A new initiative, the Youth Knowledge Consortium, targeting youth micro-enterprises in the Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA) was recently launched at the two-day Doha Summit for “Young People and Employment in the Arab World” in Qatar. The summit was arranged by Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, the wife of Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the ruler of Qatar. The founding organizations of the Consortium include: Silatech, the Dubai School of Government, Gallup, ImagineNations Group, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Issam Fares Institute (IFI) at the American University of Beirut, the Wolfensohn Center for Development and the World Bank’s Global Partnership for Youth Investment (GPYI).
The Youth Knowledge Consortium was created as a response to issues of discrimination by financial intermediaries against youth run micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The Consortium aims to create a youth “job readiness” index, conduct research on youth unemployment, work towards policy changes and launch initiatives to encourage youth leadership.
Silatech, one of the main facilitators of the Doha Summit, was launched in January 2008 by Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned at the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Forum. Silatech works toward youth employment throughout the MENA region through initiatives to encourage youth MSMEs and business development.
Other founding organizations that concentrate specifically on encouraging youth employment are the World Bank’s Global Partnership for Youth Investment (GPYI) and ImagineNations Group. Both organizations aim to encourage economic growth through young entrepreneurs.
The Wolfensohn Center for Development, the Dubai School of Government and the Issam Fares Institute (IFI) at the American University of Beirut all work to further public policy and research, with the Dubai School and IFI concentrating specifically on the Arab World.
By Sarah Knapp, Research Assistant
Additional Resources:
Global Partnership for Youth Investment
Wolfensohn Center for Development
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