One third of the citizens in the Middle East exists of youth between the age of 15 to 29, that is more than 100 million youth. But this large group faces problems of unemployment and social exclusion. The quality of education is not high enough compared to the international level, women even often face more problems finding and securing a job. The labour market is not a very attractive place to work and the financial market is weak so a lot of young people live with their parents and plan to marry later.
The change to adulthood is hard. A lot of these young people want to work in the public sector, but that´s one of the hardest places to find a job. So 60% waits. They are just waiting for a better job, the waiting generation of the Middle East.
We had a meeting with the Brookings institution, this institution did a research about the wait hood, youth who are waiting for a job after they graduated. So how should these youth change their behaviour and act instead of wait? The government should create jobs, promote investments in the private and public sector. And education should be better. There should be a better connection between the different phases of life.
But is it only the government that should do something? Is it only the responsibility of the government to create chances? No, there is a mindshift needed for the government, but also a motivation for the private sector, and youth themselves. Chances should be created for a more secure future and we should create our own chances. There should be new alternatives for waiting, youth in the Middle East could do voluntary work instead of wait. Or they should start their own sustainable business.
Back to the Netherlands. Dutch youth is waiting too. Instead of waiting for a more sustainable future, we should make a change ourselves. Change your mindset, believe in the strength of what we can do and then act. But be realistic, idealism in itself doesn’t give you any power, for making a change you need a lot of realism.
Be aware of the different interests. We should not wait for the government, the international organisations like the UN and others to create chances. We should create alternatives for policy, create our own businesses on sustainability and try to influence the UN by working there. We should start a revolution in the organisation itself. Pressure, courage, inspiration is needed to make a change. So don´t wait just do something.
