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Millennium Development Goals in Algeria
Despite the difficulties that Algeria faced after a decade of civil war which put most social indicators into reverse during the 1990s, there are good prospects that all of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will be achieved. There is little extreme poverty and the target for universal primary education has already been reached – schooling has been obligatory in Algeria since 1976 and over 20% of the national budget is allocated to education. Girls especially have made considerable progress in recent years and, remarkably, have a higher rate of admission into secondary and higher education than boys. This is reflected in the unusually high proportion of professional jobs that are taken by women.
Despite this progress, illiteracy remains at over 25% and there are considerable social problems in Algeria where many people suffer hardship and insecurity, often in overcrowded housing conditions. The rate of occupancy may be higher that the official figure of 5.5 persons per household which is believed to be one of the highest in the world. The government has built over a million new homes since 2004 with another million planned by the end of 2009.
The main concern in the context of the MDGs is the disappointing progress of key health indicators. For example, infant and child mortality rates have reduced only by about a quarter since 1990 against the 2015 target of a two thirds reduction. Maternal mortality remains high outside the main urban centres. New priorities are required to improve the quality and accessibility of health care for women and children, particularly in the rural southern region.
Despite the impressive achievements of many women, there are structural impediments to the MDG vision of gender equality. For example, Algeria lags behind its neighbouring North African countries with inadequate property rights for women on inheritance or divorce.
Politics in Algeria
Algerian independence in 1962 came after 132 years of French colonial rule. Initially the country flourished as a centralised single party state but the 1986 oil crisis crippled the economy and propelled the country into radical change. Under threat of social breakdown, President Chadli Benjedid introduced a number of political reforms, making Algeria one of the Arab world’s first democracies. The creation of political parties was authorised, and multi-party parliamentary elections were announced for 1992. However, when it became clear that the winners would be the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), a radical Islamic group, the military cancelled the elections, imposed a state of emergency and seized power. This halted the democratic transition.
Over the next decade, violence in Algeria was endemic and possibly as many as 200,000 people were killed. Upon being appointed Head of State by the military in January 1994, retired General Liamine Zeroual restored the electoral process with moderate Islamist movements included in the running for Algeria’s first ever free presidential election held in November 1995. To put an end to the violence the current president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, first elected to office in April 1999. offered a general amnesty to Islamic fighters that abandoned armed struggle. This “Civil Concord” was approved by referendum in 2000 and in 2002 the army retreated from politics, declaring its neutrality for the presidential election held in April 2004 in which Bouteflika was reelected for a second term.
The presidency is a powerful position in Algeria, responsible for the military and foreign affairs and for many key appointments including the prime minister. Members of the legislative body, the People’s National Assembly, are elected by popular vote, but the record low turn-out of 35% in the 2007 election betrays the disenchantment of voters who feel that parliament has inadequate powers relative to the president and the military. The election was won by a coalition of parties sympathetic to the president, led by the National Liberation Front (FLN).
Conflict in Algeria
In his second term President Bouteflika has further advanced his strategy for internal stability with a National Reconciliation Charter which received overwhelming support in a referendum held in September 2005. The subsequent amnesty law passed in February 2006 paved the way for 2,000 Islamists to be freed from detention, including two top leaders of the outlawed FIS. However, one extreme fundamentalist group known as the Algerian Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat rejected the terms of the amnesty and instead swore allegiance to Al-Qaeda, renaming itself Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
This group has subsequently claimed responsibility for the tragic resumption of terrorist atrocities in Algeria. There have been no fewer than 11 suicide attacks since April 2007, a method never before adopted even in Algeria’s catalogue of internal violence. Both the prime minister and president have been targeted and 17 UN employees were killed in December 2007. International security experts are alarmed at the possibility that a new centre of terrorist recruitment and training will emerge in North Africa although there is no clear evidence that the Algerian group has ambitions beyond its home territory.
