Jordan Times
Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Central focus must be future of young people — King

By Mohammad Ghazal

PETRA — His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday inaugurated the Nobel laureates conference, urging the Nobel Prize winners to employ their experience to provide young people in the Middle East with tools to build their future and acquire useful knowledge.

Addressing participants at “Petra III: Building a Better World,” held in the Kingdom for the third consecutive year, the Monarch said it was necessary to prepare real initiatives in areas of concern — education, economic progress, health and the environment — to help the youth in the region.

“More than half of our region’s population is below the age of 18. This represents a significant generation coming of age. These young people are the ones who will shape the future. It is for them I wish to speak today,” the Monarch said.

“Now is the time to exercise your experience, your influence and your creative power, and put in place a process that works for those who need our help.… I am here to tell you that a central focus must be the future of young people, especially here in the Middle East,” he added.

King Abdullah also highlighted the importance of working together to give the younger generation a future of hope.

“Here in the region, the youth face special challenges. Like their contemporaries around the world, they are facing huge dichotomies in the condition of humankind. In our region, conflicts and economy hurdles are consuming the lives and the hopes of millions. We have immense new knowledge and capabilities, yet our access to that knowledge and the promise it brings is elusive,” he said the opening session.

Former UN secretary general and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize Kofi Annan echoed his remarks, stressing the need to empower young people in the region and across the world through the implementation of projects and the creation of job opportunities.

“Youth unemployment is a major real problem now across the world. Almost 27 per cent of the population are young people, and the ratio of unemployment among them stands at almost 50 per cent, which is a challenge. Thus, there is a need to create new projects to provide them with better lives,” Annan said in his address.

The issue of young people in the Middle East is one that will be extensively discussed by the conference participants, which include around 44 Nobel laureates and prominent international figures.

Other topics on the agenda of the two-day meeting are health, economy and environment.

During a meeting on education yesterday, Minister of Education and Higher Education and Scientific Research Khalid Touqan said education was the key to solving all the problems and political conflicts in the region as well asachieving economic development.

He added that Arab youth have feelings of disappointment and frustration because of regional political and economic conditions,
The minister also pointed out that the Arab world needs to create 100 million jobs by the year 2020 and support and involve young people in education programmes