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Tribune News Network
Doha
QATARI youths are overwhelmingly positive about their futures and believe their government is putting right policies in place to address their needs, according to the 9th annual Arab Youth Survey 2017 released by ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller on Wednesday.
The survey reveals that 96 percent of Qatari youths believe that their country has been heading in the right direction for the past five years, while 86 percent are confident that the government is developing right policies focused on the youth.
Founder and Chairperson of Amwal Sheikha Hanadi al Thani participated in the panel discussion at the 9th Arab Youth Survey launch event, focusing her remarks on education and unemployment.
In the GCC states, 85 percent of young people are of the view that their country has been heading in the right direction over the past five years against 52 percent of Arab youth across the region. Three quarters (78 percent) of GCC youth also believe their"best days are ahead of them" compared with 58 percent Arab youths as a whole; and 82 percent of young people in the GCC believe their economy is on the right track versus just 52 percent on a region-wide basis.
Further, 86 percent of Gulf youth believe their governments are putting the right policies in place that will benefit young people an opinion held by just 57 percent of young Arabs across the whole Middle East.
The survey reveals that, in 2017, support for the US has fallen markedly: 17 percent of young Arabs see US as their most important ally, down 8 percentage points from 2016 and, for the first time, more young people see Russia as their top international ally an increase of 12 percentage points from 2016.
The threat posed by Daesh viewed last year as the number one issue facing the Middle East is seen as diminishing, this year tying with unemployment as a top concern for 35 percent of the region's young people. Most young Arabs (61 percent) also believe the terror group is getting weaker and, across the region, young people think education reform and well-paying jobs are just as important as military action in defeating terror and extremism.
Attitudes towards the election and presidency of Donald Trump are largely negative, with two-thirds of young Arabs (64 percent) either concerned, scared or angry about Trump taking the helm of the world's most powerful country. Furthermore, 70 percent of young Arabs say Trump is anti-Muslim and half (49 percent) agree that Trump's travel ban imposed on Muslim-majority countries would make it easier for extremist groups to radicalise and recruit young Muslims.
While 80 percent of young Arabs agree to the statement 'Arabic is central to my national identity', 60 percent of young Arabs agree that Arabic is losing value and, for the first time, more than half of young Arabs (54 percent) say they are using English more than Arabic in their daily lives (up from 46 per cent in 2016).
