Program

Lead Organizations

The World Bank, League of Arab States.

Partners

National Youth Observatory (Tunisia), Italian Youth Forum, Spanish Youth Forum, European Youth Forum, École de la Deuxième Chance, Marseille.

Challenges

Limited opportunities of integrative participation for Young people despite their strong involvement in the transition processes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The average age in MENA countries is very low but no country has a substantial integrative policy towards its youth.

Program Objective

• To expand the voice, inclusion, and participation of Arab youth in decision making, access to opportunities, and platform building across Arab countries and with Europe.
• To bring together various stakeholders to facilitate high-level dialogue on youth policy development and capacity-building initiatives for local and national youth organizations.

Selected Results

• Informed policy/deepened knowledge: A study of youth inclusion in Tunisia, Tunisia: Breaking the Barriers to Youth Inclusion, published in October 2014, addressed cross-sectoral youth policy and stimulated public debate.
• Informed project preparation (upstream support): Following the technical support for the preparation and implementation of the National Youth Strategy in Morocco, the Government requested a new lending operation, which is in preparation. 
• Increased client capacity/improved network: Workshops, networking days in Marseille and Tunisia, and a web debate to enhance collaboration among Tunisian and regional youth organizations. These events contributed both to regional integration and to the integration of countries across the Mediterranean through discussions between youth organizations and youth-focused stakeholders in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region. Preparatory steps to launch a National Youth Council in Tunisia and at regional level were initiated.