The Connection between Improving Unemployment and Rebuilding Security in the Middle Eastern and North African Regions

Abstract: One of the most critical security challenges facing the Middle East–North Africa region is unemployment. The World Bank reports that the region will require over 50 million jobs within the next ten years, particularly in light of its booming youth demographic. However, the region’s failure to equip graduates with skills that are marketable within the global economy reveals a disconnect between the variables of government will, private sector engagement, and quality of education. While this underdevelopment is reflected across the region, Morocco provides a case example of a nation with a struggling system, but also a willingness to innovate in order to allow students to receive practical educational opportunities.