You can debate whether the pressure for change in the Arab world is driven by the demand for political change or by economic factors. My view is that the demand for jobs is a central reason for the frustration witnessed on the streets, starting with Mohammed Bouazizi who was prevented from selling his fruit in Tunisia. The call for dignity is fundamental: what is more humiliating than being unemployed? Especially if you see less deserving people getting jobs because they’re well-connected. For many in the Arab world, jobs seem like a mirage: an attractive destination that you think you can reach but which disappears out of sight. To meet this pressure, growing new jobs is vital to the future welfare, prosperity and stability of the region.
Unemployment is the big challenge for the whole world, but especially the Middle East. The high rate of population growth means that the Arab world has to create 100 million new jobs in the next 20 years to satisfy the number of young people coming onto the labour market. Unemployment is already high, 15% on average but much higher among young people, especially women. Where will these new jobs come from? What is certain is that they will have to come from the private sector. Additional jobs in the public sector are a burden on any country’s national budget and are not sustainable. Indeed, many countries are cutting public sector jobs: in the UK 132,000 jobs were lost from the public sector last year and there will be more. Our effort is to recreate them by supporting private sector investment.
These issues are shared internationally. The desire in the Middle East for a job and the dignity that comes from being able to feed your family is no different from the demands of young people on the streets of London, Paris or New York (though it must not be compared with the criminal riots in London this summer). So can we work together to tackle these issues and help manage the pressure for jobs?
That is what the United Kingdom’s Arab Partnership Programme is all about: to support reform by sharing experience in partnership with local organisations. Youth employment and the growth of small and medium enterprises are two of the central themes of this effort.
In creating jobs, every country has to play to its strengths. And Jordan has plenty: political stability, a well-educated workforce, modern infrastructure, language skills and IT capability. Jordan can therefore invest in and exploit these strengths. To do so, small entrepreneurs need access to commercial advice, office space and, most importantly finance.
This is the formula that Oasis500 have developed successfully: giving technical and financial support to entrepreneurs. That means taking good ideas, using IT, adding Arabic content and exporting it to the rest of the Middle East. An Arabic on-line bookshop, on-line videos for recipes, on-line shopping; these are innovative concepts that have tremendous potential in the Middle East.
The young people who go through Oasis 500’s training waves get real insight into how to turn their bright ideas into commercial success. This formula offers real scope for private sector job growth in Jordan.
And that is why I signed a contract with Oasis500’s boss, Usama Fayyad, to fund Oasis500 to the tune of JD 150,000 to cover 3 training waves in Amman and to extend their programme to Irbid. I was deeply impressed by the passion, enthusiasm and determination of the young people I met who have already been through Oasis500 training and secured investment. And I am convinced we will see really great results from our investment, both in creating profitable companies and in growing new jobs.
Good luck!