Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire 09 July 2017: The President of Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Dr. Bandar Hajjar has called on the member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to join hands in tackling poverty, youth unemployment and fragility.<br>
Dr. Hajjar made the call during a reception organized by the IsDB in honour of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Abidjan, the capital of Cote D’Ivoire. He stated that of the 1.75 billion youth population in the world, 500 million or 28.5 percent live in OIC member countries. He therefore stressed the need to work together in harnessing the potential of the youth so that they become an asset to the society.<br>
“This can be done by developing special programmes for their advancement, facilitating economic empowerment opportunities for them by enhancing the quality of education, establishing business incubators to build the capacities of youth in entrepreneurship, facilitating financing for SMEs, improving the business environment, and integrating young people in socioeconomic development programmes..’’ Dr. Hajjar stated.<br>
He stated that IsDB has implemented several initiatives on youth development, which includes the Youth Employment Support (YES) programme; the Education for Employment (E4E) initiative; and the Vocational Literacy Programme (VOLIP).
Dr. Bandar Hajjar told th foreign ministers that there are 73 million unemployed youth in OIC member countries, the IsDB therefore had organised a Youth Summit during the 42nd Annual Meeting of IsDB in Jeddah. He added that the summit recommended the establishment of Youth Community Forum in order to promote solidarity, cooperation and knowledge sharing.<br>
The IsDB President further noted that the bank is reviewing its projects in member countries to ensure that they promote entrrpreneuship and capacity building.<br>