What is the most important challange that faces the Arab youth?

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Forum Vision and Objectives

This forum is established in response to the Arab Kings and Presidents Decree made at the Khartoum Summit 2006 which stated:

"We Arab kings and presidents, call for youth empowerment and active participation in the society by contributing in the economic, social, cultural and political development."

This Forum is organized in collaboration between LAS/PPMD-Social Sector, UNFPA, UNDP ( C2015, HIV/AIDS, ICTDAR) ILO and YEN .

 
Introduction
  • Young people aged 15 to 24 constitute an estimated 1.2 billion of the world human capital and about 92 million in the Arab region in 2000. Increasingly, youth are recognized as key participants in decision-making and development, as reflected in the growing presence of non-governmental youth organizations and by the upsurge of youth advisory boards and committees to regional (e.g. L.A.S. Youth Advisory Committee) and international institution programmes. Developing the capacity and creating sustained partnership with young people are crucial strategies to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and sustainable development that have not yet been fully realized effectively by the international community.
  • Young people in the Arab region are considered to be around one third of the population -- the highest percentage in the world -- which in itself also provides great opportunities for reform, development and achieving the MDGs. Considering that the Arab region is passing through a “Demographic window”, therefore youth empowerment policies’ will offer great opportunities to benefit from this “demographic gift” aiming at achieving developmental reform.
  • The LAS Youth Forum is one of the main activities of the Arab Youth Observatory, implemented by the Population Policy and Migration Department (PPMD), within the League of Arab States (LAS).
  • The idea of establishing this Forum is based on several recommendations, most prominently The Arab Parliamentarian Conference on Youth Empowerment/The 9th Annual Conference of Heads of National Population Councils, NPCs 2006; the Euro-Med Seminar titled “The role of research in
  • youth policy and youth work development in the broader Euro-Med Context 2006”; regional reports (i.e., The UNDP 2006 report on “Arab Youth Strategizing for the Millennium Development Goals”) as well as declarations (i.e., The Arab Declaration on Youth Empowerment) adopted by several related regional events in addition to the Arab Kings and Presidents Decree made at the Khartoum Summit 2006.
  • This year, the Forum is held under the Slogan “Youth’s Participation in Localizing and Achieving the MDGs”. The slogan refers to the fact that the Millennium Development Goals provide a global framework for sustainable development with time-bound targets and indicators. Through the process of localization of the MDGs, this global framework is being brought down to the regional, national, and local levels. It is essential for future sustainable development that tomorrow’s leaders, the youth leaders of today, be aware of the MDGs and acquires basic notions about localizing the MDGs to their local and national contexts.
  • This Forum responds to the emerging need for a regional dynamic supporting national policies aiming at youth empowerment. Convening this Forum also comes in response to the regional need to integrate youth issues in global and sectorial development policies and to crystallize ideas and mechanisms aiming at activating the role of youth and their organizations in developmental efforts and in achieving the MDGs.
FORUM OBJECTIVES
  • To establish a permanent dialogue between young people that will nurture mutual understanding among the people of the region and to integrate young people into the fabric of the social and professional life of their communities, thus contributing to the process of democratization and activating the role of civil society’s organizations.
  • Developing youth’s capacities in participation in formulating and implementing development policies and enhance and support partnerships among all actors addressing youth-related issues, among them youth organizations operating at the national, regional and local levels including governmental and non-governmental organizations.
  • Formulate a vision, recommendations and constructive initiatives that can be implemented regionally through active national, regional and global partnerships.

The project of the Arab Youth Observatory (AYO) aims at achieving the following objectives: - Providing reliable, updated, and meaningful data on youth at the Arab regional level. - Formulating an Arab vision/strategy for youth empowerment and youth participation in population and development strategies and policies. - Activating regional dialogue among different stakeholders to gain the support of decision makers on youth empowerment and participation policies. - Supporting partnership policies with youth and their organizations in the formulation and implementation of national policies. - Strengthening the capacity of governmental and non governmental organizations and institutions working on youth empowerment. - Ensuring wide dissemination of qualitative and quantitative data, indicators, evidences and success stories related to youth.

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For more information on localizing processes, see www.c2015as-iln.org.

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