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MEYI News & Media Alert (11 June 2008)

*** RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY ***
 
NEW RELEASE! The MEYI released its seventh working paper: “The Costs of Youth Exclusion in the Middle East” by Jad Chaaban, Assistant Professor at the American University of Beirut. The study is the first of its kind in the region to quantify the economic losses resulting from youth exclusion at both country and regional levels. The findings were discussed on al-Arabiya’s “Panorama” program on May 28. The publication is available for download.
 
Commentaries: In a recent commentary, Navtej Dhillon, MEYI Director/Fellow at Brookings, and Amina Fahmy, MEYI Research Assistant, reflect on urbanization in the Middle East and how city-to-city collaboration on urban development can help improve the lives of young people.Read and comment on the article here. Navtej Dhillon and Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, Visiting Fellow at Brookings, examine the role of the middle class in the context of a regional oil boom and demographic boon. Read and comment on the article.
 
 
*** MEYI IN THE NEWS ***
 
MEYI to Participate in Youth Knowledge Consortium: The MEYI is participating in the Youth Knowledge Consortium, which was announced June 2 at the Doha Summit: 'Young People and Employment in the Arab World' -- led by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, Founder and Chair of Silatech. Consortium partners include: the Dubai School of Government, the Wolfensohn Center for Development at Brookings, Gallup, the World Bank’s Global Partnership for Youth Investment, and the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut (AUB). The Consortium will cooperate to promote scholarship, research and thought leadership to support youth policy and initiatives. Read more.
Yousef Speaks at Doha Summit: Tarik Yousef, Dean of the Dubai School of Government and Nonresident SeniorFellow at Brookings, spoke at the Doha Summit on the need to provide job opportunities for the region’s youth. Please click here for a summary of media coverage of the summit, and to read a related Financial Times report on youth in the Middle East featuring Yousef.
Salehi-Isfahani Presents on Youth in U.S.-Arab Cities Forum: The MEYI was invited to participate at the U.S.-Arab Cities Forum organized by Mayor Daley and Chicago’s Sister City partners in the Arab World. Djavad Salehi-Isfahani presented key findings from MEYI and policy recommendations on education and youth. Access the agenda to learn more about objectives and expert presentations.   
MEYI on the Hill: Navtej Dhillon was part of an expert panel to brief staff from the House Foreign Relations Committee on May 15 on the implications of the “youth bulge” in the Middle East. Read the full transcript. Djavad Salehi-Isfahani also briefed Congressional staff on May 23 on the prospects of Iran’s economy, specifically highlighting the problem of youth unemployment. His remarks are posted online.
BBC Interviews MEYI Experts: BBC recently interviewed MEYI experts Navtej Dhillon, Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, and Diane Singerman, Associate Professor at American University. Visit our Multimedia section to listen to the podcasts andreadtranscripts.
MEYI Youth Ambassador Profiled in Yemen Times: In a recent article, Abdullah Al Thawr was featured in the Yemen Times in May for his nomination as the first MEYI Youth Ambassador and for his commitment to youth development. Click here to read more and to access the full article.
 
*** NEW ON WWW.SHABABINCLUSION.ORG ***
 
“Al-Shabab Awalan” (Youth First): This month MEYI introduces the “Al-Shabab Awalan” series, which will feature leading civil society efforts working on youth development in the Middle East. For the first installment, read and listen to our interview with members of Najah in Jordan, an innovative program aimed at increasing the employability of youth, and enhancing parents' support for youth employment and entrepreneurship.
New Blogs by MEYI Youth Ambassadors: The MEYI website has been updated with several new “Point of View” articles, containing on-the-ground perspectives from MEYI’s Youth Ambassadors in the region. Topics range from youth employment trends in Syria to internet cafes in Egypt to the treatment of AIDS in the Middle East.
News and Events: MEYI is actively engaged in youth-related events both internationally and in the region. Visit our News and Events section for a list of upcoming and past events as well as current news on youth development.
 
*** COMING SOON ***
 
Back from the Field Report: Commentary on cross-country perspectives will soon be released following Navtej Dhillon and MEYI Communications Specialist Samantha Constant’s recent trip to the region, where they conducted a series of consultations with youth, media, private sector, government officials and held youth focus groups in collaboration with education-to-career programs in the field. Stay tuned for upcoming events building on the findings of this trip, which included visits to Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Dubai and Qatar.
PBS Documentary: An upcoming documentary on youth and employment in Jordan by PBS, a non-profit public broadcasting television service with 354 member TV stations in the United States, is scheduled for release in July. The MEYI worked closely with the PBS team and provided background research for the film. Stay tuned for an associated PBS web-exclusive special with MEYI.
 
*** WHO’S TALKING ABOUT MIDDLE EAST YOUTH ***
 
“Our youth face some of the world's worst unemployment rates. We must respond. Over the next few years, there needs to be wide-scale, tangible solutions to the issues that affect people's lives: community development ... access to health care ... affordable energy ... secure water resources ... good schools ... gender equality ... and jobs, jobs, jobs - some 200 million more - for college graduates as well as school-leavers.”
King Abdullah II of Jordan, in address at Oxford University (The Huffington Post, 4 June 2008)
 “There is a boom in the region and youth unemployment is benefiting but the kinds of jobs created, especially in non-Gulf countries, are not necessarily the kind of jobs we need… They are low-paying jobs, without long-term contract, without social mobility, for people in the non-formal private sector, and in sectors not high on technology.”
Dr. Tarik Yousef, Dean of the Dubai School of Government and Non-Resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution (Financial Times, 2 June 2008)
“Addressing Middle Eastern youth solely through the prism of potential extremism misses the opportunity for aligning U.S. policy with the aspirations of the majority of the moderate citizens in the Middle East. It alienates the very people we are trying to help. Currently, there is re-negotiation of the rules of the game in the region, and it is being spurred by youth, who we should be empowering and supporting.”
              MEYI Director Navtej Dhillon in remarks to Congressional staff on May 15, 2008
“We can only build a better society through better education…This experience… proves the region is on the move. It cares about the young and about integrating with the rest of the world.”
Ahmed Mahmoud Nazif, Prime Minister of Egypt, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, May 18-20, 2008
***

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MEYI collaborates with PBS NOW documentary on Jordan, Navtej Dhillon interviewed

11 Jul 2008
MEYI collaborates with the Public Broadcasting System’s (PBS) on a NOW program documentary on youth employment in Jordan. In a special online supplement, NOW interviews Navtej Dhillon, Brookings Fellow and Director of the Middle East Youth Initiative, on the challenges facing youth across the Middle East – including unemployment and delayed marriage – and the role of the international community in contributing to reform and development in the region.


MEYI Experts Answer Questions About Youth in Algeria

23 Jun 2008

Despite gains in education access, young Algerians face one of the highest levels of unemployment (43%) in the Middle East. The New York Times features expert analysis by Brookings Fellows Navtej Dhillon, Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, and Tarik Yousef of the Middle East Youth Initiative in response to the latest story on “Generation Faithful,” an exclusive Times series on examining the lives of young people across the Middle East.