The Regional High-Level Meeting on Young People’s Learning, Skilling, Social Inclusion and Transition to Decent Work concluded on May 24, with commitments by Egypt, including the training of 13 million young people to qualify them to actively participate in the labor force.

The Regional High-Level Meeting on Young People’s Learning, Skilling, Social Inclusion and Transition to Decent Work took place on May 23-24 and was co-organized by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) under the UN Arab States Issue-Based Coalition for Adolescents and Youth.

The meeting brought together government and UN officials, civil society and private sector, with young people to enable an exchange of good practices, and to converge towards a shared vision to support young people’s transition from learning to decent work.

Egypt’s Minister of Youth and Sports Dr. Ashraf Sobhy participated in the meeting and relayed Egypt’s commitments, pledging to train 13 million young people and prepare them for the labor force under the Egyptian National Adolescents and Youth Strategy 2022-2027.

The minister highlighted that unemployment is one of the most pressing challenges facing youth in Egypt, and the Arab world, and that there is a political will to confront it under Egypt Vision 2030.

He added that one of the main axes under the national youth strategy is the economic empowerment of young people.

The regional high-level meeting aimed at the exchange of good practices in the transition from “learning to earning” for young people and provided a platform for the engagement of young people in discussions with policymakers and stakeholders, including governments, the private sector, UN agencies and civil society.

It will provide recommendations from the Arab States / Middle East and North Africa Region to the upcoming UN Secretary General’s Global Summit on Transforming Education in September 2022.

Eighteen countries participated in the event with national delegations, including Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, The State of Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen.