Wasta: How personal connections are denying citizens opportunities and basic services

In many Arab countries the use of personal connections, or “wasta” in Arabic, is a common practice and a social norm. People use their family or social contacts to skip the line and gain quicker and better access to schools, universities, hospitals or jobs, and to “speed up” government paperwork such as ID renewals or birth certificates. How much you can increase the speed and quality of your service often depends on who you know – the higher the better, of course.

In our 2019 Global Corruption Barometer (GCB) for the Middle East and North Africa, we asked citizens about their views and direct experiences of corruption and bribery. This year, for the first time, we also asked people in Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine about their experiences with wasta.

The results show that around a third of the population used their personal connections to receive basic services in these countries. Lebanon has the highest wasta rate at 54 per cent, followed by Palestine at 39 per cent and Jordan at 25 per cent.

While bribery rates in the three countries are lower, bribes and wasta often go hand-in-hand – almost half of the people who used wasta also paid a bribe.

Courts and public utilities, such as electricity and water, are the two sectors where citizens are most likely to take advantage of personal relations. In Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine, nearly one in three people who accessed public utilities and court services used wasta to get the services they needed.

This is most flagrant in Lebanon where 65 per cent of citizens used wasta when dealing with the courts.

Favouritism in the form of wasta poses a serious threat to social and economic equality, basic human rights and the rule of law. It is a structural problem: while many perceive wasta to be the only way to obtain the services they need, it often has a devastating impact on other people’s lives, putting their health or economic security at risk and undermining trust in government.

Wasta may also perpetuate economic uncertainty. According to a World Bank report, 54 per cent of the region’s working age population is unemployed or inactive, and the majority expressed their frustration that wasta is the main hurdle to getting a job. Education, skills and experience are insignificant next to informal social connections. This affects young people particularly: when asked whether knowing someone in a high position is critical to getting a job, over 60 per cent of youth in the region agreed that it was.

While many people in the region recognise the negative consequences of wasta and see it as a form of corruption, they continue to use it in practice. Why? According to the results of the GCB, the majority say they would not have received the services they need without the use of their connections, while less than half say that they did so to get better services.

A separate national survey on the prevalence of wasta in Jordan reinforces these views. Almost half of citizens said they used wasta to complete government paperwork, and 65 per cent find it necessary to get a job.

The first step towards eliminating wasta and nepotism, and to ensuring equal access to basic services and rights for all citizens regardless of their personal connections, is to criminalise wasta as a form of corruption.

E-government services and programmes can help in eliminating the use personal connections, particularly when obtaining passports, IDs, certificates and other governmental paperwork.

Most importantly, governments should work with civil society and media to take preventive measures, raise awareness about wasta and challenge societal norms. Wasta is not a way of giving help or assistance – it is corruption that denies citizens opportunities and undermines trust in government.

Wasta is a structural problem that must be addressed with strong integrity measures – but they can only work if wasta as a societal norm is dismantled.