climate change on the country, its implications for achieving the sustainable development goals, and the urgent need for adaptive strategies and policy interventions.

Assessing Jordan’s progress on the sustainable development goals

Global, regional and national assessments of countries’ progress towards reaching the sustainable development goals do not always tell the same story. This column examines the case of Jordan, which is among the world’s leaders in statistical performance on the SDGs.

Small businesses in the Great Lockdown: lessons for crisis management

Understanding big economic shocks like Covid-19 and how firms respond to them is crucial for mitigating their negative effects and accelerating the post-crisis recovery. This column reports evidence on how small and medium-sized enterprises in Tunisia’s formal business sector adapted to the pandemic and the lockdown – and draws policy lessons for when the next crisis hits.

Unleashing the potential of Egyptian exports for sustainable development

Despite several waves of trade liberalisation, Egypt’s integration in the world economy has remained modest. In addition, the structure of its exports has not changed and remains largely dominated by traditional products. This column argues that the government should develop a new export strategy that is forward-looking by taking account not only of the country’s comparative advantage, but also how global demand evolves. The strategy should also be more inclusive and more supportive of sustainable development.

The threat of cybercrime in MENA economies

The MENA region’s increasing access to digital information and internet usage has led to an explosion in e-commerce and widespread interest in cryptocurrencies. At the same time, cybercrime, which includes hacking, malware, online fraud and harassment, has spread across digital networks. This column outlines the challenges.

Rising influence: women’s empowerment within Arab households

In 2016 and again in 2022, a reliable poll of public opinion in the Arab world asked respondents in seven countries whether they agreed with the statement that ‘a man should have final say in all decisions concerning the family’. As this column reports, the changing balance of responses between the two surveys gives an indication of whether there been progress in the distribution of decision-making within households towards greater empowerment of women.

Macroeconomic policy-making for sustainable development in Egypt

In recent years, economic policy in Egypt has been focused primarily on macroeconomic stabilisation to curb inflation, to reduce the fiscal deficit and the current account deficit, and to increase GDP growth. As this column explains, this has come at the expense of the country’s progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, which is rather modest compared with other economies in the region or at the same income level. Sustainable development needs to be more integrated with the conception and implementation of fiscal and monetary policies.

Economic consequences of the 2003 Bam earthquake in Iran

Over the decades, Iran has faced numerous devastating natural disasters, including the deadly 2003 Bam earthquake. This column reports evidence on the unexpected economic boost in Bam County and its neighbours after the disaster – the result of a variety of factors, including national and international aid, political mobilisation and the region’s cultural significance. Using data on the intensity of night-time lights in a geographical area, the research reveals how disaster recovery may lead to a surprising economic rebound.




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