A Violation Of Womens Human Rights

A Violation Of Womens Human Rights Violence against women commonly known as gender-based violence refers to violent acts ‎committed against women with the victims gender as a primary motive. ‎Violence against women is very common especially in developing third world countries and even ‎in countries with over suppressed societies for example in many regions of the Middle East. ‎Even in developed and modern nations still today gender- based violence is not totally ‎eliminated and still exists though comparatively the rate is lower than the underdeveloped and/ or ‎developing countries. ‎ It is like a plague that has engulfed and destroyed many homes and families and a situation that ‎needs to be addressed with complete focus as a healthy society produces healthy generations ‎which in turn results in healthy and prosperous nations. For years the problem has never been ‎addressed seriously and so far has ruined families and disturbed the society at large majorly due ‎to lack of awareness among the individuals.‎ The ever increasing day to day mechanical lives and expensive living cost is causing more stress ‎and depression in individuals, the matter instead of being curtailed by various relevant law ‎enforcing agencies, NGOs and concerned state organizations the occurrences of violence ‎incidents against women is on high increase. ‎There is a dire need to find ways to stop this as crises intervention cannot only address and ‎simplify the situation rather more serious steps are needed to curtail the devastating effects that it ‎has on children and families.‎ Every year millions of women are affected world over and majority of cases do not come on ‎record nor handed lawfully and this ignorance results in gradual increase in such unacceptable ‎acts against women. We will all agree here that such violence against women leads to physical ‎and psychological harm both, and at times the psychological scars are impossible to treat thus ‎damaging the personality of the subject woman for life time.‎ If a woman suffers such physical and emotional harm the whole society suffers and the final ‎impact is the suffering of the entire society. Thus this raises serious health concerns and requires ‎immediate action and prevention from violence from those who are the policy makers and various ‎agencies responsible for stopping this violence. ‎ The affected suffers from loss of trust, loss of dignity and a deeply compromised self esteem ‎that needs to be addressed along with factors like housing, economic support, social welfare and ‎legal issues being an integral part of the health promotion strategy. ‎The most common form of violence experienced by women globally is physical violence inflicted ‎by an intimate partner, with women beaten, forced into sex or otherwise abused.‎ In a study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) it was found that between 15% ‎and 70% of women experience physical and/ or sexual violence by a partner. ‎ According to a United Nations report at least one out of every three women around the world ‎has been abused some way or the other in her lifetime and that too by someone known to her.‎ According to a WHO report the impact of this gender- based violence on the society is deep and ‎directly burdens the health care services as women suffer serious physical injuries, death, sexually ‎transmitted diseases, miscarriages, acute depression and many other psychological health issues ‎resulting in weak and low physical health. And the states have to bear heavy economical costs in ‎billions per year.‎ A 2003 report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the ‎costs of intimate partner violence in the United States alone exceed US$5.8 billion per year: ‎US$4.1 billion are for direct medical and health care services, while productivity losses account ‎for nearly US$1.8 billion.‎ We can have an idea of existence of this gender-based violence in various parts of the world ‎from the figures collected by the WHO while carrying out a study in 11 countries and according ‎to this study; ‎ The percentage of women who had been subjected to sexual violence by an intimate partner ‎ranged from 6 per cent in Japan to 59 per cent in Ethiopia. ‎Several global surveys suggest that half of all women who die from homicide are killed by their ‎current or former husbands or partners. ‎In Australia, Canada, Israel, South Africa and the United States, 40 to 70 per cent of female ‎murder victims were killed by their partners, according to the World Health Organization.‎ In Colombia, every sixth day one woman is reportedly killed by her partner or former partner. ‎Psychological or emotional violence by intimate partners is also widespread.‎ Up to 70 per cent of women experience violence in their lifetime, according to country data ‎available.‎Women aged 15-44 are more at risk from rape and domestic violence than from cancer, car ‎accidents, war and malaria, according to World Bank data. ‎ Female genital mutilation (FGM), defined by WHO as the partial or total removal of the external ‎genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs WHO estimates that between 100 to 140 ‎million girls and women have undergone some type of FGM. Most of those affected live in 28 ‎countries in Africa, although there are some in the Middle East and it also happens among ‎immigrant communities in some countries in Western Europe.