Empowering Egyptian youth...the Egyptian state's strategy to build a generation capable of change
Empowering Egyptian youth...the Egyptian state’s strategy to build a generation capable of change
Youth constitute the largest percentage of the population in Egypt, and are viewed as the beating heart of any development process that seeks to build a more stable and prosperous future. Based on this awareness, the Egyptian state is adopting ambitious strategies aimed at empowering them at all levels. Believing that investing in youth is an investment in the future.
These efforts are distributed among developing education, supporting innovation and entrepreneurship, and expanding opportunities for economic and social participation. The Egyptian state is not satisfied with involving young people in development programs, but rather seeks to give them the tools and opportunities to lead paths of change themselves. So that their role becomes effective in the change process.
In the context of monitoring the efforts of the Egyptian state in empowering youth, the Information and Decision Support Center of the Council of Ministers published a recent report on this matter, in which it confirmed that this group represents an indispensable driving force for achieving “Egypt Vision 2030” and contributing to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as empowering youth is one of the main axes for achieving comprehensive development that takes into account justice, enhances competitiveness, and supports community participation.
Youth empowerment and its dimensions in Egypt
The report indicated that the concept of youth empowerment in Egypt is based on an integrated vision that includes multiple dimensions, most notably economic empowerment through supporting decent and sustainable job opportunities, educational empowerment through developing technical and technological education, in addition to social empowerment that enhances the role of youth in public life, and political empowerment that opens up horizons for them to participate in decision-making.
The report focused on some of the general features of this vision, addressing the approaches to practical application that the state has adopted on the ground, from supporting entrepreneurship and providing training, to building a digital environment conducive to development. These are efforts that we will discuss in the following lines. To understand how that vision was transformed into executive programs aimed at investing in the energies of young people and qualifying them for pivotal roles in the future.
The importance of investing in human capital
Official data indicate that the age group from 15 to 29 years represents about 25.5% of the total population in Egypt, a large percentage that makes empowering this group a national priority with economic and social dimensions. Therefore, the state focuses on providing young people with the tools that qualify them to meet the requirements of the times, whether through education, training, or facilitating access to sources of support and financing.
Because young people are the fuel of development, the state’s efforts to empower them extend to building their technological and cognitive skills, and facilitating their integration into the modern digital and financial environment. This integrated methodology paves the way for preparing more aware and efficient youth, capable of competing and contributing to sustainable economic and social growth.
Technical education is a first step towards the future
In this context, traditional academic education alone is no longer sufficient to keep pace with labor market changes; Therefore, the state adopted a strategic direction towards developing technical and technological education, as it is one of the main paths for qualifying youth, and this field witnessed a remarkable boom that included modernizing curricula and introducing innovative specializations, such as renewable energy and artificial intelligence.
The number of students enrolled in technical education reached about 2.2 million students in the academic year 2023/2024, an increase of more than 14% compared to the year 2018/2019. The number of students enrolled in technological universities also increased by 68.2%, and the number of vocational training centers increased to 773 centers. This trend reflects a real awareness of the market’s need for practical skills, and confirms the state’s interest in formulating a safe professional future for a generation Youth.
In this context, the report of the Information and Decision Support Center of the Council of Ministers indicated that the Egyptian state is making unremitting efforts to enhance the role of youth in the economy, by providing an environment supportive of innovation, in addition to implementing initiatives to raise digital awareness, such as the “Digital Roller” initiative, which aims to enhance digital skills among Egyptian youth.
The report also indicated that Egypt advanced 70 places in the technical education and vocational training index - issued by the United Nations Development Program - between 2017 and 2024; This reflects the success of the Egyptian state in developing the system of technical education and vocational training to qualify young people for the labor market.
Supporting youth in entrepreneurship
With the changing features of the labor market and the increase in competition for traditional jobs, many young people have moved towards providing their own opportunities, by establishing small projects or engaging in the non-traditional economy system, and entrepreneurship has become a realistic and promising option, requiring institutional and financial support to ensure its continuity and achieve its impact.
In the context of keeping pace with this transformation, the government played a pivotal role through a group of initiatives and programs aimed at financing small and medium enterprises. The most prominent of these initiatives is the “Mashrouak” program, which contributed to providing more than 1.7 million job opportunities, in addition to the “Ibdaa” initiative, which focuses on providing support to emerging projects. Which helps stimulate innovation and support those with ambitious ideas.
Youth Economic Independence
In light of the rapid changes in the world of the digital economy, empowering young people to manage their financial affairs has become a prerequisite for enhancing their independence and expanding their opportunities. Hence, the Egyptian state was keen to facilitate young people’s access to financial services within financial inclusion programs, such as opening bank accounts easily, providing electronic platforms for financing, and developing digital payment solutions that keep pace with their lifestyle.
These efforts have contributed to raising the percentage of young people who own financial accounts to 51.7% by June 2024, and this comes within a comprehensive strategy to enable individuals to participate effectively in the economic cycle, and thus young people will become more able to manage their money, finance their projects, and plan for their future.
The role of youth in decision-making
Empowering young people is not complete unless they are given the opportunity to participate effectively in decision-making, whether at the political or societal level. For this reason, the state works to involve young people in national forums, advisory councils, and community initiatives. To enhance their role in shaping future policies, and prepare them to be leaders capable of facing challenges.
This participation - in parallel with economic and social empowerment - is embodied as one of the basic pillars that the Egyptian state seeks to strengthen to achieve the goals of sustainable development. Youth are considered the main driver in achieving these goals, especially in the areas of education, decent work, gender equality, and poverty reduction.
In this sense,Earth Guards appreciates the efforts made by the Egyptian state in empowering youth and supporting their effective participation in all fields, and praises the advanced steps in expanding education and training opportunities, and stresses the importance of continuing and strengthening these efforts, in a way that contributes to youth empowerment; To be future leaders and a driving force for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
