Empowering Young People in Low- and Middle-Income Countries Can Ease the Immigration Crisis and Save Lives
“I’d rather die crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe than live in Upper Egypt,” Hassan Ali, a 23-year-old from Assiut, Upper Egypt told me last year. "Upper Egypt is just too hopeless, with no jobs or education."
Map of Upper Egypt * Credit: Peter Hermes Furian / Shutterstock.com
It’s been reported that one-third of Upper Egypt's young people aged 15-29 are in the poorest wealth quintile. In Upper Egypt, the official youth unemployment rate is 16%, and this doesn't count the 'jobless,' who are neither employed nor looking for work. They make up almost half of all young people in Upper Egypt. They aren't getting work due to their low education level, the poor quality of teaching they receive, or the lack of private sector jobs. Between 2014 and 2021, it’s estimated that 22,594 migrants died while crossing the Mediterranean Sea in search of a better life. Roughly 12,000 drowned.
Many other low- and middle-income countries are experiencing the same problem. Between 2014 and 2018, 30,510 people died from illegal migration. The Mediterranean, Rio Grande, Bay of Bengal, and other overseas routes have drowned over 19,000 people. Over 10,000 Nigerians died trying to cross the Mediterranean between January and May 2017. Asia has lost over 2,900 migrants, with 2,191 fatalities in Southeast Asia and 531 in the Middle East. In the Americas, at least 2,959 illegal immigrants have died while migrating. Latin America and the Caribbean also recorded more than 1,000 deaths between 2014 and 2018. Most of these numbers were young people. In 2021, there were 1,924 deaths or missing people (mostly young) on routes linking the Central and Western Mediterranean and 1,153 deaths (again, mostly young) on routes linking the Northwest African region with the Canary Islands.
This doesn't have to be the case. We need to educate and employ the young in low-mid income countries. Life Makers Foundation, one of the few non-governmental organizations that work in Upper Egypt, has stated that the region’s youth need advice about how to become empowered and acquire the skills necessary to compete in the national and international markets. President Al-Sisi also recognizes the need and the importance of generating creative ideas and interventions that will facilitate the achievement of the goals and aspirations of young people living in Upper Egypt.
To empower and engage Upper Egyptian youth, we need to create academies that serve as a bridge between school and work. Every year, each academy would implement four residential training programs to train and qualify 1,800 young men and women on knowledge entrepreneurship and employability skills that would help start their own projects or find a rewarding job. In between each residential training, the academy board would oversee the activities and assign tasks. Funding for these residential training programs would be shared between a private sponsor and the minister of higher education. This proposal aligns with the president's vision for Upper Egypt, the country's facilities and logistics, and the passion and interest of Upper Egypt's youth.
For example, in Alexandria, Cairo, and other developed Egyptian cities, there are a total of ten youth city centers. But Upper Egypt has none. Why can't we use these youth centers for the academy's residential training programs? These centers contain the latest technological devices as well as educational and recreational games. This is according to Ahmed Afifi, Director of Youth Cities at the Ministry of Youth and Sport. These centers would welcome people from Upper Egypt. Youth from Upper Egypt would receive the opportunity to visit developed cities and interact with trainers and trainees from different backgrounds and cultures, resulting in a greater sense of community engagement and a reduction of structural and social bias.
Besides enrolling as many Upper Egyptian youths as possible, the academy would try to ensure their completion by following up with them between residential training sessions and after the program ends. Its career and professional development committee would help students connect with national and international employers. That way, we can try to make sure that they're progressing, with opportunities to start their own businesses or have jobs at the end of every academic year. Upper Egypt’s youth will be able to earn more money, which will improve and maintain all aspects of their lives, including social, economic, and health.
There will always be some politicians who oppose any new ideas for the Upper Egypt region. This is because they are afraid of offending community values there by exposing their youth to different cultures and lifestyles. They don’t understand that a fundamental goal of the program would be respect for the values of the community at the center during all the sessions.
With this intervention, we could save the lives of thousands of young people from Upper Egypt. Unless something's done, they'll continue to feel hopeless. Many will leave, and many will die.
About the Author:
Ahmed Elmoursi, MD, is currently enrolled in the Master of Public Health Program at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He received his medical degree from Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt. Before joining Harvard, Ahmed was a clinical researcher at the University of Kentucky, where he conducted research on gastrointestinal and inflammatory bowel diseases. His findings have been presented at national and international meetings, as well as in multiple publications. Ahmed’s interest in public health was fortified while traveling between countries to implement different projects and interventions for underserved communities in Africa and Asia. With the growth of his network, he was able to present these projects to larger audiences through television and radio episodes, as well as national and international newspapers and magazines. He was elected twice as the youngest board member of the Life Makers Foundation, one of the largest organizations in the Middle East, where he implemented numerous projects focused on human and health development. Ahmed is a bronze and silver holder of the Duke of Edinburgh International Award.