Youth Unemployment in the Arab World

Abstract

There is no doubt that the youth unemployment crisis in the Arab world is the most serious of all the world’s regions in terms of its magnitude, trends, and social and political implications. In fact, Arab governments have made considerable efforts to tackle this challenge, yet it has been aggravated by political instability in several Arab countries that led to significant repercussions on other countries of the region. Both Iraq and Syria have dealt with decisive blows to terrorist organizations, but a situation of civil war still prevails in countries such as Yemen and Libya, and foreign occupation casts a shadow on the economic situation in Palestinian territories. The paper starts by examining major trends of youth unemployment in Arab countries during the last two decades, offers an interpretation of this situation, surveys efforts by Arab governments to deal with this challenge and ends with some policy recommendations drawn from experience of other countries as well as advice offered in reports of concerned international organizations.