Editorial: The tip of the iceberg

By Seheir Kansouh-Habib

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Youth in Egypt need passion and compassion. This is whether they belong to the disadvantaged many, the privileged few or the in-between categories . Each one of these three groups -- internationally identified as being those between 15-25 years of age - have their own sets of problems and justified reasons for discontent. It is all relative, as we could not fail to see the importance of giving priority to the underserved before the privileged, but as will be explained in this statement, each of these categories requires the special attention of the Government and society, albeit in different ways. T

The first and most important category of youth -- numerically, and for human considerations - belongs to the lower classes. Their problems are primarily caused by poverty. However, addressing the economic dimension of their problems without working simultaneously on addressing Egypt's compounded socio-political problems and the decadent values permeating the various segments of Egyptian society will not yield the desired results.

The second category of young Egyptians in our inquiry, albeit for totally different reasons than economic, consists of the rich youth. Their problems, however, requires special attention and more subtle interventions and should not be left unattended. This is the category of young Egyptians who had the privilege of enjoying comfort, better health conditions, a better education, learnt better manners (not necessarily ethical values or good behaviour). This is also the category most exposed to globalization with its good and bad influences. But more and more of this younger generation of the have's do not wish to stay in Egypt and emigrate in pursuit of their dreams elsewhere leading to an unfortunate brain drain. Those who stay are alienated from the rest of a society suffering from increasing divides in income, in modes of living, in dress codes, while all share lack of trust in their future. They simply don't seem to belong and do not show interest in public service. This is a very sad development as it is Egypt's educated young middle class that can help it grow and advance.

By the third category of youth, we mean the in-between social group that belongs to the lower middle class. This category, we argue, suffers from all the ailments caused by poor education (versus total lack of education of the first category), frustration from not being able to fulfill dreams, especially teased by a consumer society, inflamed by a mindless media. This is the category that, for illustration purposes, includes those medical students turned taxi drivers or the like; jobs for which neither their inclinations nor their educational attainments were preparing them to accept (in addition to wasting their potential). This is the category most prone to embrace fundamentalism, and eventually for some, terrorism.

The youth of Egypt, representing the largest segment of its population, constitutes a gold mine that could, if not properly attended, become a time bomb. The question is: are the plethora of directives and policies targeting youth the right ones, leading them to become Egypt's driving force rather than its liability? The general feeling is that there is no unifying strategy with specific targets and a time frame that could help such youth see the end of the tunnel in which they seem to lie.

In this issue of Beyond we may have only touched the tip of the iceberg as we cannot claim to have addressed the problems facing youth in a comprehensive manner. But the policymaker or eager reader will find in it valuable contributions by experts and institutions on youth related matters such as education, labour, art, services targeting youth, role models. But, most important, it includes views by youth themselves not only on issues of direct concern to them or their problems, but also on issues of public and national concern.