Justmeans Blog: Microfinance Can Bring Socio-Economic Stability To Middle East
CHF International, a leading non-profit global development organization, in association with Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.org, has highlighted the key role microfinance can play in creating socially innovative solutions for Middle East and North Africa.
More than 30 percent of the population in Middle East and North Africa is between the age group 15 and 29. This represents over 100 million youth in this region, making it critically important to create about 40 million jobs over the next decade merely to maintain pace with the youth bulge. In absence of socially innovative and entrepreneurial solutions, it may not be possible to achieve this huge goal, and it may weaken the stability of this fragile region further.
Youth unemployment in the Middle East continues to remain the highest in the region at 25 percent. In Egypt, for instance, almost 90 percent of the country's unemployed are below the age of 30. CHF is playing a crucial role in the region with its diverse programs in Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, West Bank and Gaza, and Yemen.
