More than 350 leaders from government, and the private sector will share innovative approaches to the region’s youth employment challenge at the Arab Youth Employment summit that opened today (April 28) in Amman, Jordan.

Organised by regional social initiative Silatech and hosted by the International Youth Foundation (IYF), Arab Youth Employment: Promoting Innovative Solutions to Longstanding Challenges will run until April 30 at Landmark Hotel.

The conference is being sponsored by the World Bank’s Solutions for Youth Employment Coalition and the Americana Group. It is also supported by the Jordan Chamber of Industry.

The conference will give special attention to the process of developing successful youth employment policies and initiatives, and creating opportunities for practitioners to replicate and grow effective programmes throughout the region.

Silatech acting CEO Mohammed Al Naimi welcomed delegates from over 30 countries at the opening of the conference, stressing the importance of learning from the experiences of others in order to design programs and policies that directly improve the economic prospects of young people.

“We are gathered here in Amman for two main reasons. One, to share our findings and insights about the effectiveness of various youth-serving programs and policies; and, two, to form collaborations and partnerships to scale up and replicate successful programs,” Al Naimi said.

“Knowledge sharing and action must be linked closely together if we are to achieve real and lasting impact for the youth of our region.”

International Youth Foundation CEO William S Reese said: “We’re here to discuss current trends, gaps, and best practice approaches for providing today’s Arab youth with the training and support they need to succeed in the face of high rates of youth unemployment across the region.

“Experience tells us there are no quick fixes, but that by working together—combining our collective resources and expertise—there’s much we can do to create opportunities for an emerging generation of youth with much to contribute to their communities and nations.”

Participants at the conference will share lessons and experiences about a wide variety of topics related to youth employment, including innovations in youth enterprise financing, engaging the private sector for youth employment, the importance of monitoring and evaluation of programmes and achieving scale and resilience in employment initiatives through technology, among others. – TradeArabia News Service