The report explores the many challenges which youth in the Arab region continue to face. Many
continue to receive an education which does not reflect the needs of labour markets. High numbers
of young people, particularly young women, are unemployed and excluded from the formal economy.
Young people without livelihoods find it difficult to establish an independent home and form their own
family units. The risk for these young people is that instead of exploring opportunities and discovering
future prospects, they experience frustration, helplessness, alienation, and dependency.
It goes without saying that young people across the Arab States have been severely affected by the
recent crises. Large numbers of them were swept onto the frontlines of conflicts they did not start.
Many died, and many more have lost family members and friends, livelihoods and prospects, and hope
in the future. In the face of such challenges, some have joined extremist groups.
In response to these challenges, the report argues for youth empowerment from a human development
perspective. This defines the goal of development as the expansion of the choices and freedoms
available to people to live in ways they want and value.