‎ Rape and dowry related violations are also very common resulting in harassment of brides and ‎also dowry related deaths, particularly in certain parts of India and other southern Asian ‎countries. This violence is exercised not only by the husband but also by the husbands close ‎relatives (mother, brothers, and sisters). ‎ Acid throwing in some Asian countries such as Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, the disfiguring ‎of women by throwing acid or burning them are forms of violence rooted in gender inequality, ‎but the immediate reason for this is often disputes concerning marriage and dowry. While this is ‎not one of the most prevalent forms of violence against women, its consequences are dire for ‎those women subjected to it. ‎ ‎ Honor killings this is the murder of a woman, usually by a brother, father, or other male family ‎member, because she has allegedly brought shame to her family. This phenomenon is rooted in ‎the notion of male honor and female chastity that prevails in many countries in the Eastern ‎Mediterranean region. It means a mans honor is linked to the perceived sexual purity of the ‎women in his family. If a woman engages in sex outside marriage or even if she is raped, she is ‎thought to disgrace the family honor. In some societies, the only way to cleanse the family honor ‎is by killing the woman/girl.‎ This kind of violence against women and girls is exercised also in western European countries ‎within immigrant families. It is generally referred to as honor killings-a rather misleading ‎term as the connection with honor is difficult to understand in most cultures. The term murder ‎in the name of honor has been suggested. ‎ There was this case of honor killing of 3 daughters and their mother who was murdered in ‎Canada and bodies dumped under a bridge by their own father with the help of his second wife ‎who were immigrants there and belonged to an Asian country. ‎ In Saudi Arabia where I used to visit frequently almost every year as my spouse was working in ‎Jeddah I witnessed many cases where in men when going for work locked their wives from ‎outside till the time they were back home in the evenings the reason being lack of trust on their ‎spouse and during one such incidence the house caught fire due to short circuit and the wife, ‎maid and an infant child were rescued by the neighbors through apartment windows as the door ‎to the house was locked from outside by the husband who had left for work. I left the site ‎wondering how much black smoke these three must have inhaled especially the infant child and ‎what effect it would have had on their lungs?‎ With the passage of time and increasing awareness especially in girls / women due increasing ‎literacy rates among women such violation is now getting well recognized as a public health ‎problem and human rights violation of worldwide. ‎ The states and working organizations for prevention and betterment of societies are now realizing ‎how this relates directly to the public health sector.‎ More and more need have arise to take appropriate measures and proper trained health workers ‎are being placed close to the victims of such violation who are also well acquainted with the ‎community they work for and its inhabitants.‎ The local health services and communities need to play their role and create awareness among the ‎public to prevent such incidents. ‎ The Central and Federal government bodies need not only to make strict laws for the prevention ‎of gender-based violence but ensure effective implementation as well.‎ The most effective way to reduce tolerance towards violence against women is to openly debate ‎the subject as still there is limited knowledge regarding most workable interventions for the ‎prevention of gender- based violations.‎ References †¢ ‎ www.health.state.mn.us/divs/hpcd/chp/hpkit/index.htm †¢ http://futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/docs/‎ †¢ http://heapro.oxfordjournals.org/content/21/suppl_1/25.full †¢ Violence Against Women the United Nations ‎ www.un.org/en/events/endviolenceday//UNiTE_TheSituation_EN.‎ †¢ Violence against women Gunilla Krantz, Claudia Garcia-Moreno †¢ http://www.wikigender.org/index.php/Violence_against_women

Some People Think Parents Should Read or Tell Stories to Children

Some people think parents should read or tell stories to children, while others think parents need not do that, as children can read books, watch TVs or movies by themselves. Discuss both views and give your opinion. Parenting is always a heated topic in our society. What is the best way for children to read and learn? Some people insist on the more traditional method by reading or telling stories to children rather than letting children learn by themselves through books, TV and internet . As far as I am concerned, two complementary methods are necessary to be applied to motivate children to read and learn.It is evident that reading or telling stories to their children is not only a way of learning but also a good approach to strenghten the tie between parents and children. It brings much more happiness to families and make family bond closer. Furthermore reading or telling stories to children is a a more entertaining method thought which children get more enjoyment and a metheod chi ldren perhaps prefer. Consequently children`s interest in reading and learning would easily be motivated. Many of us could remember the lovely moment when we were looking forward to listening for stories before we went to bed.However, independent learning is a vital capacity for â€Å"old† children and young adults. Therefore parents should encourage their children to read and learn by themselves, searching information through various sources such as books, internet as well as TV. For children would be growing up and be independent to face the complicated society one day. This ability would help them much no matter what they do in the future. To sum up, each method discussed above has its merit to be considered as a proper way which parents employ to foster their children a good reading and learning habit and ability.

