RADICALISATION THREATS.
Marginalization/existential
threats!
Events in the region since 2011
have demonstrated the ability of young people to initiate action and catalyse
change. They demonstrated young people’s awareness of the serious challenges to
development posed by current conditions, and their ability to express the
dissatisfaction of society as a whole with those conditions and its demands for
change. These events also revealed the depth of the marginalisation that young
people suffer and their inability to master the instruments of organised
political action that could guarantee the peacefulness and sustainability of
such change.
FAILING REGIMES!
There seems to be no prospect of
improvement in the ability of governments to create sufficient suitable jobs,
particularly because of the decline in oil prices and the negative effects of
the decline on economic growth throughout the region, not merely in oil-producing
countries.
LOST OPPORTUNITY!
Today’s generation of young
people is more educated, active and connected to the outside world, and hence
have a greater awareness of their realities and higher aspirations for a better
future.
However, young people’s awareness
of their capabilities and rights collides with a reality that marginalises them
and blocks their pathways to express their opinions, actively participate or
earn a living.
As a result, instead of being a
massive potential for building the future, youth can become an overwhelming
power for destruction.
HAVE
NO SAY!
The youth unemployment rate is
the highest in the world, reaching almost 30 percent, even though five years
have passed since the widespread protests demanding a dignified life.
High numbers of young people,
particularly young women, are unemployed and excluded from the formal economy.
The research literature continues
to highlight the weak productivity of education and training systems in the
region.
WAKE UP!
Indicators confirm that the
overwhelming majority of young people in the Arab region do not tend to adopt
extremist or violent views or to participate in extremist groups or activities.
However, this should not lead us to complacency, because young people remain
vulnerable to victimization by groups that misuse religion to benefit from its
pivotal role in shaping identities.
EASY
TARGETS TO BE Exploited in the name of religion by terror groups/fringes!
Disgruntled individuals are less
prone to resorting to peaceful, patient social action to change their
environment. They may prefer more direct, more violent means, especially if
they are convinced that existing mechanisms for participation and accountability
are useless.
From:
Youth and the Prospects for Human Development in a Changing Reality
