THE YOUTH > Sara Masouh, Kuwait

'Believe in people's potential, not in 'labels'

“I think that if the Summit and if we – as a region – are to progress in whatever we want to achieve, then we need to start with the basics by thinking and going beyond the present differentiating gap between ‘the haves’ Arab states and the ‘the have-nots’ Arab states.

And for this, ‘Equity’ is the first step to start with. We need to be and consider others on a equal playing field – devoid of narrow labels like nationality, religion, ethnicity, gender. History has proven time and time again that because of these ‘labels’ that people use to define others – instead of seeing them as what they are, that is another human being – that we land up in wars or fighting social injustice and unequal opportunities.

Instead of looking outside at external factors (to solve any problem, be it economic or social), we need to first look within to weed out any prejudices we have. Every human being has a potential that needs an opportunity to be recognized. ‘Labels’ are a blindfold which stops people from truly acknowledging the potential in others.

I believe we should all be treated with equity, as ONE, no difference. Only then can we have peace. Only then can we ensure equal generation and distribution of wealth. Only then can we ensure that people are not deprived of knowledge – be it technical or fundamental – to make wise financial decisions, or bring about social change.

Believe in people’s potential, not where they come from or their cultural background, or any such ‘labels’.”

THE YOUTH > Nayla Hage, Lebanon

 

'We should be able to control our future without being scared to dream or plan our goals ahead of time!'

 

“I am a Lebanese fresh graduate who has the same aspirations and the same dreams as a French or English fresh graduate student. But the difference is that we, the Arab young people, are considered as the ones who aspire for the unreachable and unattainable goals because we are living in one of the most financially and politically unstable region.

So we ask ourselves each and every second of our lives the following question: do we have the right to dream of a better and prosperous future where we can achieve our goals? This question remains without any answer since we are constantly bombarded with financial crisis threatening our jobs and future.

We should be able to control our future without being scared to dream or to plan our goals ahead of time! It is everyone’s right to dream of a stable economy in his/her country where he can prove his/her capacities and achieve his objectives. This unstable era should end right now and we are the ones who can stop it!

The problem with the Arab region is that they depend a lot on the American economy. As a result; they become just followers of a culture embedded with wrong financial decisions dominating the whole world and drowning it in a deep financial crisis. It is time for the Arabs to realize how important their unity is for their growth. They should be aware of the damage they are handing on to the young students who are craving for a good job opportunity in their own country. The government should get united for the first time in history to save the young generation from a real unemployment crisis which will cause a true revolution in the Arab world.

I hope that the Arab Economic Summit will be able to achieve these goals of uniting the Arab countries and discuss financial issues rising above all the political constraints.” 

THE YOUTH > Ebrahim Hasan, Bahrain

 

'Investment should be directed towards the youth'

“I wish to see more collaboration between the Arab states on economic issues. I would like to see the customs fees between them cancelled entirely, inspection procedures made easier especially in the KSA, a unified currency that gives more stability and reduces inflation, collaborative economic efforts, accepting all hard currencies in exchange of oil so that we don’t suffer with the US dollar – the link between the US dollar and our currencies stopped too because clearly the US dollar has lost its position for good.

There seems to be a need for educational organisations to plan for the future needs of the economy with the governments so that they can introduce new economic sectors in the future in order to provide new job opportunities.

The youth are the new blood of the region. Providing them with the means to change the face of their countries is how we can progress and innovate. Investment should be directed towards them as they are invaluable resources.

It strikes me often that many of the movies I watch in the cinemas here in Bahrain spread a distorted image of Islam and Arabs. It blindly links Islam and Arabs to terror and backwardness. They do us a great disservice and serve the political agendas of foreign countries.

I see and appreciate that many big firms in the region spend resources on social responsibility issues. I would love to see more and more of that.”