Review of Operations Management

Introduction and Organizational Background Methodology Limitations of Research Literature Review Motivation and Culture Employee Reward Conclusion Recommendations References Need for Strategic Human Resource Procedures for Effectiveness Operation Management in Lead Way Business Group International.This report Is an evaluation of Lead Way Business Group International (ALIBI) a general business multinational servicing firms, human resource practices to see if it effective and follows best international best practices, in relation to its rewarding employees performance and what system sand strategies it uses to engage its staff towards achieving Its goals and objectives as a business. The challenges that ALIBI face is that of its operation management in its call centre department.Recent changes in its management structure of the centre has led to a decline In profits. It needs to adopt a strategic Human Resource strategy to be able to maintain its customer base and ultimately its profit s. To achieve get a holistic view of its Human resource policies and practices a robust examinations was undertaking o identify the level of motivation and the attitudinal disposition of the staff of the at different level from the Executive team to the newest recruit to the company .As with most companies in its industry Lead Way aim and drive for doing business 1 org that its clientele demand and also the in order to fulfill its obligation as a whole Lead Way has a relatively highly motivated team of employees this may be as a result of its qualities of leaders and managers in the Human Capital division however some variances occur in the level of enthusiasm in all the other parts of the company this s due to an ongoing reposition and change management process being implanted in the company.On paper it strategy to encourage performance is effective as it uses regular appraisal tools to assess the performance of its staff to meet the need its business targets This submission of the evaluation of Lead Ways has highlighted minored for the company to meet is business target and save cost and deliver on quality it most lay emphasis on its staff training and human capital development and change the over culture to one that it becomes a learning organization which is considers employee involvement and engagement is paramount to ensure improvement in service delivery.Managing the Operations at Lead Way employee is the role of the managers who have the task of doing it effectively by making it a fundamental part of its operations by emphasis development and progression in career and also recognition for outstanding performance. In order to achieve its Organizational goals and business targets its Operations management policies must work hand in hand with its human resource objectives too. 1.Introduction and Organizational Background Lead Way Business Group International is in a highly competitive service based industry that demand innovation , creativity , service de livery excellence which are all dependent upon the performance of employees in its organization. As a result it need to have start performing at optimal level in the next ray in line with is change management agenda to transform the firm to expand and begin to expand to other international territories . Arrives to its client from Office supplies, Sales Outsourcing, International Freight services to business management Consultancy it employees over 100 employees in 3 different cities and seeks to expand to it forth in Africa The heart of the business is error in its slogan called â€Å"Servicing Your Business Needs Efficiently'. It business target is to be a leader in providing business services of Medium and Large cooperation's in the areas it is situated also providing global business insights due to its international presence.Efficiency being at the heart of Lead Ways business ethos demands that performance of its staff is at optimal level all the time in-order to also meet its b usiness targets. Lead Way Business Service is a new generation sustainable social enterprise whose profits are reinvested in it, how its aim is to serve small start- p entrepreneurs and medium scale business to grow them to foster economic development.So its business with a heart as a result. Its main objective is not profit making but rather have to do with more socio political Issues which are influenced but changing technology, environmental and legal issues and also governmental policy changes (Slack et al,1995) As Lead Way is an international group and runs diverse services, to underpin its success it has a very elaborate human resource system that caters for the need of its employees.It is very effective and supports the rest of the organization in reaching TTS business objectives through various human capital development plans and procedure and people management strategies. Peculiar to its multicultural and multi-location set up it has HER challenges always arising from misco mmunication and due to language barriers and personal relation problems, employee motivation staff welfare and attendance takes a lot of its productive time.There need to be a shift from such elementary but important issues to much more strategic and pro- growth and developmental issues that HER can contribute too , to ensure that the company tests its growth and service objectives In order to have a clear picture of the company's performance and how the employee engagement and motivation contribute to it, an in-depth look at its performance management practices is essential. There are a range of services provided by Lead Way delivered by both skilled and unskilled staff and there are key performance indices that are used to asses performance.Everyone employed manual staff, volunteers, part time and full time start are all appraised and the Performance Management Framework is the basis of this report. Terms of Reference This report aims to establish and asses the following The Manag ement of Operations in the call centre of ALIBI The effect and influence of HER polices and procedures on Operations in LABS! The Strategies for employee motivation and engagement within the company 1. In order to get a god understanding of the organizational culture in relations to performance of the Operations management framework a simple research was undertake of different types of employees ranging from the skilled to the unskilled managers to the new entry staff and they were asked to give their own view of the HER raciest and how it impacted them from different point of views Things that were sought after where the level of staff motivation and their attitude toward their work and how it affected communication, relationships and the culture of and within the organizations.It is essential to find out the relationship that exist if any of staff attitude/motivation, Strategic Human resource management and the overall Performance management Strategy for the organization and to ac hieve this both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed. 1. 2 Limitations of Research Some of the limitations face during this research had to do with the different actions of the staff as some were office based and others where site based so the working culture couldn't be duly ascertained holistically Also the samples size of the employees form various levels was limited.And due to the fact that the CEO of the organization was not physically present during the research and it was not commissioned by the organization. They were reluctant in provide all the support to reach a more conclusive and deductive results, Limited time and space was giving. Sam Lewis & Thrill (2007) view of methods of data collection formed t the basis of nagging valuable insight that involve data collection and triangulation will assist in seeing if the figures and data match up with the perception and reality of the employees. 