The Arab world is overwhelmingly young with the highest youth unemployment in the world. On top of this, education systems are not adequately preparing young people for the jobs that exist. Recent events across the region have amplified the social and economic disconnect among skills, jobs, and opportunity.

A new report, “Education for employment: Realizing Arab youth potential” explores the issue of youth unemployment through the lens of education, looking at critical skills gaps in the job market, demand for Education for Employment (e4e), and a roadmap to solve the challenge. Education for Employment (e4e) is education that leads to improved employment prospects.

This is an IFC-Islamic Development Bank report based on the findings of a study done by McKinsey & Company.

In total, the report carried out more than 200 in-depth interviews and surveyed 1,500 employers and 1,500 young people in nine priority countries. The countries included three middle-income economies (Morocco, Egypt, and Jordan) as well as three oil-producing economies (Algeria, Oman, and Saudi Arabia, accounting for approximately 70 percent of its population and 60 percent of its GDP). The other countries covered were Iraq, West Bank and Gaza, and Yemen.

For more information and to download the report, please visit the e4e website.

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