Active Labour Market Policies Targeting Youth in the Arab Region: A Regional Review
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May 29, 2025
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Abstract
The Arab Spring of 2010 has not yet quite turned to summer, even after 14 years. The hopes of increased inclusion and life with dignity are yet to come to fruition for many in the region. This is especially the case for the youth, who continue to struggle for a secure future and make the most of their potential. The question is how can young people realize their full potential to contribute as agents of sustainable development? Active Labour Market Policies (ALMPs) are one way to empower youth to secure employment. Employing a literature review and case study approach, this paper explores the context of youth unemployment across the Arab region. It reviews the status of youth-focused active ALMPs in the region, delving into their nature, strengths, and weaknesses. It offers a regional picture in addition to presenting two case studies of Egypt and Jordan. Finally, the paper offers several concrete policy recommendations for the way forward. These include maximizing the potential benefits of ALMPs alongside other policies, improving the targeting of ALMPs towards youth, reforming Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) systems in the region, ensuring systematic and rigorous monitoring and evaluation of ALMPs, and improving coordination among stakeholders involved with ALMP provision. Still, more research is needed to support the charting of a new path that enables youth in the Arab region to realize their potential in the economic realm.
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Keywords
Active Labour Market PolicyYouth unemploymentArab regionEgyptJordan
References
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Chacaltana, J., Barcucci, V., Moreno, M. (2024). Youth employment policies: Patterns and trends in two unique data sets. (ILO Working Paper 108).
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Angel-Urdinola, D. F, Kuddo, A., & Semlali, A. (2013). Building Effective Employment programmes for Unemployed Youth in the Middle East and North Africa. World Bank, 10. Available at: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/f95b4ee6-10c6-585d-a4a7-0c813629a3e0
Assaad, R., & Krafft, C. (2017). Excluded Generation: The Growing Challenges of Labour Market Insertion for Egyptian Youth. (GLO Discussion Paper, No. 110). Global Labour Organization (GLO), Maastricht.
Barsoum, G. (2021). Case study E: Labour market policies in MENA countries. Handbook on social protection systems. 105–110.
Barsoum, G. (2018). Can youth activation policies be central to social policies in MENA countries? International Social Security Review, 71(2), 39–56.
Betcherman, G et al. (2007). A Review of Interventions to Support Young Workers: Findings of the Youth Employment Inventory. (Social Protection discussion paper, No. SP 0715). Washington, D.C., World Bank Group. Available at: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/498381468779418249/A-review-of-interventions-to-support-young-workers-findings-of-the-youth-employment-inventory
Betcherman, G., Olivas, K., & Dar, A. (2004). Impacts of Active Labour Market Programs: New Evidence from Evaluations with Particular Attention to Developing and Transition Countries. Available at: https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/426901468779104515/pdf/29142.pdf
Bird, Nicolò (2020). Evidence from global practices of active labour market policies for young people’s transition to work. Available at: https://ipcig.org/sites/default/files/pub/en/PRB71_Evidence_from_global_practices.pdf
Chacaltana, J., Barcucci, V., Moreno, M. (2024). Youth employment policies: Patterns and trends in two unique data sets. (ILO Working Paper 108).