2.Literature Review – Operations Management According to Josep h G . Monks (2004. ) Operations Management is governed by polices that are stipulated by the management of an organizations It governs the predefined flow of resources in a systematic manner in a controlled environment to create a valuable service or product that meets the consumers' needs and the organizations objectives Source http://www. Mandarin. Com/operation/ 27370849x_IPPP . PDF Two things are paramount which are the resources and systems. Resources which may include but are not limited to human I. E. He use of intellectual knowledge in planning and coordination of the process, capital I. E. Cash , stocks , store values etc. And material I. E. Physical inventories, supplies, plants etc. That are injection in the production process. Systems relate to components of management for the achievement of the objectives of the organization as a whole. For there to be efficiency there has to be a systematic approach to everything from problem solving o achieving goals Operations manage ment refers to the administration of business practices to create the highest level of efficiency possible within an organization.Operations management is concerned with converting materials and labor into goods and services as efficiently as possible to maximize the profit of an organization. Performance is important, and the optimization of the performance of employees and seeks to address, for there to be a harmonies operation of system and people a comprehensive Human Resource policy and procedure my in place to oil the wheels of efficiency. Pawpaw (2005) research looks at effect of HARM on Performance management and the focus should not be on policy creation to drive performance alone but also in addition to that their implementation.In relations to other internal and external environmental factors. The question now is how do you measure performance? Performance Management is as Newly (1998) is about evaluation the of past action because past action is always a good determinate of present performance. It also involves picking, defining and applying of key bench marks for performances, factors which are used to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of the process. Fine & Sender (1999). Len any organization the main objective are quality, flexibility, dependability, cost and Speed .And a good reflection of if the company of meeting this objectives will be measured in its financial performance Self-Assessment Model of Performance Measurement Jackson, Zaire & Whammy (1998) describe the self-assessment model as a tool that is foundational to effectiveness of any company business or organizations, because it gives full and clear view of activities and it also facilitates constant improvements. This is because it links organization performance with customer satisfaction, financial reference sphere headed by strategic planning.For there to be strategic planning a concrete HARM strategy must be employed The management must be cognizance of these factors and as a result create systems in the operation management process that would engage employees and keep them motivated to undertake the work at hand. So what is good Human Resource management in relation to operation management? Janssen and Stewart (2008) see human resource management as a set of social and cultural practices in every organization in to effectively manage the human capital taking into consideration the level and skill of employees, motivation , etc.They also say that it is easy to assume that employee and employers are working together toward a specified goal but in reality this must be subjected it the individual Interpretation and engagement with the HARM practices and how it motivates, engages or disengages them. Best HARM practice where explored by Thereof, Programs and Catalogue (2007). And it was discover that knowledge management and organizational learning are important contributors, they also suggest that HARM best practice leads to the effective running of and or ganization and that in turn performance of operations management.So there is a link between best HARM practices and peak performing Operation Management Systems in organizations. However these HARM policies and procedures must be continually monitored and buttressed to ensure they meet their specified objectives. Strategic HARM should always compliment Strategic Operations Management which aims at playing an active role working towards constant improvement to move to the next level of service delivery and empowering other sectors of the company play an active role in the overall strategy There are three main types of strategy employed Corporate, business ND functional level strategy.Slack & Lewis (2001) see strategic operation as decision objectives taking into consideration it resources and its ability to meet ever growing market. Demands The Hayes and Wheelwright Model (1998) can be used to identify how effective the organization is as a whole and how operations affect this from a strategic stand point It has 4 stages I-Internal neutrality (being unable to contribute to effectiveness) & 2-External neutrality (comparisons with external companies) 3- Internally supportive (employing best practices for credible effective operations) & 4- Externally supportive (looking how operation can be a driver of cooperate strategy).For the purpose of this study we are going to be looking at the operation management of the office supply department of Lead Way Business service and in particular we would be looking at how it effective the operation are managed in its customer service department of its office supplies division In recent time there have been a lot of complaints from customers about the poor level of service delivery of the customer service team and this intern has affected the performance of the company as people are now taking their business somewhere else Last year in an attempt to save cost company outsource it s customer service operation to India and were able to save a lot off money .In the initial stage the initial stage the Indian company Tolerance India which they part own having substantial amount of shares in seem to be dependable and delivered on quality and it seemed their business approach was quite innovative compared to their competitors at the moment as they were also offering online chat support service for customers who order their services online. But in recent time there has been a drop in the quality of service. They had a new management team come in and changed most of the way he company operates and has also cut down lots off staff as a they have lost the advantage of flexibility and they are unable to meet the growing demand in calls and the online response time has slowed down drastically and the average call waiting time is minutes instead of the 4 minutes last year and 2 minutes average when it was based in the ask.Customers have been posting negative reviews and feedback on the internet and this has drasticall y affected their office supplies business services There is also the issue of language barrier that man Britons and English people say hey have difficulty understanding the ascents of the Indian employees and in some recent cases their English is very bad and as a result communication is gravely impaired. Discussion and Analysis of the HER strategies for Effect operations management in ALIBI This report would be assessing how the operations quality of service can be improved The major problem not uncommon to LABS managers is staffing level. A times demand falls and they need lest staff and a times it rises and they need more staff How can they maintain cost and quality and also be flexible in the staffing need to meet their consumers expectations dependably.They need to be able do an efficient long-tern forecast of demand for services to be able to avoid problems so they would have a good number of agents at all times. This must be done several week and even months in ahead and in c onjunction with HER department to be able to operation management process. These are the inputs into the system and selection of adequately trained staff with the necessary skill is essential for the running of an internal call centre and how do y Characteristic of call centers is high turnover rate and also seasonal workers. How do you balance cost of training staff that would eventually leave the company and the emend for service from the customers.

