Youth between the ages of 15-24 constitute the largest age group among Arab populations, representing more than one third of the total inhabitants of the Arab region and approximately 20 percent of populations in Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen, Jordan, Algeria, and Saudi Arabia. Though the largest age group population-wise, youth, nonetheless, face the greatest challenge in terms of employment. All countries in the region have witnessed an increase in youth unemployment rates between 1991 and 2004 with the exception of the Mashreq countries. Consequently, youth currently constitute an estimated 44 percent of the total unemployed in the region, according to the latest Millennium Development Goals in the Arab Region 2005 Report.
Youth Workshop Series
In 2005, UNDP in cooperation with the
UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) convened three sub-regional workshops in Bahrain, Morocco, and Yemen on the subject of youth and the MDGs. The objective of the workshops was to empower youth and engage them in the regional and global effort to meet the MDGs by 2015.
Some of the recommendations emerging from the youth workshop series include the creation of a youth observatory and portal, the need for youth representation in the formulation of national strategies for youth, public-awareness campaigns to familiarize youth with the MDGs, and Arab media dialogue addressing youth-relevant issues. A joint UNDP-DESA report entitled Arab Youth Strategizing for the MDGs, launched in June 2006, brings together the background papers that were presented at the regional workshops, in addition to the main outcomes of the discussions held and the recommendations made.
Regional Programmes Mainstreaming Youth
In recognition of the pivotal importance of the youth constituency, the Regional Bureau for Arab States has mainstreamed youth in its regional programmes dealing with governance, ICT, HIV/AIDS and education. The
AjialCom initiative, part of the regional programme on
Information and Communication Technology for Development in the Arab World (ICTDAR), has launched Community Access Centers for youth in underprivileged communities in many Arab countries with the immediate objective of bringing a development dimension that addresses the needs of youth through ICT training.
Another of
ICTDAR’s initiatives, ICT for the blind (
ICTARB) provides the visually impaired with specialized ICT training in existing schools and community access centers, proving crucial to the integration of visually impaired youth into their communities and the labor market. In 2006,
ICTDAR will launch an Info Arab Youth Portal (IAYP), a regional platform that will facilitate discussions amongst Arab youth on pertinent issues including HIV/AIDS, drugs, labor market, higher education, human rights, child and women rights and family planning.
Youth is also one of the targeted constituencies within the
Programme on Governance in the Arab World (POGAR) and t
he HIV/AIDS Regional Programme (HARPAS). In March of 2005,
POGAR sponsored the Gulf Youth and Democracy meeting in Qatar, to discuss the role of youth in reinforcing democratic transition in Gulf countries. Similarly, during its regional workshop on human rights and HIV/AIDS in Beirut in 2003,
HARPAS provided youth leaders and activists with training on the use of the adapted Arabic version of the HIV/AIDS Kit on Human Rights and Young People. Youth are also the main beneficiaries of the
Trends in International Mathematics and Science (TIMSS), and the Quality Assurance and Institutional Planning at Arab Universities regional projects. Together, both these programmes are concerned with assessing and evaluating the quality of education provided to youth at the primary, secondary and higher education levels.
Promoting Youth at the Country Level
UNDP has also led various national efforts to promote and empower youth in Arab countries.
Jordan in 2005 was the first Arab country to produce a
national youth strategy that outlines a comprehensive and long term vision and plan for the development of its youth. The UNDP country office initiated the preparation and adoption of the strategy, which was endorsed by the Cabinet and officially launched under HM King Abdallah’s patronage. UNDP-Jordan is also working on strengthening the Higher
Council for Youth, as well as enabling youth centers to be more focused and responsive to the interests of youth.
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