To engage youth in finding innovative solutions to Youth Employment in Egypt, the Economic Research Forum and the World Bank are pleased to announce the first Youth Essay Competition. The deadline for submission for youth-written essays is November 30, 2016.
Problem Statement: Youth unemployment has reached alarming levels in Egypt. As much as 26.7 percent of the young Egyptians between 18-29 years are unemployed (Central Agency for Mobilization and Statistics, CAPMAS), twice the unemployment rate for the overall population. Sub-themes: The following sub-themes are suggested:
- Youth Training, which translates into enabling youth to acquire the necessary skills to enter the labor market and benefit from available opportunities. Possible areas for new initiatives include: education, training and health.
- Job Creation, which involves ways to expand job opportunities for all young people, especially to youth disproportionally affected by unemployment. Possible solution areas include: economic diversity and the nature of economic growth; the promotion of entrepreneurship; and formalization (i.e. registration of informal businesses).
- Stage 1: The panel will be evaluating all submissions according to three criteria: (1) the relevance and originality of your solutions; (2) the soundness of your argument, and whether your essay is well substantiated by the existing literature or experience; and (3) the feasibility of your policy recommendations.
- Stage 2: The finalists will be invited to present their essays at an Award Ceremony in Cairo, where the winners will be selected. The final selection of the winners among the finalists will be based on the merit of their essay and the clarity of their presentation during the Award Ceremony.