Region And Specifically In Lebanon Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 14 Words: 4201 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? The purpose of this research paper is to analyze the relation between financial institutions, stock markets and economic growth. Its majorly the study of the causality relationship. Do stock markets and financial institutions affect positively or negatively the economic growth? However, how economic growth can have an impact on stock markets and financial institutions? After covering the major theories diffused by important references in the financial world such as the World Bank and the IMF, applications shall be wrapped by examples from the MENA region and especially Lebanon. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Region And Specifically In Lebanon Finance Essay" essay for you Create order The conclusion that will be derived is that the existence of financial markets and stock markets is crucial for arranging all decision makings and transactions to contribute to economic growth, however these entities must be well functioning and backed up by credible regulators. On the other hand, economic growth can lead to better financial institutions and stock markets only if complexities are overcame as per the development of these entities in front of economic growth. A healthy and vibrant economy requires a financial system that moves funds from people who save to people who have productive investment opportunities (Mishkin, 2010). Therefore, the first and most important aim of each economy in any country is to preserve a long term economic growth and to maintain efficiency in the lending-borrowing process. For example, if purchasers of securities can distinguish good firms from bad, they will pay the full value of securities issued by good firms, and good firms will sell t heir securities in the market (Mishkin, 2010), this way, the securities market will then be able to transfer funds to the good firms that have the most productive investment opportunities. The question arisen is the following: Does the job of stock markets and financial institutions sponsor economic growth? One line of research says it does: i.e. stock market does lead to economic growth and financial institutions enhance economic growth. Such result is obvious in Beck and Levine (2004). However, according to Krueger (2006), the financial sector is not the key to development and growth. It is thus vital to take a look into the history of such impact in developing countries such as the MENA region and specifically Lebanon, and to mention the role of financial information in financial markets, and to what extent it can affect any purchase or sale of a marketable security. The positive relation between stock markets, financial institutions and economic growth Lets firstly define the role of financial institutions in financial markets and how did it evolve throughout the years. Commercial activities in a Barter Economy were limited between two nations or business communities as per the Economy Watch (2010). However, this economy presented many drawbacks when it comes to trade; the concepts of money and barter dont match together, moreover, there has to be double coincidence of wants for exchange to take place and the problem of indivisibility of commodities comes in the matter of exchange. This led to the rise of an intermediary, specifically the financial markets, which will facilitate the flow of funds from individual surplus units to deficit units and where financial institutions participate and operate in a manner to maximize shareholders wealth. In addition, if financial markets were perfect, all information about any securities for sale in primary and secondary markets would be continuously and freely available to investors. So, all securities for sale could be unbundled into any size desired by investors, and security transaction costs would be nonexistent (Madura, 2003). This implies that there is no necessity for financial intermediaries existence. But because markets are imperfect, participants do not have full accessibility to information and cannot always break down securities to the precise size they desire. Thus, financial institutions are importantly needed to solve the troubles caused by market imperfections. For instance, financial institutions will use the information received of the requests on what securities are to be purchased or sold to match up buyers with sellers. In the 1960s and 1970s, deposits provided by surplus units to commercial banks and saving institutions were heavily regulated (Madura, 2003), but in the 1980s, saving institutions, insurance companies and other financial institutions were permitted more flexibility by regulators on the uses of funds (Krugman Obstfeld, 2009). A s regulations have been reduced, financial institutions had the opportunities to capitalize on economies of scale; i.e. commercial banks acquired other ones to produce a higher volume level of services rendered. By increasing the echelon of business supported, the average cost of services is reduced. Furthermore, the reduction in regulations has also allowed different types of financial institutions to capitalize on economies of scope, known as the industry consolidation (Brealey, Myers Allen, 2011). Commercial banks have merged with saving institutions, securities firms, finance companies mutual funds and insurance companies which enabled the customer to benefit and to obtain information of all the financial services from a single financial institution at a lower cost. Lets take for instance an example of a new graduate who needs $60,000 for his new vending machines project to be implemented in an area where the demand for such products is high. For that reason, you know that it i s an unmissed opportunity and would like to lend him the money so that he purchases the machines and to trigger the route of this project. However, to guard your investment, the legal part is seek to clarify all the crucial points specifying what will be the principal along with the interest to be repaid. Hiring the lawyer will cost an additional $500 so you realize that the total inflow from this transaction is not that worth business to invest in and decide not to go in it. This is why financial intermediaries are there to help the customer achieve the intended transaction from a single place at a lower cost which increases efficiency in trade, i.e. economic growth. On the other part, financial intermediaries focused on how investors can construct the best possible portfolio by diversifying and hence not putting all the eggs in one basket as the old adage states. During the late 1990s, many people scoffed