A Youth Knowledge Consortium is launched to promote youth employment and entrepreneurship in the Arab World at Doha Summit

The Youth Knowledge Consortium will serve as a hub of scholarship, research and thought leadership to support youth policy and initiatives.

The Consortium was announced at the Doha Summit entitled "Young People and Employment in the Arab World" organized under the leadership of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, Founder and Chair of Silatech.

The founding partners of the Consortium include: Silatech, the Wolfensohn Center for Development at Brookings Institution, the Dubai School of Government, Gallup, the World Bank's Global Partnership for Youth Investment, ImagineNations Group, International Labour Organization, and the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut (AUB).

The Consortium will be joined by other like-minded organizations over time.

Youth in the Middle East and North Africa (15 to 29 years old) comprise over one third of the region's population, representing a tremendous asset in ushering an era of sustainable growth.

However, new research suggests that the combined costs of youth unemployment for 11 countries in the region are as high as $25bn a year, or 2.3% of GDP.

To meet the urgency and scale of the youth challenge, the Consortium will generate new and innovative solutions to address youth unemployment and improve young peoples' access to entrepreneurship opportunities.

In the coming months Silatech will convene Consortium members to launch several cutting-edge initiatives such as a youth "job readiness" index; new research to address unemployment and skills mismatch; action-oriented new research to stimulate financial access for young entrepreneurs; and dialogue with policymakers, civil society groups, government officials and the private sector, to develop effective policies and programs.

Founder of the Wolfensohn Center for Development and former World Bank President, James D. Wolfensohn endorsed the Consortium, saying: "No task is more urgent than providing hope to the 100 million young people in the Middle East and North Africa. If we provide them with the opportunity to lead constructive lives, they will build a stable and prosperous future for the region. As part of our ongoing work at the Middle East Youth Initiative, we look forward to cooperation with Silatech that will lead to real impact on the lives of young men and women."

Nabil Alyousef, Director-General of the Executive Office of His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Executive President of the Dubai School of Government, also supported the initiative, asserting that "tackling the complexity of youth challenges in the region requires collaboration between the best thinkers and practitioners in the field. The Dubai School of Government is committed to contributing toward this effort."

"We at the Issam Fares Institute at AUB are delighted to be part of this consortium, due both to the importance of the youth issue in the Middle East and North Africa and to our strong commitment to collaborative research as a key driver of sound policy-making," said IFI director Rami G. Khouri.