VIEWPOINT BY BILL REESE

Conference in Amman Inspires Hope in a Turbulent Region: A Few Reflections

This first day of the Youth@Work conference in Amman, Jordan, filled me with excitement and a real sense of hope.  In the morning, the hall at the Grand Hyatt was packed with nearly 400 business, government, and NGO leaders from the Middle East and North Africa and around the world who were eager to start the conversation. They came for one reason:  to share their ideas and expertise on how to tackle the youth unemployment crisis.

Christy@IYF

A 'How To' Meeting in the Middle East Tackles the World's Highest Rate of Youth Unemployment

This week, all eyes are on Amman, Jordan. Or at least they should be. Today, one in four young people across the Middle East and North Africa can’t find jobs. That’s the highest youth unemployment rate in the world. What can be done? Over the next three days, 200 top level leaders are coming together in Amman to tackle this full-blown crisis. What they have to say about effective strategies to address these issues – and how the business, government, and civil society sectors must work together to expand opportunities for the region’s youth – deserves our serious attention, no matter where we live.