73 million unemployed youth from IOC countries

Up to 73 million youth from countries belonging to the Organization for Islamic Cooperation are unemployed, said Bandar Hajjar, the president of the Islamic Development Bank, because of their limited employability as well as the lack employment opportunities.
Speaking at the group’s council of foreign ministers meeting held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, Hajar called on OIC member states to cooperate in tackling poverty and youth unemployment.
OIC is the second largest inter-governmental organization after the UN with a membership of 57 states spread over four continents and says it “represents the collective voice of the Muslim world” whose interests the group aims to safeguard and protect.
Of the 1.75 billion youth population, Hagar said, about 500 million or 28.5 percent live in OIC member states.
The IDB president discussed ways to enhance the role of young people, especially through the development of social programs to facilitate opportunities for economic empowerment, enhancing the quality of education, and setting up business incubators to assist young people’s entrepreneurship ideas.
Hajar also encouraged member countries to facilitate SME financing, and improve the overall business environment to integrate the youth in the development of states.
“IDB has implemented several initiatives on youth development, which includes the Youth Employment Support program; the Education for Employment initiative; and the Vocational Literacy Program,” Hajar said.
Earlier this year, OIC member Indonesia held a ministerial conference with other members to discuss cooperation in the manpower sector.
“The meeting is aimed at addressing unemployment issues, particularly among young generation, as well as improving the quality of social security for workers,” Indonesia’s manpower and transmigration minister Muhammad Hanif Dhakiri.
The Asian country, which has the largest Muslim population in the world, has proposed to be a sponsoring country for the establishment of a research forum on Islamic concept and practices in the manpower sector.

Source: Arab News