Hypes and Hopes

By Ali Dahmash*

My knowledge of the World Economic Forum is that it is the place where World leaders and business shapers meet to discuss policy advocacy, economical gap between the rich and poor and pushing governments to open their markets.

This year it is going to be different. First, the Forum will discuss two important subjects: Job Creation and Media. Two factors that have shaped the Arab world this year and produced what we proudly know as “Arab Spring”!

The spring in Tunis was a hunger revolution caused by the high unemployment rate caused by the injustice practices of the regime. The Egyptian revolution began on Facebook; something no one took seriously.

Secondly, more than 15% of Arab leaders are no longer with us, meaning that at the Forum, we will meet new faces that represent the new leadership in a region; that have always been the center attention of the world.

Jordan is a small modern country located in a very hot area full of conflicts like Iraq, Palestine, and Syria. Besides that, Jordan suffers from shortage in natural resources. So we believe that human resources are the main power for Jordan.

Today 40% of the population is under the age of 30. 25% of the people are between the ages 15 and 24. Most of young peoples’ study focus is on MIS and Information Technology, because it is our oil. We have an annual of 5,000 new IT graduates alone! How are we going to create jobs for them? From these numbers we realize how much our country needs these efforts.

There are many universities and organizations in which youth is involved, but honestly speaking, the concept of volunteerism and community work is not very well spread amongst youth and adults. So we established our initiative “Under My Olive Tree” to minimize this gap and to be the platform to create “jobs through education” and develop sustainable projects for the less fortunate. We believe in utilizing social media to reach the youth and encourage them to become social activists.

Hopefully this year, the World Economic Forum will be an insight to creating jobs that need to be unconventional and which are most needed in the region. I’m also hoping to discuss the role of alternative media, something we lack in the Middle East.

I’m all hopes!

*Ali Dahmash is a social activist, founder and GM of REACH 2.0 and UnderMyOliveTree and is attending the World Economic Forum Special Meeting on Economic Growth and Job Creation.