NOREF - Youth integration and job creation in the Middle East

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Jad Chaaban

Jad Chaaban joined the American University of Beirut in September 2006, prior to which he was an economist in the World Bank’sMiddle East regional office, where he undertook research related to poverty reduction and economic management in Lebanon,Syria, Jordan and Egypt. He holds an MBA fro...
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Youth integration and job creation in the Middle East

Jad Chaaban, 4 May 2012

The Middle East and North African region is currently faced with one of the toughest socioeconomic challenges in its modern history: a ‘‘youth bulge’’ of almost 100 million young people, of which a quarter are unemployed. Between 40 and 50 million new jobs need to be created in the region’s countries over the next decade, and this implies that governments in the region should embark on a labour-intensive and job-creating growth trajectory. Special attention should be given to reducing the unemployment and emigration of skilled youth, and to integrating young women into the labour market. Policies that tackle the institutional and structural impediments to meaningful job creation should be pursued, together with public interventions in social protection and housing programmes that would reduce youth’s social exclusion in the region.