‘Change is a challenge for youth of Arab world’
Jordanian crown prince says young people in the region yearn for a better life amid the draw of extremism or progress
DEAD SEA, JORDAN // The crown prince of Jordan, Hussein bin Abdullah, says youth in the region are caught between the currents of extremism and modernity in a “vast sea of change”.
“On one side is a treacherous tide, luring our youth toward a dark reality – one that sinks us deeper into violence, intolerance and regression through the corrosive power of an extremist ideology,” Prince Hussein said at the opening session of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa in Jordan.
“The other is transporting us to sunnier shores where moderation sees our Muslim and Arab identities at peace with modernity and progress.
“A reality where we can be productive and positive contributors to the world around us.”
Prince Hussein, 22, said Arab youths were “not drifters” and it was for them to decide how to live their lives. However, what they want is “a chance to be heard, a chance to make a difference”. He added: “What is unique to Arab youth is a yearning and thirst that I have not seen anywhere else. Perhaps that’s because our dire circumstances make us cling more tightly to hope. Young people in our region are the heaviest users of social media and the internet.”
Jordan has a generation of young entrepreneurs who are “spearheading innovation and change” through technology-driven businesses, but they need moral and financial support to “create their own impact”, said the crown prince.
Other world leaders who addressed the forum included King Felipe VI of Spain and the president of Iraq.
King Felipe said Spain had overcome the worst of its recent economic crisis and was ready to strengthen its cooperation with partners in the Middle East “in the quest for a better future for the region and the whole of humanity”.
He said security was “a shared or common need” among sovereign governments.
“We cannot isolate the threats or the challenges we face. Nor can we deal with them on our own since they are more pervasive and agile than ever, travel faster and ignore national or regional boundaries,” said the monarch, adding that shared prosperity should be pursued in tandem.
Iraqi president Fuad Masum said he hoped the next few days would bring about “the complete liberation of Mosul and the last stronghold of Daesh [ISIL] in Iraq”.
“As we hope to turn the page of Daesh completely during this year, Iraqis still need to work diligently and confidently as of now to achieve success in the battle for reconstruction – a battle that is no less difficult or complicated than the war on terror,” he said.
Mr Masum said priority would be placed on the repatriation of displaced people and the reconstruction of liberated areas “where all aspects of life have been almost completely destroyed”.
He also urged private companies to participate in rebuilding Iraq, saying the country was “open to all investors who wish to contribute to the process”.
‘ What is unique to Arab youth is a yearning and thirst that I have not seen anywhere else Hussein bin Abdullah Crown prince of Jordan