at being diversified, because the idea of mixing the investments among st ocks, bonds and other financial securities meant missing out on the soaring gains of tech stocks (Luccheth Francis, 2002). But with the collapse of the tech bubble and then the fall of Enron Corp, the example that will be discussed in the next part, the danger of holding a portfolio in a single industry turned on the red alarm and induced a corrective action especially that many investors were hit home as a result of the mentioned threat. Additionally, financial intermediaries promoted of appraising the risk and return characteristics of an investment in terms of how that security held affects the risk and return of the portfolio instead of evaluating it in isolation. To illustrate, we consider the following question: Would we expect to find higher correlations (measure of the degree of relationship between two variables) between the returns on two companies in the same industry or in different industries (Besley Brigham, 2005)? For example, would the correlation of returns on For ds and General Motors (GM) stocks be higher, or would the correlation coefficient be higher between Ford or GM and Procter Gamble (PG)? How would these correlations affect the risks of portfolios containing them? The answer would be that the choice shall go for the perfectly negatively correlated stocks so to reduce risk. Fords and GMs returns should have a positive correlation of 0.9 since both are affected by auto sales. However, the correlation of Fords and GMs returns with PGs returns should be at about 0.3. What would the financial intermediary advice is to hold a two-stock portfolio consisting of Ford or GM plus PG since it is less risky to hold a diversified portfolio than to carry stocks of the same industry. We elaborate our study to ask the following: Do financial institutions lead to a better economic growth or economic growth leads to better financial institutions? To summarize what was previously demonstrated, the rewards of sound financial markets are well known . These markets play a vital role in assembling savings and in allocating them to fruitful investment. Moreover, strong local markets can also provide a more stable source of financing for the public and the private sectors, protecting them to some extent against unstable investments. In several industrial countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, financial markets over the past decade have substantially improved economic performance, through the development a wide array of products that allow for a more efficient allocation of savings. This rapid financial development has helped boost growth in both countries (de Rato, 2007). For example, since the mid-1990s, productivity has grown by about 1 percent a year more in the United States than in the euro area. And almost half of this difference is accounted for by differences in productivity in the financial sector. Similarly, several countries in Latin America have made good progress in developing their financial mar kets. Pension and mutual funds in Chile have helped extend maturities and intensify financial markets. Similarly, both Brazil and Chile have developed foreign exchange derivatives markets which are among the most sophisticated in the world. These developments are helping to enhance stability and economic growth. Moreover, it is no coincidence that the economic growth leads to better financial institutions. The causality runs both ways. As macroeconomic policies have become more credible, and people are confident that inflation will remain low, demand for financial services will as a result increase. Thus, as the inflow to financial markets amplifies, the accessibility of credit increases, encouraging faster growth. And as financial markets become more sophisticated, and risk management and hedging become easier and clearer, economies become better able to manage volatility. In this framework, we conclude that countries carrying more developed financial sectors, stronger instituti ons, sound macroeconomic policies, and more open trade systems (de Rato, 2007) are more likely to entail an economic growth. Raising funds can be achieved either through debt markets or equity or stock markets. Stocks are claims to share in the net income (income after expenses and taxes) and the assets of any organization (Bodie, Kane Marcus, 2008). If supposedly you own one share of common stock in a company that has issued one million shares, you are entitled to 1/million of the firms net income and 1/million of the firms assets. A recent report prepared by Pascale Balze, a case writer, Stephen Mezias, professor in INSEAD Business School Abu Dhabi, and Yousef BAZIAN, Partner, Corporate FinanceÂÂ  atÂÂ  PricewaterhouseCoopers (which firms provide industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services to enhance value for clients) in September 2011 discusses the future of the MENA region within the next 5 years. This paper states that Most Private Equity (PE) firms tha t participated in the PwC/INSEAD survey continue to believe that the MENA regions sound demographics and vast natural resources will spur economic growth in the next five years. This activist outlook is largely driven by the growth predictions of the Gulf countries, the economic engine of the wider region, which has remained largely protected from the political chaos. PE firms are optimistic about the forecast of sectors such as healthcare, education, consumer goods, oil and gas, which are likely to benefit from government spending plans. PE firms are seeking to invest in industries such as railways, toll-ways, ports and utilities, which definitely attract billions in capital spending. As per the geography, PE firms will look growing outside the region in places like Turkey or as far as India and Sub-Saharan Africa or explore riskier markets such as Iraq. Within the region, PE firms say they are likely to invest more in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. However, as PE fi rms regained confidence in the economic situation towards the end of 2010, the beginning of 2011 brought renewed worries as a result of the political and social protests that spread across the region. It started with Tunisia followed by Egypt. Instability was developed elsewhere in the region including Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco and Oman, while the situation further deteriorated in Lybia, Syria and Yemen. Confronting this political uncertainty, many participants in the regional PE industry arrested their immediate investment plans in countries affected by the protests and exercised more caution before proceeding with investments elsewhere in the