MENARY Monitor – Edition 105
April 2, 2023
Politics and Political Engagement
Palestinian human rights lawyer and former diplomat, Ghaith al-Omari, spoke about the especially difficult conditions faced by young Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank, many of whom feel desperately unhappy as they endure economic crisis and political paralysis. The prospects are extremely dim, and youth have no options, as their ability to find employment is non-existent. The economy in Gaza has been destroyed because of the siege imposed by the Israeli occupation and because of the practices of Hamas. Al-Omari indicates that these difficulties force Palestinian youth to take huge risks and emigrate through the Mediterranean, where they risk drowning, among other challenges, through their journey to reach Europe.
Economics and Entrepreneurship
A survey conducted by Forward MENA in Lebanon found that 88% of Lebanese digital and tech companies are actively looking to hire full time employees but are unable to find the right talent, a worrying indicator of the gap between education and the job market. The survey aimed to better understand their hiring needs and challenges faced in finding qualified talents. The survey also revealed that skills in digital marketing, social media, UI/UX design, and Adobe programs are in high demand. Companies also emphasized the need for “strong” soft skills, including critical thinking, teamwork, and emotional intelligence, in addition to skills such as adaptation, resilience, and building one’s own capacity for continuous learning. Additionally, Developer Associate certifications and DevOps Engineering certifications are highly appreciated and are considered to be a strong asset in the hiring process for 72% of the companies surveyed. While these results highlight the current digital trends, they also underline the difficulties in finding qualified candidates.
The Qatar Red Crescent Representative Office in Gaza participated in a graduation ceremony for 73 young men and women who received training on remote work, as part of the “Opening a livelihood for women and young people from poor families in the Gaza Strip” project. Dr. Akram Nassar, Director of the Qatari Red Crescent Office in the Gaza Strip, the interventions to develop the capacity of young graduates have contributed to improving economic conditions in Gaza, indicating that 73 beneficiaries gained practical experience in the 5 disciplines of e-marketing, mobile application programming, user experience and interface design, translation, and content writing. It is worth mentioning that the project includes the implementation of 3 key components, namely remote work, temporary paid employment opportunities for 75 beneficiaries, and project management training and financial grants to finance projects that benefited 50 women from the Gaza Strip, at a total cost of US $457,000.
10 people died and others were missing, following the collapse of a gold mine in the city of Wadi Halfa in the northern parts of Sudan. Eyewitnesses reported that workers were searching for gold inside the mine wells in the lower locations, and because of the use of old machinery, the wells cracked. The private mining sector accommodates more than 2 million people working in Sudan’s sprawling regions amid extremely harsh conditions and produces about 80% of the total amount of gold extracted in the country. The Sudanese government does not prohibit private mining but attempts to regulate it, despite its negatives.
Conflict
The Defense for Children International Palestine movement has documented the testimonies of young men and women in Jenin who have been traumatized by military action. The movement said in its report that, in addition to violating the right to life of 17 children since the beginning of the year, the practices of the Israeli forces had resulted in significant effects on other children, as the violence they had witnessed had violated their rights guaranteed by international law and threatened their psychological and social security. A 17-year-old said: “While my classmate and I were heading to school in the morning, the Israeli army stormed the camp and started shooting from all directions. He was killed. We were planning together to graduate from school, go to university, and study together, but all of that was shattered.” A 16-year-old said: “The occupation’s raids into the camp have become routine. The army enters at any time, so I can no longer leave the house. I am afraid of the army’s raids while I am outside the home.” Khaled Quzmar, DCIP director, said that the Israeli army’s use of excessive force had left Palestinian children with no sense of security and no confidence in the future, indicating “children live in the situation of hopelessness. A child was found in Dheisheh camp moving around with his will written on a piece of paper in his pocket because he was afraid that he would be in the wrong place at the wrong time and might be killed.”
A 26-year-old Palestinian man, from the village of Hurwa in the Negev, was shot dead by Israeli occupying forces near the chain gate, one of the gates leading to the courtyards of the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque. According to the Palestinian news agency Ma’an, eyewitnesses refuted the occupation’s allegations that the young man had tried to steal a soldier’s weapon, pointing out that the occupation police had shot him after the young man attempted to defend a girl who was being beaten by the occupation forces near the gate.
Israeli occupation forces arrested two university students near the settlement of “Halamish”, located on the villages of Deir Nizam and Nabi Saleh, north-west of Ramallah. According to security sources, the occupying forces arrested students Annan Safi and Mustafa al-Riyahi from Jalazon camp, as they passed a military roadblock near the settlement while their colleague Abdul Karim al-Taih was released after being held for some time.
The Houthi militia continued for the fourth consecutive day, the practice of terrorizing Ibb’s youth who participated in the funeral of activist Hamdi Abd al-Razaq al-Khulani, raiding the homes of a number of citizens who engaged in the funeral. The sources confirmed that the Houthi militants abducted four youths in Ibb and threatened them that their fate would be the same as that of al-Kulani in an implicit confession that he had been killed in their prisons.
Development
The Naja’ al-Massekh Youth Center in Sohag, Egypt, carried out an awareness seminar on the dangers of drug addiction on the individual and society. Yusri Kafvi, Under-Secretary of the Directorate of Youth and Sports in Sohag, said that the aim of the seminar was to discuss the issue of addiction, its different types, and the causes of addiction.
The Directorate of Youth and Sports and the Directorate of Parliament and Civic Education in Luxor carried out the first event of the National Dialogue of the Youth Parliament under the theme of “Youth thinking“. A comprehensive political dialogue was organized on various political, economic, social, cultural, and sustainable development issues. The participants were familiarized with the first Dialogue Forum held back in 2016, with emphasis on its recommendations. The participants were also educated on the forum’s objective as well as the training plan. The participants were divided into working groups to formulate their problems along three themes to prepare them to devise their solutions and recommendations.
Education
The Minister of State for Migration and Egyptian Affairs Abroad convened a meeting with members of the Ministry’s Center for Dialogue for Egyptian Youth Abroad “MEDC” to discuss the strategy for the work of the new phase of the center, which includes a number of important themes that serve the objectives of the center, as well as to maximize the role of its members and benefit them and integrate them into the development plans of the State. The minister moderated a discussion on the mechanisms for working with the center’s youth team, including a discussion of the pillars of the strategy regulating the new phase of MEDC. This includes the establishment of an advisory council for young Egyptian researchers abroad, comprising all scientific disciplines, to provide scientific recommendations and solutions to priority areas for the Egyptian State in cooperation with ministries and concerned agencies on a voluntary basis.
Environment
To engage young people in the design of environmental initiatives in Palestine, Shim-Youth Create the Future Foundation organized a hackathon titled “Environmental Youth Challenge“, in partnership with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and FHI360, funded by USAID. The environmental challenge involved 30 young women in six environmental initiatives, from Nablus, Jenin, Qalqilya, and Tulkarm, where training lasted for three days. Three women were selected to win a $2,000 award for a three-year period during which environmental initiatives will be implemented. The Rose Land Initiative won the first place for their initiative aimed to use wastewater that is refined at the purification plant and used for irrigation of plantations, specifically roses of various kinds. The Needle and Thread Initiative won second place for their initiative that seeks to collect fabrics accumulated in furniture and sewing occupants and transform them into usable products that help reduce the damage caused by these fabrics. The “Our Children at a Clean Environmental Pace” initiative won third place for their recycling initiative that aims to leverage waste, such as the tires of vehicles, packages, cans, and torches.