SESRIC participated in the first international seminar on “Youth and Development in OIC Member Countries” organized by the IDB Group on the occasion of its 37th Board of Governors Annual Meeting on 2 April 2012 in Khartoum, Sudan. Two international experts, Mr. Huseyin Hakan Eryetli, Director of Training and Technical Cooperation Department at SESRIC, and Mrs. Dahlia Khalifa, International Finance Cooperation (IFC), and a number of youth representatives from different parts of the world attended the seminar as panelists to express their ideas on the challenges faced by the younger generation and share their concerns regarding the opportunities open to them in today’s world.

Mr. Huseyin Hakan Eryetli represented the Centre thereat and made a presentation on “The State of Youth in the Muslim World” in the first session moderated by Mr. Ahmed El Sadig (IDB) where “The State of Youth in IDBG Member Countries” was discussed. In the second session "Successful Models of Tackling Youth Unemployment in IDBG Member Countries” was debated and Ms. Khalifa informed the participants on “Education for Employment Project (e4e)” which is jointly implemented by Islamic Development Bank Group (IDBG) and World Bank (WB).

In his presentation, Mr. Eryetli provided the statistical data on youth population, level of education and unemployment in OIC Member Countries and discussed the challenges and consequences stemming from loss or degradation of human capital due to high level of unemployment and low level of education. He further conveyed that the high percentage of youth population in the member countries is a noteworthy asset and would have affirmative impacts on economic growth and social development if they could precisely be directed to the accurate channels.

Mr. Eryetli also discussed the threats such as social unrest, social exclusion and growing informal employment that might be repeatedly confronted in the member countries if the necessary measures are neglected. He finally briefed the participants on SESRIC activities targeting to respond the challenges that Muslim youth face such as Skill Development for Youth Employment (SDYE), OIC International Student Internship Programme (OIC-ISIP), ISMEK Master Trainer Programme (IMTP) and OIC Poverty Alleviation Programme (OIC-PAP).

Youth panelists interacted subsequently with the experts bringing their national, regional, cultural, organizational and professional perspectives on these topics from their respective backgrounds in countries like India, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Tunisia, Pakistan, Indonesia, Uganda, Tajikistan and Turkey. The youth representatives Ms. Maliha Shah from Pakistan and Mr. Muhammad Assad from Indonesia raised illiteracy and unemployment as the main challenges ahead of the youth in their countries. Mr. Agume Bless, the representative from Uganda, expressed the importance of entrepreneurship, training and knowledge transfer in youth development and informed participants on his successful experience in business which contributed to job creation for several youth in his country. Ms. Muna Alamer, the representative from Saudi Arabia, stressed that youth should be knowledgeable about the available funds for the projects and shared her experience in searching a proper fund for her project. The youth representative from ICYF-DC, Ergin Beceren stated the importance of entrepreneurship in the Islamic world and briefed the participants on their projects with regard to the development of entrepreneurship in OIC Member Countries.

The conclusions and recommendations drawn from the seminar were conveyed to the 37th Board of Governors of the IDB Group Meeting in order to provide a roadmap to devise policies and programs aiming at youth development.

Documents

Information Booklet (English)

Presentations

The State of Youth in the Muslim World (English)