* Arab youth have named the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the country they would most like to live in and the nation they would like their own country to emulate for the 11th straight year. The popularity of the UAE as a place to live is at its highest point since the Arab Youth Survey began asking the question in 2012. That year, 33 percent of respondents said the UAE was the country they preferred to live in, followed by France and the US. The UAE’s respect for the region’s cultural traditions, the quality of its education system, the ease of starting a business, and the UAE’s low taxes were other attractions. Nearly two-thirds of young Arabs say their legal structures should be based on Sharia Law, according to the latest Arab Youth Survey (AYS). Arab youth say their faith is the cornerstone of their personal identity and priorities preserving the Arab world’s religious and cultural traditions over creating a more globalized society. At the same time, a large majority of young Arab men and women say religion plays too big a role in the region and want religious institutions to reform. Nearly three-quarters of Arab youth (70 percent) and a clear majority in the GCC, North Africa and the Levant express concern about the loss of traditional values and culture. Most youth in all three regions also agree that preserving the region’s religious and cultural identity is more important than creating a more globalized society. 

* Dubai-based PR agency ASDA’A BCW has published the results of its 14th annual Arab Youth Survey, described as the largest independent survey of its kind. The 14th Annual ASDA’A BCW Arab Youth Survey is based on face-to-face interviews and surveys conducted with men and women between the ages of 18 and 24 in 50 cities across 17 Arab states. WhatsApp is even more popular in Saudi Arabia that it is in the wider region, with 98 percent of people surveyed in the country using it daily. “One of the key trends we’ve noticed is the decline in news consumption, which peaked during the pandemic when people were largely confined to their homes,” said Sunil John, founder of ASDA’A BCW and BCW’s president for the Middle East and North Africa. "The decline appears to be part of an overall downward trend in news consumption, irrespective of the channel or platform, it is also possible that “young people are ‘tuning out’ from the sheer volume of news they are receiving these days, much of it negative,” John added. The decline in news consumption might also be a result of young Arabs using the internet primarily for other reasons.

* Data from an opinion poll conducted by BCW on the opinion of Arab youth revealed unique results for young Arab women and men, who were surveyed after they lived through the “Arab Spring” and witnessed changes in the region from 2010 to the present. The survey indicated that young people are currently more proud, self-reliant, and optimistic about the future, and are looking for support and guidance to enhance their confidence that they are on the right track, according to the survey figures. Regarding identity, respondents considered religion (among other things such as language, gender, and family) as the most important element to express their identity, and the highest percentage was in North African countries, followed by the Arab Gulf states, and finally the Eastern Mediterranean countries. Three-quarters of the respondents believed that religious institutions need reform, and they also saw that preserving their religious and cultural identity is more important than building a more globalized society by 65% of the respondents.