Jordan Times
Monday, October 23, 2006
Youth vow to take on development challenges
AMMAN (JT) — His Majesty King Abdullah on Saturday received a letter from the We are All Jordan Youth Forum, thanking him for his initiative to engage young citizens in the country’s development process, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
Earlier this month, the King directed the government to establish the We are All Jordan Youth Commission to assess the needs of young people and empower them to take on the challenges of development.
To achieve the goals set out for the body, the letter said, the forum has formed task forces in all governorates and universities to address the needs of local communities up and down the country.
The We are All Jordan Youth Forum was held at the Dead Sea in September under the patronage of the King and sprung from July’s We are All Jordan Forum, which brought together private and public sector leaders to address current and potential challenges facing the country.
The aim was to “build a generation of young leaders who are able to take Jordan to advanced stages of prosperity, modernisation and development,” the Monarch said.
“I want you to know that the concerns and fears you have about the availability of job opportunities top our priorities because this is the base of creating the model Jordan,” the King added.
At the forum, the youth rated combating corruption and national security as the top two issues, followed by unemployment, poverty and nepotism.
To sustain the forum and ensure it is held on a regular basis, “we need to institutionalise the work of the forum and ensure it abides by the rules of committed and sincere performance. The youth also deem it important to build a strategic partnership with the public and private sectors, civil society institutions and all individuals, indiscriminately,” the letter addressed to the King said.
Following the July forum, the King directed the government to establish the We are All Jordan Commission to follow up on its recommendations, among which included fast-tracking draft laws to speed up economic and political reform.
The commission comprises representatives of government and civil society institutions.