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Coinciding with the International Youth Day, the Forum for Development and Human Rights Dialogue Issues a Policy Paper on “Youth in Egypt and State Institutions”

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Thursday 12th August,2021

Press Release

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On Thursday, 12th of August, 2021, the “Research and Studies Unit” of the Forum for Development and Human Rights Dialogue issued a policy paper on “Youth in Egypt and State institutions”

The paper discusses the Egyptian state most prominent efforts in equally supporting the challenges faced by youth and the state.

Egyptian Efforts in Empowering and Supporting Youth:

According to population unit estimates in 2020, the number of young people was approximately 20.6 million, accounting for 21% of the total population (51.5% males, 48.5% females), and according to statistics, Egypt’s populations under the age of 40 exceeds two-thirds of the total population, including about 30 million working-age people.

The paper notes that the Egyptian government provides many privileges for the youth, including loans, grants and facilities such as:

  • In 2016, the Egyptian state announced providing half million acres, where every Egyptian has the opportunity to get 10 acres, through paying in installments at a decreasing interest rate of 5% with easy procedures.
  • In 2016, President Al-Sisi announced in his speech that the Egyptian banks will provide soft loans to youth at 5% interest rate in order to help them start their own small businesses and encourage them to work freely, with the aim of offering nearly 4 million jobs for youth.
  • January 2018, the Egyptian government decided to contribute to the construction of 4,000 small and micro industries factories within a year at most, to create more than 40,000 jobs for young people.
  • Youth housing project is one of the most important projects at a cost of 2 billion pounds. The project will provide 500 thousand housing units in new cities in all governorates of Egypt for low income families and youth.  
  • Egypt adopted the “Rehabilitation of Youth”. The process of qualifying youth started with the launching of the presidential program to qualify youth of age 20-30 years for leadership. The success of the program has further expanded the age group for rehabilitation, where people of age 30 to 45 years can join the program.
  • Youth forums have supported the efforts of state institutions, and promoted development and volunteering as some of main aspects of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s).  The first youth conference, which took place in Sharm el-Sheikh in October 2016, included the participation of more than 3,000 boys and girls.

Political Participation of Youth:

  • Youth had an opportunity to form parties in the parliament. For example, a number of eight persons from the presidential program were able to run for elections.
  • After June 30, Egypt succeeded in incorporating a wide range of youth cadres, university students and graduates, who are interested in political affairs through the Coordination of Youth Parties.
  • The 2019 movement of governors included the largest effective representation of youth, with 39 new leadership positions between a governor and a deputy governor, including 60% of youth. The position represented 16 governors, 23 deputies, while youth positions included 2 governors and 23 deputy governors.
  • During 2021, the New Republic’s Youth Federation worked to unite all youth efforts on the national level, with a number of 21 thousands volunteers.

Youth and Unemployment

Many challenges facing Egyptian youth remains present despite state institutions’ efforts.  The most important of which is the issue of unemployment.

According to the 2020 labor force survey data, the paper reveals that the proportion of young people aged (18-29) contributing to the labor force is 39.5%, the number of young people in permanent employment is 52% compared to 21.0% working with a contract. The unemployment rate among young people with a university qualification is 36.1% compared to 15.6 % for those with a technical intermediate qualification.

Recommendations

  • Youth and sports projects and programs needs to be created in a scientific and economic manner. It is necessary to provide new innovative mechanisms that contribute to the proper management of assets from youth and sports facilities.
  • Egyptian youth should be provided with new experiences that will enable them to contribute to productive employment in a way that deals with economic problems, such as unemployment and low level of education.
  • Launch an international initiative to train 10,000 Egyptians and Africans, in a period of 3 years, to be game and applications’ developers. In addition, it is vital to support the establishment of 100 companies specialized in these programming fields in Egypt and Africa.
  • Discover youth cadres who are capable of leading the future in all fields, through the cooperation with the Ministry of Education and individuals’ families, directly or through media.
  • Increase the number of sports facilities, which will help in discovering and refining the Egyptian talents, which was evident during the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
  • Facilitate youth participation in voluntary work and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) across all levels of the country.
  • Ensure the inclusion and the integration of youth with disabilities or those who are threatened with health risks in the society.
  • Include and involve youth in politics and governance, and respect the principle of equal opportunity, which is based on efficiency, merit and positive working values.
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