Silatech seeks to unlock Arab youth potential

Silatech has highlighted its commitment to connecting Arab youth to job opportunities in the Arab world, in line with International Youth Day.
The theme of the 2016 International Youth Day, “The Road to 2030: Eradicating Poverty and Achieving Sustainable Consumption and Production”, is a critical priority in the Arab world.
“Through its mandate, Silatech has been working closely with partners to mobilise resources and create innovative projects and initiatives to achieve tangible results in creating an effective economic environment that ensures jobs for young people and to promote economic and social stability,” Silatech said in a statement.
As the Arab world suffers from the world’s highest rate of youth unemployment of 30%, Silatech seeks to unlock Arab youth potentials by developing innovative solutions to remove the obstacles they face and help them change their lives for the better.
By early-2016, the regional organisation had successfully financed over 120,000 youth-owned businesses, created or sustained over 200,000 jobs through its innovative programmes and initiatives in 16 Arab countries: Qatar, Algeria, Egypt, Comoros, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen, the statement noted.
Sabah al-Haidoos, acting chief executive of Silatech, said: “Since its inception in 2008, Silatech has been a pioneer in creating initiatives and programmes that work on improving the social and financial stability of youth through connecting them to jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities suitable to their qualifications, in addition to active civil engagement to contribute to the development of their communities.”
Silatech has been strengthening its efforts in supporting Arab youth and connecting them with job opportunities through its strategy that focuses on three programmes: Employment, Enterprise and Research & Policy.
Ta3mal.com, the first online portal that supports Arab workforce development across the Middle East and Africa region, provides career guidance, job search assistance and professional skills enhancement with localised versions in eight countries across Mena: Qatar, Egypt, Iraq, Tunisia, Lebanon, Morocco, Algeria and Palestine, as well as the anticipated launch of the Ta3mal portal for Syrian refugees.
Till date, the regional network of Ta3mal portal has benefited more than 400,000 registered users.
As for Enterprise, Silatech works with leading microfinance institutions across the region to provide young entrepreneurs with loans to help them start income-generating projects that involve additional job opportunities for youth in their communities.
For instance, the Bodour initiative in Morocco aims to create 165,000 jobs by 2020, while Silatech is also keen to enable the Sudanese youth to find productive jobs, working to establish and launch specialised microfinance programmes to enable more than 40,000 job opportunities for entrepreneurs.
In terms of Research and Policy, Silatech works closely with Arab governments and international organisations to study the policies that directly affect young people and work to modify them and remove the obstacles they face. In addition, Silatech has adopted the first Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report in Qatar, where it carried out a national survey on entrepreneurship status comparing to other participating countries.