Youth around the world are agents of change. They are political and economic leaders and participants in their communities, and have many thoughts on how to shape their nation’s future.
As part of celebrating such individuals on International Youth Day, two recent CIPE-Atlas Corps Think Tank LINKS alumni – Fayyaz Yaseen from Pakistan and Iryna Fedets from Ukraine – analyzed two issues young people care about in their communities: youth unemployment and anti-corruption. In this week’s Economic Reform Feature Service articles, the two authors explore how to bring about democratic and economic reform changes in their respective countries.
In Fayyaz Yaseen’s piece, Youth Unemployment in Pakistan: An Account of Issues and Possible Solutions, he discusses that:
- Almost half of Pakistan’s labor force is unemployed. The situation is particularly dire for youth. A number of government programs have been introduced to address unemployment but they have not yielded the required results.
- Various factors are contributing to youth unemployment, including a lack of education, skills, and experience. Security challenges, a stagnating economy with low growth, and lack of foreign investment also contribute to the poor job market.
- A multipronged approach that addresses the social, political, security, and economic issues is required to increase employment opportunities for youth in Pakistan.
In Fedets’ article, Will Corruption Use its Chance to Battle Corruption, she highlights that:
- Anti-corruption campaigners in Ukraine have made momentous progress toward battling corruption during a period of major social and political change in the country.
- Business in Ukraine suffers significant losses in costs, time, and opportunity due to widespread corruption. International research has studied the scope of the problem. Dishonest competition in public procurement is a major area of concern.
- Limited access to information, lack of press freedom, and flawed election procedures impede the fight against corruption. Business and civil society need to remain focused on the implementation
Read their articles in full here.
Maiko Nakagaki is Program Officer for Global Programs at CIPE.
