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Our untapped resource [The Daily Star, Beirut, Lebanon](Daily Star, The (Beirut, Lebanon) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 25--As the world is passing through massive social and economic transformations, modern societies have discovered that fighting inequality, investing in human capital and building sustainable societies are major existential issues for the future of humanity. Aging populations, youth unemployment and inequality are topping the agenda of the international community's discussions. The Arab world has its own version of these challenges -- which is primarily similar to majority of the developing world -- however, it has been quite far from acting appropriately to deal with them.According to the World Bank, more than 1 billion young people are expected to enter the global work force by 2030, which means the world economy will need to create approximately 5 million jobs every month to meet demand. In terms of investment in human capital, the Arab world has been wasting a rich demographic opportunity. While Europe is suffering from a population aging problem, the average age is below 25 in the Arab world. According to the Euromonitor/U.N., the Middle East and Africa region had the highest proportion of population aged below 30 in 2012 at 66.8 percent, compared to Latin America (52.9 percent) and Asia (48.8 percent). As inspiring as they are, these numbers are scary as well when we look at the youth policies and programs adopted in our countries. On average, only one third of the Arab world's youth are in the labor force, compared to half of youth globally, and the unemployment rate among Arab youth is 25 percent, which is the highest rate of any region in the world (U.N.). Looking at these facts, one shall wonder, why are we so reckless in wasting such human capital? What does it take to change this disastrous reality? Despite some shy initiatives in reforming education systems, creating jobs, and empowering youth implemented mostly by ad hoc civil society initiatives, there is an essential need for major structural reform and investment in our education systems, entrepreneurial ecosystem, technology infrastructure and health care in order to be able to gain from this demographic opportunity and hinder the unemployment crisis. Inadequate education is ranked the fourth most important constraint to economic growth in the Arab World Competitiveness Report 2011-12 (World Economic Forum 2012). Private sector surveys also assert that the inadequate skills among youth have contributed in deepening the employment crisis in the Arab world. In addition, nearly 40 percent of employers in the formal private sector in the Middle East and North Africa region identify skill shortages as a major constraint to business operation and firm growth (World Bank 2013). Henceforth, it is crystal clear that delaying our investment in youth education, capacity building and establishing an effective business environment will deepen our grievances, worsen our political and economic prospects, and above all, diminish our global competitiveness. It is also worth mentioning that these transformative actions must happen simultaneously since none of them alone can help us have an escape velocity. For example, Lebanon has a literacy rate of (89.6 percent), and its education system ranks 13th out of 148 countries due to its quality and high standards, according to the Global Information Technology Report 2014; but it suffers from 34 percent youth unemployment and has to face the challenge of creating 23,000 jobs per year over the next decade, according to the World Bank. This proves the need to deal with youth unemployment in a holistic manner, taking into consideration all the precipitating factors. Analytical studies on the attitudes of youth in the Arab Spring countries, specifically in Tunisia and Egypt, showed scientifically how the rising grievances and aspirations of youth have been the driving forces of the revolutions. Grievances were increasing due to social injustice and lack of opportunities for educated youth. As for aspirations, the exposure of youth from their rooms to the entire globe through their computers and mobiles has shaped their values and priorities. Thus, youth participation and engagement as main stakeholders in their societies and key actors in setting youth policies is no longer an option for our governments but an essential need for achieving sustainable development and political stability. In addition, integrating the youth factor as a transversal issue in all national policies is another vital condition for any policymaking process. Moreover, due to the complexity and interconnectivity of this issue, youth policies deserve a collective international effort. As we are witnessing now, the economic performance of the most advanced economies has been negatively affected by the volatile growth in the developing world. Hence, the need for international cooperation in education, technology transfer, capacity building and knowledge sharing is urgent now more than ever. This is not only a mere act of development assistance so much as a strategic cooperation for coordinated growth. The "Solutions for Youth Employment" coalition that was announced in 2014 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group is one of the international responses to link all relevant stakeholders in order to share knowledge and experiences, as well as implement programs based on evidence about what works in addressing youth unemployment. The world is facing an immense number of interconnected challenges and opportunities. Lebanon specifically is lucky to have an educated young human capital that guarantees the dynamism of its society. However, our appreciation of this opportunity is below any acceptable level, with us acting in a clear illustration of the resource curse. Investing in youth by building their capacities through education and skill trainings and empowering them politically and economically are the major national demands that shouldn't be delayed another day amid all the challenges and problems that we are facing at the local and regional levels. Otherwise, history will have no sympathy for our failure, but only pity. Hiba Huneini is the acting manager of the Youth & Civic Engagement Program at the Hariri Foundation for Sustainable Human Development. ___ (c)2014 The Daily Star (Beirut, Lebanon) Visit The Daily Star (Beirut, Lebanon) at www.dailystar.com.lb/ Distributed by MCT Information Services |