Unemployment among youth: A pressing challenge in the Near East and North Africa says Abdul Rahman Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf

Rome, 14 February 2007— The Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), Abdul Rahman Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, told delegates at the opening ceremony of the 30th Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) today that, “The challenge of high unemployment rates causes feelings of hopelessness, marginalization, and even revolt, all of which negatively impact social cohesion, stability and growth.”

Al-Attiyah played a leading role in the establishment of IFAD in 1977 as Ambassador for the State of Qatar to the United Nations in Geneva. GCC countries have provided US$116.8 billion to date in official development assistance. IFAD alone has received more than US$614 million in contributions to its resources.

“The role played by the Member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council during the establishment of IFAD reflected the region’s tradition and historical commitment to development assistance and to addressing the pressing needs of developing countries,” Al Attiyah said.

The focus of this year’s Governing Council meeting is rural employment and livelihoods. Eight hundred million of the world’s 1.1 billion extremely poor people live in rural areas with sparse employment opportunities.

Al-Attiyah noted, “For the GCC countries, [unemployment] is an issue of great importance as high rates of unemployment are prevalent, particularly among young people, and have become one of the most pressing challenges faced by countries in the Near East and North Africa.”

Poverty in the Near East and North Africa region is concentrated in rural areas where some 60 to 70 per cent of the region’s poor people live. Latest estimates indicate that about 95 million rural people in the region live on less than US$2 a day and about 65 million live in absolute poverty, without the minimum requirements for basic survival.

In August 1989, IFAD and the GCC signed a cooperation agreement to pursue shared development goals and cooperate on agricultural and rural development, nutrition and related research.

IFAD’s Near East and North Africa Member states include 15 borrowing countries or territories: Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Gaza and the West Bank, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Somalia, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Turkey and Yemen; and five non-borrowing countries: Kuwait, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. As of December 2006, IFAD funded 105 programmes and projects in 15 countries in the region for a total investment of US$1.3 billion.

The GCC was founded in May 1981 to enhance cooperation and coordination between the six states of the Arabian Gulf: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

All GCC Member states, with the exception of Bahrain, are founding members of IFAD and are generous contributors to IFAD resources. Two of IFAD’s four Presidents have been from Gulf countries: the first President, Abdelmuhsin M. Al-Sudeary (1977-1984), is a national of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; the third President, Fawzi Al-Sultan (1993-2001), is a national of the State of Kuwait.

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IFAD is a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. Through low-interest loans and grants, it develops and finances projects that enable poor rural people to overcome poverty themselves. There are 185 ongoing IFAD-supported rural poverty eradication programmes and projects, totalling US$6.1 billion. IFAD has invested US$2.9 billion in these initiatives. Cofinancing has been provided by governments, beneficiaries, multilateral and bilateral donors and other partners. At full development, these programmes will help nearly 77 million poor rural women and men to achieve better lives for themselves and their families. Since starting operations in 1978, IFAD has invested US$9.5 billion in 732 programmes and projects that have helped more than 300 million poor rural men and women achieve better lives for themselves and their families. Governments and other financing sources in the recipient countries, including project participants, have contributed US$9.1 billion, and multilateral, bilateral and other donors have provided another US$7.1 billion in cofinancing.