Human Rights in Algeria
The difficult task of disabling Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, alongside Algeria’s support for the so-called "war on terror", may draw attention to the methods adopted by internal security forces marshalled by the Department for Information and Security (DRS) whose use of torture, especially against Islamist suspects, is already notorious. For example, human rights groups have criticised the UK government for its acceptance of reassurances from Algeria that deported asylum-seekers will be treated in line with international standards. Indeed, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture has been denied access to Algeria ever since a request was first registered in 1997.
Algeria has long attracted attention because of human rights violations. Severe abuses occurred throughout the long and bloody war of independence against France and again after 1992 with abductions, unacknowledged detentions and torture common on both sides - secular civil society groups, journalists and civilians were all too often the victims. Perpetrators now benefit from the general amnesty, provided they hand over weapons and commit to non-violent citizenship.
Both internal and external actors have condemned the National Reconciliation Charter for its failure to investigate the truth of events and for the impunity it effectively grants to both Islamists and state security forces for the worst atrocities. Indeed the amnesty law stipulates that public criticism of actions of government forces during the period in question is a criminal offence. The government is offering compensation to families of the “disappeared” but many have refused to receive payments, feeling unable to bow to the accompanying condition to draw a line under their painful loss.
President Bouteflika has also sought reconciliation with the Berber constituency, an ethnic minority group which inhabited North Africa prior to the Arab invasion and today occupies the mountainous region of Kabylia. As a conciliatory response to the human rights abuses against Kabyle youths perpetrated by government security forces in 2001, Amazigh is now officially recognized as a national language and is taught in schools across the country. Freedom of practice of minority religions is evolving less positively. A generally tolerant attitude of the state authorities may be challenged by a new law passed in early 2006 which decrees long jail sentences for active conversion of Muslims to other faiths.
Algeria also faces the difficult task of fulfilling the needs and rights of about 160,000 Sahrawi refugees living in camps in the remote Moroccan border region. Rejecting Moroccan administration of the Western Sahara region, Algeria supports the exiled Polisario Front who fled to the country in the 1970s. In a desert environment the refugees experience conditions of poor health and malnutrition. They are largely supported by aid agencies who encourage both countries to improve bilateral relations and resolve this long-standing dispute.
Information and Media in Algeria
Throughout the 1990s, the Algerian media was no more than a government tool. Governed by the controversial 1990 Information Code which mandated jail sentences of 5 to 10 years for “defamation”, the Algerian press was hampered by fear, self-censorship, ideological prejudice, and limited access to information on official corruption and human-rights abuses. The situation has relaxed somewhat under President Bouteflika, but many journalists still shy away from covering human rights abuses and government corruption. Furthermore, the government shows no intention of relinquishing its monopoly of radio and television. Despite such challenges, Algerians can choose from more than 30 daily newspapers and the government no longer imposes tight censorship on information about political violence.
The Economy in Algeria
Algeria has no shortage of wealth with which to tackle its problems of internal violence and political disillusion, The country ranks fifth in the world’s natural gas reserves and fifteenth in oil reserves and has the potential to become a key player in the world economy. High energy prices enabled the country in 2006 to offer early repayment of all of the $8bn of debt owed to the Paris Club and the president has announced massive investment plans amounting to $150 billion for social and infrastructure projects.
Algeria's heavy dependence on hydrocarbon resources may of course become both a blessing and a curse. Despite efforts to diversify, Algeria’s volatile oil sector still generates almost 100% of total export revenues, continuing to distort conventional economic planning.
In order to deal with the economic crisis that inevitably resulted from the civil war, Algeria agreed in 1994 to implement the IMF’s Structural Adjustment Policies (SAPs) in return for rescheduled debt servicing. Through privatisation and the expansion of the oil and gas sector, Algeria transitioned to a free market system, which stimulated direct foreign investment and led to a recovery. Continued liberalisation is one of the conditions for admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO) currently under negotiation.The process has however created high unemployment and much public spending is directed to job creation schemes. The official rate of unemployment is just over 12% but this may understate the true position.
