#Med2020 - Agenda

Virtual Panels

15
Sep
2020
PRE MED

Youth and COVID-19: leaving no one behind

Young people’s trust in government has halted in the MENA regiononly 32% of young people expressed trust in their national government across 12 countries in 2018. In the face of socio-economic challenges, administrative corruption and inadequate public services, youth-led protests spread in numerous countries across the MENA region in 2019. The virtual panel, organised in partnership between MED and the MENA-OECD Governance Programme, will discuss how the COVID-19 crisis is affecting the future trajectories of young people and governments in the MENA regionAs highlighted in the recent OECD policy paper “Youth and COVID-19: Response, Recovery and Resilience” (http://oe.cd/il/youth-covid19), the COVID-19 crisis has further exacerbated the difficulties faced by young people particularly in terms of education, employment, mental health, disposable income, and individual freedoms. At the same time, youth-led organisations have provided considerable help in mitigating the immediate impact of the crisis, also demonstrating intergenerational solidarity. The MENA region remains particularly exposed to the risks that the COVID-19 crisis is posing for young people and future generations due to pre-existing high levels of youth unemployment, high levels of youth employment in the informal sector, challenges in access to education, and large numbers of displaced young people, among others. However, this historic crisis offers governments across the MENA region the opportunity to reform their socio-economic system, governance arrangements and legal frameworks to build back better societies and economies that leave no one behind. 

 

Welcome remarks

Paolo Magri, Executive Vice-President, ISPI

 

Keynote Speech

Marina Sereni, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Italy  

 

Youth Roundtable

Joana Hammour, Grant Manager, Nahnoo, Lebanon

Nidal Benali Cherkaoui, President, Local Youth Councils Network, Morocco

Hayder al Shakeri, Youth Advocate, Iraq

 

Intervention

Jeffrey SchlagenhaufDeputy Secretary General, OECD

 

Q&A Session/roundtable discussion

 

Closing remarks

Antonio Bernardini, Permanent Representative of Italy to the OECD and Co-chair of the MENA-OECD Governance Programme

 

Moderator

Chiara Lovotti, Associate Research Fellow, ISPI

 

In partnership with