AMMAN: With more than half of its population under 25 years of age and the world’s highest regional youth unemployment rate, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region faces critical challenges. Concurrently and paradoxically, business leaders report difficulties in filling roles.
The Human Capital Index 2015, released last week by the World Economic Forum, shows that despite significant investment in education by many countries, the region is not equipping young people with skills for the 21st century. The gap between education systems and labour markets creates shortfalls in human-capital development and deployment across the entire population. Overall, the region has optimized only 60% of its human-capital potential, ahead of sub-Saharan Africa but behind all other regions.
Recognizing that longer-term reform by the public sector must be complemented by the active collaboration of the private sector, the World Economic Forum’s Regional Business Council (RBC) for MENA today launches a new phase of its New Vision for Arab Employment Initiative. It aims to invest in the continuous learning, training and job-readiness of the region’s youth, through collaborations between businesses and with education institutions, civil society and governments, to help education systems keep up with the needs of the labour market.