Dimova, E., and Stephan (2016), Labour Market Transitions of Young Women and Men in the Middle East and North Africa. Available at: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/documents/publication/wcms_536067.pdf
ESCWA and Sawiris Foundation (2024). Youth employment dynamics in Egypt: challenges and opportunities. Available at: https://www.unescwa.org/publications/youth-employment-dynamics-egypt-challenges-opportunities-policy-brief
ESCWA (2022a). The Arab Region May Be Missing the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Arab Skills Are Still Stuck in the Past. Available at: https://www.unescwa.org/publications/arab-region-missing-fourth-industrial-revoloution
ESCWA (2022b). Arab Society Demographic and Social Trends: Issue No. 16. Available at: https://www.unescwa.org/publications/arab-society-demographic-social-trends-16
ESCWA and ILO (2021). Towards a Productive and Inclusive Path: Job Creation in the Arab Region. Available at: https://www.unescwa.org/publications/productive-inclusive-path-job-creation-arab-region
ESCWA (2020). Reforming Technical and Vocational Education and Training: A Gateway for Building a Skilled Youth Workforce in the Arab Region. Available at: https://www.unescwa.org/publications/reforming-technical-and-vocational-education-and-training-gateway-building-skilled
ESCWA (2019). Bridging the Inequality Gap Among Young People in the Region. Available at: https://www.unescwa.org/sites/default/files/pubs/pdf/bridging-inequality-gap-youth-arab-region-english.pdf
ESCWA (2012). Active Labour Market Policies in Arab Countries. Available at: https://archive.unescwa.org/publications/active-labour-market-policies-arab-countries
ILO Regional Office for Arab States, UNICEF Regional Office for MENA with the European Training Foundation (2023). Enabling Success: Supporting youth in MENA in their transition from learning to decent work. Available at: https://www.ilo.org/beirut/publications/WCMS_877345/lang--en/index.htm
ILO (2023). School-to-work transition of young women and men in Jordan. Available at: https://webapps.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---arabstates/---ro-beirut/documents/publication/wcms_874888.pdf
ILO (2017a) Towards Evidence-Based Active Labour Market Programmes in Egypt. Available at: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/documents/publication/wcms_545383.pdf
ILO (2017b). Promoting youth employment and empowerment of young women in Jordan: An assessment of active labour market policies. Available at: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/documents/publication/wcms_598671.pdf
ILO (2015). Youth Employment Inventory [Brochure]. Available at: https://undatacatalog.org/dataset/youth-employment-inventory.
Jordan National Vision in the ANDP UNESCWA website (2015). Jordan 2025: A National Vision and Strategy. Available at: https://andp.unescwa.org/sites/default/files/2020 09/Jordan%202025%20A%20National%20Vision%20and%20Strategy.pdf
Kluve, J. et al. (2019). Do Youth Employment Programs Improve Labour Market Outcomes? A quantitative review. World Development, vol. 114, Pages 237-253, ISSN 0305-750X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.10.004.
Prince, H., Halasa-Rappel, Y., & Khan, A. (2018): Economic growth, youth unemployment, and political and social instability: A study of policies and outcomes in post-Arab Spring Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, and Tunisia. (UNRISD Working Paper, No. 2018-12). United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), Geneva.
Romero, J. M., & Kuddo, A. (2019). Moving forward with ALMPs: Active labour policy and the changing nature of labour markets. Available at: https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/zh/846861576787686288/pdf/Moving-Forward-with-ALMPs-Active-Labour-Policy-and-the-Changing-Nature-of-Labour-Markets.pdf
Said, M. (2015). Policies and Interventions on Youth Employment in Egypt. European Training Foundation. Available at: https://www.etf.europa.eu/sites/default/files/m/8B7FE470410B4DB8C1257E28004C06CA_Employment%20policies_Egypt.pdf
Ulku, H., & Georgieva, D. (2022). Unemployment Benefits, Active Labour Market Policies, and Labour Market Outcomes: Evidence from New Global Data. (World Bank Group Policy Research Working Paper No. 10027). Available at: https://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/abs/10.1596/1813-9450-10027
UNDESA (2022). 2022 Revision of World Population Prospects. Available at: https://population.un.org/wpp/
UNFPA (2013). Cairo Declaration. Available at: https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/event-pdf/Cairo_Declaration_English.pdf
UNICEF (2023). The Middle East and North Africa urgently needs relevant education, training and lifelong learning systems to tackle youth unemployment and skills gaps.. Available at: https://www.unicef.org/mena/press-releases/middle-east-and-north-africa-urgently-needs-relevant-education-training
World Bank (2022). JOBS UNDONE: Reshaping the Role of Governments toward Markets and Workers in the Middle East and North Africa. Available at: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/6208c7c8-8f6a-59a3-b545-23612b2ce712/content
World Bank (2024). Databank. Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.1524.ZS?end=2023&locations=1A&name_desc=false&start=2003
How to Cite
Pournik, M. . (2025). Active Labour Market Policies Targeting Youth in the Arab Region: A Regional Review. Academic Network for Development Dialogue (ANDD) Paper Series, 2(2). https://doi.org/10.29117/andd.2024.017
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