Importance of Youth Inclusion Highlighted at World Economic Forum on the Middle East

Youth leaders offered recommendations to policy makers, business, and civil society leaders at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on the Middle East from May 18-20, 2008 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

A youth delegation participating in the Forum communicated a platform of recommendations resulting from the "Learning from the Future" conference in Dubai in April. Tarik Yousef, Dean of the Dubai School of Government and non-Resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution, gave a keynote address at the Dubai conference, which was attended by several representatives of the Middle East Youth Initiative. A Yemeni youth representative who participated in the "Learning from the Future" conference and attended the WEF shares her experience with the Yemen Observer.

The WEF concluded its final plenary session on May 20, 2008, where three young leaders addressed Egypt's Prime Minister Ahmed Mahmoud Nazif and other panelists with their hopes for far-reaching reforms in the region to capitalize on youth inclusion and realize its full potential by 2025. Nazif assured students that their voices were being heard, but pointed out the challenges of creating enough jobs to meet the needs of the region's burgeoning population. The WEF summary of the session can be found here.