Local Youth, Local Jobs: A Grounded Path for the Arab Region

In the Arab region’s most fragile places, young people are not standing by, they are navigating collapse. Their futures depend not only on long-term policy blueprints, but also on a more immediate reality: whether they can access jobs that are formal, stable, and dignified. Yet across much of the region, pathways to quality employment remain out of reach. Unemployment has become a persistent feature, driven by institutions that were never built for inclusion and have yet to be reformed. Without structural change, we risk losing a generation to drift, disillusionment, or departure.

Youth unemployment in the Arab region is the highest globally: 28% as of 2023. For women, workforce participation remains below 20%, among the lowest in the world. These figures reflect systemic exclusion, fragmented planning, chronic underinvestment, and institutional fatigue.

Many interventions have fallen short because they overlooked these realities. Skills programs often train for jobs that do not exist. Entrepreneurship is promoted in environments lacking capital, infrastructure, and functioning markets. Women are “included” in policies but excluded in practice, as basic barriers like transport, childcare, and scheduling go unaddressed. Displaced individuals face even steeper challenges, often legally barred from formal employment. These are not outliers, they are structural barriers baked into the system.

Addressing this requires more than technical fixes. It calls for a reset in how employment is approached in fragile settings. Three shifts are essential.

1. Inclusion must be intentional. Employment should be prioritized as a central development objective. Policymakers and institutions must confront legal, social, and logistical hurdles, from simplifying documentation for displaced individuals, to aligning training with real employer needs, and investing in the infrastructure that enables women’s participation. Public procurement, licensing, and tax incentives can all be used to reward inclusive hiring.
2. Solutions must reflect the realities of place. What works in a capital city may fail in a peripheral town or a refugee-hosting district. Labor strategies should begin with a clear mapping of demand by sector, geography, and skill level; and be co-designed with employers. Local governments and economic zones can lead this shift by reserving contracts for youth- and women-led firms, requiring inclusive hiring plans, and linking business incentives to employment outcomes.
3. Data must be current, transparent, and disaggregated. Too many policies are based on outdated or incomplete information. Policymakers must be able to track who is benefiting and who is not. Disaggregating by gender, geography, disability, and migration status enables targeted responses. Publishing results regularly fosters accountability and adaptation.

When these elements align, employment systems start to function differently. Youth-led businesses thrive when connected to procurement channels and public services. Women’s participation rises when care needs and safety are addressed from the outset. Displaced individuals contribute meaningfully when legal restrictions are lifted and their skills are recognized. Formal job creation expands when it is actively supported.

A practical framework can guide this transformation by integrating four mutually reinforcing components. Labor market mapping must identify demand by sector and skill level to establish where opportunities actually exist. This data then informs co-designed training and credentialing programs developed with employers to align preparation with actual jobs. Simultaneously, institutions must address access barriers—including legal, logistical, and social—while creating first-job opportunities through procurement and hiring incentives. Throughout this process, tracking and publishing outcomes quarterly, disaggregated by key demographics, ensures accountability and enables rapid adjustment. These elements form a continuous cycle of assessment, action, and adaptation rather than a linear progression.

This is not an innovation agenda. It is a governance agenda. And it is one that local authorities, ministries, and institutions can take on now.

To support this shift, the International Finance Corporation and the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation have launched a strategic collaboration to develop and test locally grounded models that connect youth, particularly women and displaced individuals, to formal jobs. The focus is on employer-driven preparation, measurable hiring, and data systems that enable replication. This is not a pilot for its own sake; it is a platform for long-term, scalable impact, even in complex environments.

This year’s International Youth Day, under the theme“Local Youth Actions for the SDGs and Beyond,” reminds us that young people are already leading at the grassroots level. The question is whether institutions will catch up. Dignity starts with decent work, and that requires access by law, by design, and by intention.

The future of work in the Arab region must be built, deliberately, locally, and with inclusion at its core. The alternative is continued exclusion. The time to act is now.