In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), young people (defined as fifteen to twenty-four years old) are going to bear the brunt of the climate crisis. Yet, despite representing a disproportionately large percentage of the region’s population, youth are rarely consulted in policy decisions, including around climate adaptation and mitigation
Youth and Climate Change in the Middle East and North Africa
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
As we approach 2030, Africa’s young population stands at the forefront of economic transformation. Youth and women entrepreneurs have had a profound impact on their communities and the continent at large. Their energy, resilience, and creativity are not just changing the landscape of business in Africa-they are driving the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The future of African youth and women in entrepreneurship: Leading Africa to 2030
The Brookings Institution
This report looks at the factors that impact the vulnerability of youth who are migrants in Sudan and Ethiopia. Sudan and Ethiopia are important migration crossroads in East Africa, and routes through this region are characterised by a substantial risk of abuse. The study presents a statistical analysis based on data collected in 2022–2023 in Sudan and Ethiopia
A Statistical Analysis of Migrant Youth Vulnerability in Sudan & Ethiopia
Mixed Migration Centre
Situated at the northwest borders of the continent, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, Morocco has established itself as a stable and dynamic economy and a gateway to Africa. A part of the Maghreb and Arab world, the country has for many decades embraced a policy of economic and financial openness, aiming to integrate its economy into global markets
How Africas Youth Can Change Its Destiny - The Case of Morocco
Policy Center For The New South
Protests in Kenya began on June 18, triggered by the country’s treasury announcing a set of revenue-raising measures.
The new levies included a 16 percent sales tax on bread, a 25 percent duty on cooking oil and the introduction of an
“eco tax” on several basic products. The measures were approved in the Kenyan National Assembly on June 20
Dysfunction and disillusionment in Kenya
Geopolitical Intelligence Services AG
Youth form a distinct social group in Yemeni political culture. After experiencing marginalization and manipulation during the era of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, the 2011 revolution gave hope for a new era of inclusion in which political parties would take Yemeni youth seriously as stakeholders and decision-makers on senior committees. However, the war that erupted following the Houthi takeover of Sana’a in 2014 erased gains made by youth during the transition period and led to divisions between youth activists inside and outside Yemen.
The impact of war on youth activism in Yemen
Sana'a Center for Strategic Studies
A country’s demographic trends are often cited among the risks or opportunities that it faces. Youth bulges could bring political instability; a robust working age population promises a “demographic dividend” of economic prosperity and strengthened democracy. As one generation ages out of the labor force, another slips into place, taking on the responsibility for economic growth (while paying into social security, caring for parents, and often raising a family).
Reading of the Week: Introduction - The Grest Population Shakeup
The Wilson Center
This policy briefing presents the findings and recommendations of the ‘Youth and Social Justice Futures: Identifying Future Skills and Training in Africa’ project, a participatory action research project that engaged Ugandan youth and other stakeholders in exploring alternative futures and addressing the challenge of unemployment. The project used two innovative frameworks: Youth Futures Literacy Labs and the Three Horizons Framework.
Uganda: The Future of Work for Youth
The South African Institute of International Affairs
This paper explores the Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS) Agenda’s impact on youth involvement in conflict resolution, focusing on Euro-Mediterranean regions, specifically post-Arab Spring Yemen and Libya. The YPS Agenda emphasizes five pillars: participation, protection, violence prevention, partnerships, and disengagement/reintegration.
Meaningful inclusion? Enhancing the youth, peace and security agenda in euro-mediterranean conflict resolution
EuroMeSCo
The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union’s Agenda 2063 emphasize the vital role of young people in catalysing sustainable and transformative governance and development in Africa (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, 2017).
Africas youth: More educated, less employed, still unheard in policy and development
AFRO barometer
Africa faces a serious challenge of youth unemployment, which affects millions of young people and hampers the continent’s economic transformation potential. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), about 13 million young people in Africa are unemployed, and around 60 million young African people are not engaged in employment, education, or training as of 2022. By 2050, Sub-Saharan Africa will have twice as many people as it has today, and more than half will be under 25 years old.
Reading of the Week: Creating More and Better Jobs for African Youth through School-to-Work Transition Programs
African Center for Economic Transformation
In recent months, Saudi Arabia’s ambitious investments in sports – with a particular focus on football – raised tremendous international attention. In December 2022, Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was transferred to Saudi football club Al-Nassr, followed by a number of other stars such as Karim Benzema, Jordan Henderson, and Sadio Mané. Within months following the Ronaldo deal, stadium attendance had jumped from 8,000 to 10,000, as had TV ratings, while the number of Instagram followers of his new club had risen from 850,000 to more than 9.7 million in a matter of days.
The Development of a Community Sports Sector in the Gulf: A Driver for Youth Empowerment
Brussels International Center
This brief is part of a larger research project, A Climate of Fragility, conducted by IOM Iraq and Social Inquiry, which provides the first detailed profiling of southern governorates in Iraq in a decade, exploring population demographics, housing, access to services, socio-economic situation, agriculture, migration, wellbeing, governance, security, and social cohesion. The profiling is based on a large-scale household survey.
Employment in the South of Iraq Challenging Prospects for Woman and Youth
International Organisation for MIgration
dolescent girls around the world are speaking up and leading change toward a more gender equal world.1 But while girls stand ready to help shape our collective future, a myriad of concurrent and interlinked crises and barriers stand in their way. As the global community looks to “build back equal,” we have a unique opportunity to overcome these challenges, and to give adolescent girls the freedom and power they need to lead and thrive.
Building Back Equal, With and For Adolescent Girls
UNICEF
Tunisian youth’s limited participation in political life is nothing new. It dates back to before the January 2011 revolution. Tunisian youth did indeed play a major role in driving the revolution, whose main slogan was "Freedom, Dignity, and Employment”, but have reverted to political objection and aversion when it comes to participating in public affairs due to several factors. Party conflicts and the collapse of economic and social indexes have further widened the gap between Tunisian youth and their aspirations, and the directions and choices politicians made during the first decade of the democratic transition.
Youth participation in Tunisias elections Some possible solutions
Arab Reform Initiative
The role of the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) in the process of job creation and formalization of the informal economy has been understudied. This policy study aims to examine the issue of widespread youth employment in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and the mismatch between labor supply and demand to promote the creation of start-up businesses to formalize these enterprises.
Reading of the Week: Assessing the Job Creation Potential of the Social economy in the MENA Region
EUROMESCO