Declaring Internet access a human right would dilute the rights that matter more, says Internet pioneer Vint Cerf. Photo: Veni Markovski (Wikimedia)

Get real: The Internet isn't a human right.

That's the message from a man often credited with inventing the Internet, Vint Cerf. Writing in The New York Times yesterday, Cerf, who now works for Google, argued that human rights are "things we as humans need in order to lead healthy, meaningful lives":

At one time if you didn’t have a horse it was hard to make a living. But the important right in that case was the right to make a living, not the right to a horse. Today, if I were granted a right to have a horse, I’m not sure where I would put it.

Today's Internet—publicly developed but privately owned and financed—is a key tool in toppling kleptocracies and enriching millions of poor farmers. So Cerf's position is provocative. But it's a reminder that those of us who believe in markets' power to help solve poverty shouldn't cling too tightly to any single "market-based solution."

That wouldn't be market-based at all.

Swarms of protests have taken place in Egypt over the last several days. Photo: Al Jazeera English (flickr)

Twitter, Facebook, Myspace -- you name the social network and it's bursting with information about the demonstrations that have taken Egypt by storm in the past few days.

According to The Jerusalem Post, cell phone service and the internet have been cut in effort to make it difficult for protestors to organize. But Al Jazeera and other media organizations have been using twitter to provide live updates on the situation in Egypt, including President Hosni Mubarak's anxiously awaited public statement. Just a few moments ago, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced that he has ordered the existing government to step down with the promise that a new government will be installed tomorrow. At this point he has not said that he will step down.

This The New York Times backgrounder explains how protests in Egypt were inspired by neighboring Tunisia's overthrow of former President Ben Ali.

"The unrest in Egypt — fueled by frustrations over government corruption, economic stagnation and a decided lack of political freedom — came after weeks of turmoil across the Arab world that toppled one leader in Tunisia and encouraged protesters to overcome deep-rooted fears of their authoritarian leaders and take to the streets."

Much of the protesting has been fueled my Egypt's youth population which compromises more than 47 percent of the state's total population. Their concerns for the future and frustration with the job economy have helped propel the demonstrations.

For up to date coverage on Egypt, check out Al Jazerra's excellent live feed.

Could Yemen be reaching a tipping point? Photo: Ahron de Leeuw (flickr)

Once called “Arabia Felix” or “happy arabia” by the Romans, today Yemen is the poorest country in the Middle East. With dwindling natural resources and a growing, deeply conservative Muslim population of 23 million, Yemen could be reaching a tipping point, claims a recent feature in the New York Times magazine.

Yemen is dealing with a potentially explosive combination of severe poverty, depleted oil reserves, water scarcity, corruption, and rapid population growth, according to Bruce Riedel, an expert in Middle Eastern policy at the Brookings Institution. Corruption is so bad, says the LA Times, that billions of dollars from Yemen's budget go to tribal elders and patronage networks in the form of kickbacks. And tribal feuding has become so dangerous that "as much as a quarter of the population cannot go to school or work for fear of being killed," according to the New York Times feature.

Yemen's ranking on this year's Failed States Index is further evidence of a downward spiral. Overall Yemen came in at 15th, up three spots from its ranking in 2009 and nine from 2007.

In response to Yemen's teetering security situation, Washington announced it was tripling its humanitarian assistance — up to $42.5 million — "to address the root causes of radicalism." But according to the Times report, "no one has a real strategy for Yemen..."

Moving Yemen towards a brighter future requires increasing the country's internal stability. Humanitarian aid projects aimed at meeting needs like food, education, infrastructure and community building are a good start. The World Bank is supporting nearly 40 active projects targeting these areas through interest-free loans, as well as offering microfinance loans through the International Development Association. Hopefully increases in foreign aid and international attention will usher in a better era for Yemen.

The average age of marriage for Yemeni girls is 12 or 13. Photo: Brajeshwar (flickr)

An article last week by the International Herald Tribune reported how Arwa Abdu Muhammad ran out of her husband’s house to a local hospital in Yemen, where she said her husband had beat and raped her for the last eight months. Arwa is nine years old.

Arwa sparked an international debate over child marriage. In Yemen and elsewhere, child marriages are a powerful illustration of misogyny and how it hurts developing economies.

The Global Gender Gap Index explains that women are a very important factor in the economy — when children are forced into young marriages, it leads to high rates of maternal and child mortality, an uneducated populace, and loss of economic opportunity.

The statistics speak for themselves. General health expert Dr. Abdullah Al-Kamil says a recent study found that the average age of marriage in Yemen is 12 or 13, and as Al-Kamil noted, “The problem here isn’t only early marriage, but also early pregnancy – and in most cases, early death.”

In a country where 30 percent of women between 15 and 19 have at least one child, early marriage and sky high maternal mortality rates are major causes of continuing poverty and underdevelopment. Suha Bashren, a policy officer from Oxfam, said she had no doubt that child brides were a significant reason Yemen’s ranking has recently fallen on the UN’s Human Development Index.

Yet in Yemen, poverty and conservative social values are driving forces in child marriage. Most parents in Yemen continue to believe that the earlier they marry their daughters, the better off their daughters will be. Early marriage is also encouraged by parents’ fears of girls being kidnapped and forcibly married, which is not uncommon.

Conservative Islamists supporting child marriage gained power after north and south Yemen reunited in 1990. In a government which recently modified laws to legally allow children under the age of 15 to marry, those against child marriage are a minority.

Because of Arwa’s bravery, child marriage is now being discussed. A few members of Parliament, such as Abdulbari Dughaish, are trying to change the laws in spite of religious opposition. The negative press within Yemen and internationally may be these children’s best hope for change — and their community's best hope for economic progress.