region. Yet, the industry remained confident for the remainder of 2011. This sentiment is driven by the fact that the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), which is the economic engine of the region, has been largely sheltered from the Middle East protests and prospects for its economic growth remain strong. From the investors point of view , opportunities for PE investments arise in the outcome to develop skills of a rapidly growing population in the MENA region. Moreover, the efforts of oil exporting countries to diversify their economies by developing knowledge-based activities will generate further opportunities in the education sector, such as investments in private schools, adult education and preparation centers which will offer attractive returns. In addition, the healthcare sector in the MENA region attracted just 1% of investments (in value) in 2006 but has since increased to 43% in 2010. Large government spending in healthcare, growing population, superior desire for healthcare services, increased longevity, and the need to engage in the effects of unhealthy lifestyle problems are key factors driving PE investment in the health sector which again will contribute to economic growth. To recap, it is clear to state that sound financial institutions and stock markets are supposed to pool the inflows and to de dicate it in the right investments that will assure economic growth. Furthermore, as the economy becomes more stable with developmental projects taking place, demand for investments will increase and thus the load of work in the financial institutions will be boosted, leading to better financial institutions and stock markets. However, as the economy grows, and grows more complex situations; the financial sector needs to stay in a state of race. Banks shall grow and become more sophisticated in their ability to appraising scenarios for risks and returns. Constant and rapid growth needs to be withstood by a strong financial system, capable of allocating the needs of all the economys chain. Those economies that have experienced rapid growth over the long term have faced vast structural change, as they have shifted from being primarily rural and agricultural to a more urban, manufacturing and service based economy. Now that we have analyzed the optimistic effect of stock markets and financial institutions on economic growth, lets examine next the unhelpful milieu. The shortfalls of the financial institutions role in the economic growth process Until 2001, Enron Corporation, a firm oriented towards the trading in the energy market, appeared to the public successful. It occupies the one fourth of the energy-trading market and was valued at $77 billion in August 2000, making it the seventh largest corporation in the US during this year. However, in 2001, Enron collapsed and announced a $618 million loss along with disclosed accounting errors which had let the SEC to conduct a formal investigation of Enrons financials. It turned out that Enron was hiding large amounts of debt off of its balance sheet. In December 2011, the company declared its bankruptcy. The collapse of Enron raised the question of the confidence in the institutional pillars such as corporate disclosure, external audit and failure to notice by regulators and the SEC (Krishnaswany Stuggins, 2003). This example shows that companies wanted to clean their balance sheets from risky projects so that to keep investors unaware of the risky portfolio theyre holding . From this case, we point at the vital role of the financial information and how it is affecting negatively the confidence of investors in injecting their money in the unknown. If we break down the financial structure in the world, we find eight fundamental facts, out of which: -Marketable securities are not the primary source of financing for businesses in any country in the world, and stocks are not the most important source of financing. Lets illustrate this fact by the example of the vending machines stated earlier. This young graduate is unable to assess the real quality of the machine and therefore must pay an amount reflecting the average prices of the machines in the market. In contrast, the owner of a bad used vending machine will be delighted to sell it at the average price since its sold above its real value. However, if the machine is good, the holder may not want to sell it at a price lower than its real value. This is a particular feature of the way the adver se selection problem interferes with the professional performance of the market and hence prohibits the pathway for the economic growth that shall exist through the transparency of the financial information under the wings of the regulators. This is exactly what describes the asymmetric information (a situation where one partys knowledge about conducting a certain transaction is insufficient; players in the same field dont hold the same amount of information) which envelops as well the moral hazard problem (situation where the borrower tends to invest the money in risky projects since if he gains, he will return the money and if he doesnt win, it wont be his money lost). If I carry LBP 37,500,000 and want to deposit this amount in a certain Lebanese bank, if this latter collapses, I lose everything, therefore I shall have full information of where the bank will invest my money which means that the bank have to be transparent to depositors so that savers have full confidence. The asy mmetric information in this case is when the saver is unable to monitor if the bank is investing his money properly. When investors cant decide where to deposit and the bank isnt transparent, investors wont be able to fund their investments which will contribute to a downturn in the economic growth. From the investors scale, he might want to subscribe to financial companies that will help him assess the value of any company hes intending to invest in. Mr. X knows that this investor has additional information, therefore he will react as a free rider, and as a result he wont benefit from this information. We all know that the very first aim of any financial institution is to make loans, but can it help mitigate the asymmetric information? The answer is clearly YES, instead of lending the money to whomever, it shall lend borrowers with the most productive investment opportunities. The issue of free rider problem is very limited in financial institutions due to the reason that it issues private loans. This is why banks play an important role in sponsoring the activities of businesses more than securities markets do. Tools to help reduce adverse selection and moral hazard problems envelop the government regulation to increase the transparency