adminDUBAI. — The Arab Thought Foundation at the conclusion of its annual summit yesterday called for more job creation and entrepreneurial chances in the Arab world, especially for young Arab women.
With the theme of “Creating 80 million Arab jobs by 2020”, the summit was inaugurated by Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum and attended by over 3 000 delegates. According to the International Labour Organisation, the Arab youth unemployment rate stands at 23.2 percent, the highest in the world, and it is particularly hard for young women to find a job. The International Monetary Fund has warned of a “lost generation” in the Middle East and North Africa, and the danger of more turmoil if there was no economic turnaround in the Arab world.
On the first day of the two-day summit, experts at various workshops called for a bigger integration of women into the labour market, and discussed social and economic barriers for women to start a career.
“Many Arab women who are not officially employed work very hard without getting paid,” said Emanuela Pozzan, senior gender specialist at the Geneva-based International Labour Organisation.
In Egypt, for example, 45 percent of the workforce in the agricultural sector are women, and most of them work or help in family-owned businesses with little or no income,” said Pozzan, an Italian expert doing research on women in the Middle East and North Africa.
“Truly, the Arab world’s combined economy misses a lot of added value due to the hurdles the female labour market participants face.”
Pozzan also pointed out that in Jordan, female teachers earn 41 percent less than their male counterparts. — Xinhua.
Online Reporter