The World Bank organized a learning visit to Georgia. The aim of this visit was to explore and expose the Georgian experience to the MENA region participants so they could learn from it.  This visit was part of the activities of the World Bank’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Community of Practice on Active Labor Market Programs (ALMPs)...

Essentially anchored in towns and cities, the protests synonymous with the Arab Spring reflected a population’s deep-rooted desire for political and social change across the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region. Whilst access to jobs, along with the democratization of the political system, represented a primary concern, citizens also voiced...

Lead Organization The World Bank.   Partners Droit et Justice (Moroccan Non-Governmental Organization); Lebanese Organization for Studies and Training; Justice Center for Legal Aid (Jordan); Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA); European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ); Open Society Institute; UK Consultation Institute;...

Egypt, Lebanon and Morocco have expressed interest in joining the WAVES Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) initiative. They are among the first countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to consider natural capital accounting as a means to encourage green growth, poverty reduction and job creation. These countries, along with...

Unlocking the potential for job creation and renewing the social contract are challenges the MENA region is currently facing. Virtually every country suffers from high unemployment, which mostly affects the young, the educated and women. The revolutions across the region were a reminder that employment is more than simply a job, it represents...

Lead Organizations French Development Agency (AFD), The World Bank.   Partners International Labor Organization (ILO) and European Training Foundation (ETF), an agency of the European Union.   Challenges Low job creation in MENA and high unemployment rates for young, women and graduates. Mismatch between labor market needs and skills as developed...

  This blog is part of a weekly series that we hope will provide some food for thought on the critical questions outlined in the forthcoming MENA Flagship Report on Jobs.   Several years ago, when I first came into the region, my department produced a Private Sector Flagship report titled, “From Privilege to Competition:  Unlocking Private-Led...

  This blog is co-authored by Juan Manuel Moreno and Stefanie Brodmann   This blog is part of a weekly series that we hope will provide some food for thought on the critical questions outlined in the forthcoming MENA Flagship Report on Jobs.   The low quality and relevance of education and training systems in MENA have led them to be perceived –...

  On June 25-26, 2012 the Center for Mediterranean Integration (CMI) and the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) co-organized a regional workshop to discuss the draft report entitled Transforming Arab Economies: The Knowledge and Innovation Road at the ISESCO offices in Rabat, Morocco. This report is being developed...

This blog is part of a weekly series that we hope will provide some food for thought on the critical questions outlined in the forthcoming MENA Flagship Report on Jobs.   Like many of my colleagues, I have now spent several years trying to understand the reality of labor markets in MENA, especially for young people. Looking back over the research...

Lead Organization The World Bank.    Partners Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), European Investment Bank (EIB), INSEAD (Graduate business school), European Commission (EC) and others.   Challenges The challenges cited below apply to the new phase of the Knowledge Economy Program (2015-2020) focusing on Tunisia:...