and availability of information, collateral and net worth which will reduce the lenders loss in case the borrower defaulted and the monitoring and enforcement of restrictive covenants which will rule out each and every risky activity and will encourage desirable behaviors. In most developing countries such as Lebanon, the use of collateral is not always effective since bankruptcy procedures are too slow, creditors must first sue the defaulting debtor for payment which can take several years, then, the creditor has to go to court again to acquire title to the collateral. The process can take too long to the extent that by the time the creditor obtains the collateral, it may have been neglected and thus have little value. Whe n the market is unable to use collateral effectively, the adverse selection problem will be worse since the requirements for additional information concerning the creditworthiness of the borrower is highly needed by the lender so to monitor the quality of the loan. In this case, there will be less outstanding productive investments which will induce a lower growth rate for the economy. Also, many developing countries enclose a weak regulatory system that makes it hard to provide adequate information to the market. For instance, accounting procedures implementations are somehow fragile making it hard for the lender to evaluate the borrowers balance sheet. Again, this inhibits the flow of money within financial systems to projects that may be productive and donor to the economic growth. Another issue raised as to defend the cause of the slow rate of economic growth in the MENA region is the issue of illiquid market. Liquidity refers to the degree, at which an asset is converted int o cash. The financial crisis has worsened the liquidity complexities in these markets. In 2010, the exchange turnover ratio, which is the annual traded volume as a percentage of market capitalization, dropped throughout the region (Balzian et al., 2011). The ratios of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Dubai were around 70 to 75% below their 2008 level at respectively 57%, 37% and 35%. However, the NYSEs turnover ratio declined by just 29% during the same period standing at 98% in 2010. And as mentioned earlier, the MENA region suffers from a standardized clearing systems and proprietary systems. There was a hope that the crisis would encourage MENA governments to consolidate the regional capital markets and make them more open to worldwide investors, unfortunately, few measures have been taken into consideration and few were implemented, the issue that promised even more a very slow rate of growth. Referring to Blominvest Bank views on regional economic and financial developments for the sec ond quarter of 2012, the overall economic activity in the Middle East, hardly hit by the eruption of the Arab Spring, reveals significantly quieter in 2012. The Egyptian revolution against the government was accompanied by plants shutdowns, simply economic downturn. Employees couldnt collect their salaries as banks stayed closed for a long period of time. While Egypt is characterized by a cash society, stores declined to sell on credit basis and ATMs were empty of cash, citizens were left with no liquid cash which pushed them to borrow money from friends so to buy the cheapest foods. The Egyptian stock market was closed as well because of this economic crisis. The Egyptian crisis slowed down the countrys growth rate which affected the work of the Egyptian stock market. Rating agencies started to downgrade Egypts foreign debt. Moodys cut Egypts foreign currency bonds to Baa3 from Baa2 and foreign currency deposits to Ba3 from Ba2. Lets cover next the close example of Lebanon and t he role of the Lebanese banks in the economic growth. The case of Lebanon High public debt and political instability hold back Lebanons ratings. Credit ratings occupy a crucial role in determining the countrys risk of default and as a result the corresponding yield on its debt issues. The grades are set as per many indicators such as the countrys economic performance, Debt-to-GDP ratio and political security. Lebanon was firstly given a grade in 1997 by Moodys (B1) and by SP (BB-) due to its risk of default and to the outstanding public debt. Lebanons debt to GDP ratio had been estimated at 78% in December 1996. By 2000, Lebanons debt accounted for $25.4 Billion amounting to 151% of total GDP. Lebanons opportunity to break down the debt in 2002 so to build new confidence in its debt issues was accompanied by securing funds from the Paris II conference where the international community provided $2.4 Billion in direct financial support at maturity of 15 years and an interest of 5%. BDL and Commercial banks provided a total of $7.8Billion in long term loans , almost half of which with zero interest. This was shown in 2003 when huge capital inflows doubled BDLs foreign reserves to $10B. Furthermore, the rise in domestic consumption resulting from higher liquidity, and the result in tourist activity due to a relatively stable political environment stemmed an average economic growth rate of 3.77% between 2002 and 2005. Although Debt to GDP ratio was estimated at 176%, 2006 was a turnaround year for Lebanons debt ratings despite the 1 month military clash that year. We can thus conclude from that the economic and political instability in Lebanon is the factor thats affecting stock markets, however, financial institutions and specifically commercial banks in Lebanon belong to a rigid industry under the umbrella of the Lebanese Central Bank. Conclusion In a nutshell, as a Lebanese citizen, I would like to note that Lebanese banks and especially the Central Bank is seeking a strategy thats obliging most of Lebanese people to become investors of the risk averse type. Commercial banks offer an average of 6.5% on all Lebanese deposits giving incentive to people to open savings deposits instead of investing this money in projects that may occupy a huge lack in the Lebanese market, such as infrastructure projects. On a daily basis, we see banks ads on TVs encouraging people to apply for all types of loans such as personal loans, wedding loans, and even plastic surgery loans, and we unfortunately lack some incentives on educating people for trading in the stock market that will enable them to maybe succeed more than depositing their money in the bank saving accounts. The taxi driver in the states holds a well diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds while here in Lebanon, we lack this lifestyle, this education that might really shift t he whole economy into a higher level of educational growth, and thus contribute to an economic growth.