The OneWorld Algeria Guide was first published in this format in February 2006 with a text written by Volunteer Editor Lucie-Kay Desthuis-Francis
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Despite the difficulties that Algeria faced after a decade of civil war which put most social indicators into reverse during the 1990s, there are good prospects that all of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will be achieved. There is little extreme poverty and the target for universal primary education has already been reached – schooling has been obligatory in Algeria since 1976 and over 20% of the national budget is allocated to education. Girls especially have made considerable progress in recent years and, remarkably, have a higher rate of admission into secondary and higher education than boys. This is reflected in the unusually high proportion of professional jobs that are taken by women.
Despite this progress, illiteracy remains at over 25% and there are considerable social problems in Algeria where many people suffer hardship and insecurity, often in overcrowded housing conditions. The rate of occupancy may be higher that the official figure of 5.5 persons per household which is believed to be one of the highest in the world. The government has built over a million new homes since 2004 with another million planned by the end of 2009.
The main concern in the context of the MDGs is the disappointing progress of key health indicators. For example, infant and child mortality rates have reduced only by about a quarter since 1990 against the 2015 target of a two thirds reduction. Maternal mortality remains high outside the main urban centres. New priorities are required to improve the quality and accessibility of health care for women and children, particularly in the rural southern region.
Despite the impressive achievements of many women, there are structural impediments to the MDG vision of gender equality. For example, Algeria lags behind its neighbouring North African countries with inadequate property rights for women on inheritance or divorce.
Politics in Algeria
Algerian independence in 1962 came after 132 years of French colonial rule. Initially the country flourished as a centralised single party state but the 1986 oil crisis crippled the economy and propelled the country into radical change. Under threat of social breakdown, President Chadli Benjedid introduced a number of political reforms, making Algeria one of the Arab world’s first democracies. The creation of political parties was authorised, and multi-party parliamentary elections were announced for 1992. However, when it became clear that the winners would be the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), a radical Islamic group, the military cancelled the elections, imposed a state of emergency and seized power. This halted the democratic transition.
Over the next decade, violence in Algeria was endemic and possibly as many as 200,000 people were killed. Upon being appointed Head of State by the military in January 1994, retired General Liamine Zeroual restored the electoral process with moderate Islamist movements included in the running for Algeria’s first ever free presidential election held in November 1995. To put an end to the violence the current president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, first elected to office in April 1999. offered a general amnesty to Islamic fighters that abandoned armed struggle. This “Civil Concord” was approved by referendum in 2000 and in 2002 the army retreated from politics, declaring its neutrality for the presidential election held in April 2004 in which Bouteflika was reelected for a second term.
The presidency is a powerful position in Algeria, responsible for the military and foreign affairs and for many key appointments including the prime minister. Members of the legislative body, the People’s National Assembly, are elected by popular vote, but the record low turn-out of 35% in the 2007 election betrays the disenchantment of voters who feel that parliament has inadequate powers relative to the president and the military. The election was won by a coalition of parties sympathetic to the president, led by the National Liberation Front (FLN).
Conflict in Algeria
In his second term President Bouteflika has further advanced his strategy for internal stability with a National Reconciliation Charter which received overwhelming support in a referendum held in September 2005. The subsequent amnesty law passed in February 2006 paved the way for 2,000 Islamists to be freed from detention, including two top leaders of the outlawed FIS. However, one extreme fundamentalist group known as the Algerian Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat rejected the terms of the amnesty and instead swore allegiance to Al-Qaeda, renaming itself Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
This group has subsequently claimed responsibility for the tragic resumption of terrorist atrocities in Algeria. There have been no fewer than 11 suicide attacks since April 2007, a method never before adopted even in Algeria’s catalogue of internal violence. Both the prime minister and president have been targeted and 17 UN employees were killed in December 2007. International security experts are alarmed at the possibility that a new centre of terrorist recruitment and training will emerge in North Africa although there is no clear evidence that the Algerian group has ambitions beyond its home territory.
Human Rights in Algeria
The difficult task of disabling Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, alongside Algeria’s support for the so-called "war on terror", may draw attention to the methods adopted by internal security forces marshalled by the Department for Information and Security (DRS) whose use of torture, especially against Islamist suspects, is already notorious. For example, human rights groups have criticised the UK government for its acceptance of reassurances from Algeria that deported asylum-seekers will be treated in line with international standards. Indeed, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture has been denied access to Algeria ever since a request was first registered in 1997.
Algeria has long attracted attention because of human rights violations. Severe abuses occurred throughout the long and bloody war of independence against France and again after 1992 with abductions, unacknowledged detentions and torture common on both sides - secular civil society groups, journalists and civilians were all too often the victims. Perpetrators now benefit from the general amnesty, provided they hand over weapons and commit to non-violent citizenship.
Both internal and external actors have condemned the National Reconciliation Charter for its failure to investigate the truth of events and for the impunity it effectively grants to both Islamists and state security forces for the worst atrocities. Indeed the amnesty law stipulates that public criticism of actions of government forces during the period in question is a criminal offence. The government is offering compensation to families of the “disappeared” but many have refused to receive payments, feeling unable to bow to the accompanying condition to draw a line under their painful loss.
President Bouteflika has also sought reconciliation with the Berber constituency, an ethnic minority group which inhabited North Africa prior to the Arab invasion and today occupies the mountainous region of Kabylia. As a conciliatory response to the human rights abuses against Kabyle youths perpetrated by government security forces in 2001, Amazigh is now officially recognized as a national language and is taught in schools across the country. Freedom of practice of minority religions is evolving less positively. A generally tolerant attitude of the state authorities may be challenged by a new law passed in early 2006 which decrees long jail sentences for active conversion of Muslims to other faiths.
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| Saharawi refugee camp © Asociación Amal Esperanza |
Information and Media in Algeria
Throughout the 1990s, the Algerian media was no more than a government tool. Governed by the controversial 1990 Information Code which mandated jail sentences of 5 to 10 years for “defamation”, the Algerian press was hampered by fear, self-censorship, ideological prejudice, and limited access to information on official corruption and human-rights abuses. The situation has relaxed somewhat under President Bouteflika, but many journalists still shy away from covering human rights abuses and government corruption. Furthermore, the government shows no intention of relinquishing its monopoly of radio and television. Despite such challenges, Algerians can choose from more than 30 daily newspapers and the government no longer imposes tight censorship on information about political violence.
The Economy in Algeria
Algeria has no shortage of wealth with which to tackle its problems of internal violence and political disillusion, The country ranks fifth in the world’s natural gas reserves and fifteenth in oil reserves and has the potential to become a key player in the world economy. High energy prices enabled the country in 2006 to offer early repayment of all of the $8bn of debt owed to the Paris Club and the president has announced massive investment plans amounting to $150 billion for social and infrastructure projects.
Algeria's heavy dependence on hydrocarbon resources may of course become both a blessing and a curse. Despite efforts to diversify, Algeria’s volatile oil sector still generates almost 100% of total export revenues, continuing to distort conventional economic planning.
In order to deal with the economic crisis that inevitably resulted from the civil war, Algeria agreed in 1994 to implement the IMF’s Structural Adjustment Policies (SAPs) in return for rescheduled debt servicing. Through privatisation and the expansion of the oil and gas sector, Algeria transitioned to a free market system, which stimulated direct foreign investment and led to a recovery. Continued liberalisation is one of the conditions for admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO) currently under negotiation.The process has however created high unemployment and much public spending is directed to job creation schemes. The official rate of unemployment is just over 12% but this may understate the true position.
The OneWorld Algeria Guide was first published in this format in February 2006 with a text written by Volunteer Editor Lucie-Kay Desthuis-Francis
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