The question of integrating the youth into government and public life has taken on special importance over the past few years, judging by the statements of President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi. The regime is aware that young people across Egypt's political and geographic map have been interested in political life since the 2011 Revolution and are looking for a chance to help run the country. But the youth are sceptical of the regime's intentions, despite repeated assertions by the president about the need to integrate youth into public work and to enhance their political and economic power. A significant segment of the government apparatus is of the view that integrating the young into government is only useful as a way of shoring up the regime's credibility. Whenever this segment is placed in charge of the integration of the young, they act randomly, without a criteria or a plan in mind. This contrasts with presidential statements indicating the need for a purposeful manner of integrating the younger generation into state affairs. In other words, the question of integrating the youth into positions of power must not focus on the number of young faces in high places, but on the manner of integration, the criteria for selection, and the fairness and transparency of the entire process. In his speeches, Al-Sisi comes across as someone who is aware that the state has failed to establish substantive and steady channels of communication with the youths (see, for example, his speech at Cairo University on 28 September 2014). The youth, often perceived as a shapeless but powerful bloc, have mostly given their support to the 30 June 2013 revolution. But the regime cannot take their loyalty for granted. Unless it keeps trying to win the youth over, it may lose their support. According to official figures, about 23.7 per cent of the population, or 20 million, are in the age group 18-29. More than half the population is under 40, the maximum age the government has set for the young “assistant” ministers it wishes to appoint. Despite being the largest demographic group in the country, people under 40 are not only underrepresented in high office, they are the least connected with the government apparatus. In Egypt, the young generation is a wasted resource, underused in government and unmotivated outside it. And yet Egypt's roadmap clearly mentions the need to “empower the young and integrate them in state institutions, thus turning them into partners in decision making”. The roadmap also urges the appointment of young people as “assistant ministers, as assistant governors, and in various positions of executive power”. But a segment of Egyptian officialdom still considers the youth to be too inexperienced to draw up programmes and set policies. INTERACTION BETWEEN THE REGIME AND THE YOUTH: Since he took office in June 2014, Al-Sisi has spoken about the youths from three angles. The first angle is that of security. Here, the president admits that young people are vulnerable to recruitment by extremists and terrorists (speech on 22 June 2015 in Davos; speech on 13 September 2015 at Suez University). The second angle is that the youth suffer from joblessness. (Speech on 22 June 2015 in Davos.) The third angle is that the youth needs to act as the mainstay supporting the regime and its policies (speech on 13 September 2015 in Suez University). In line with this three-sided presidential vision, several policies and programmes have come into being. Some of these programmes are cultural in nature, including the presidential programme for leadership. Others focus on giving the youth greater economic opportunity or better housing. Such programmes were cited in the president's Youth Day speech on 10 January 2016. Although analysing these programmes is beyond the scope of this article, some comments are in order. The first comment is that enhancing the economic and social situation of the youth is a clear priority for the regime. In pursuing this priority, the regime is trying to create jobs, stimulate small businesses and provide affordable housing. For example, the Ministry of Local Development, acting in cooperation with Banque Misr, the National Bank, and the Principal Bank for Agricultural Development and Credit, launched the Mashrouak Initiative in March 2015. In addition, there is Egypt's Training Programme, run by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, launched in cooperation with the coordination office of the UAE-funded Development Projects in Egypt, and the Be2eedak Initiative, a job-retraining programme. A second comment is that the government often views the youth as somewhat suspect or potential agents provocateurs. Even if true for a few groups of young people who sympathise with extremists or violent groups, the generalisation of this attitude is counterproductive. Young people should be able to congregate in universities, cafes and parks without officialdom frowning on them, or worse. The air of mistrust, in which activists often feel trapped, tapped and chased, is not helping the youth or the regime that is presumably trying to court them. The third comment is that the regime doesn't seem to be adequately attuned to the political needs of the young. A 2014 poll suggests that among those aged 15-29 some 68.3 per cent believe that politics matters. The percentage in 2009 was just 36.8 per cent. This goes to show how important it is for the regime to devise policies that incorporate the youth into political life. In a recent speech (on 10 January 2016), the president talked about empowering the youth and integrating even the state's young opponents into politics, in order to reinforce national unity. Such a task must not be overlooked, for bringing the youth into the political arena and allowing them to have a say in the country's affairs is crucial to the regime and its stability. YOUTH YEAR: In a bid to improve relations with the younger generations, the president christened 2016 “Youth Year”. This step, laudable as it is, gives rise to three remarks. The first remark is that the dialogue about youth issues cannot be concluded in one year. Youth is a fluid and ever-changing concept, even in the demographic sense. Every year the demographic of those aged 15-29 shifts, with new members coming in and others leaving and joining the older age groups. So the concept of engaging the youth will always be an ever-changing one. I therefore wish to propose that the youth must have their own day, which can be 25 January perhaps, or even 9 February (the latter date was approved by the government in August 2008, but somewhat lapsed). The second remark has to do with what the president mentioned on the various activities Youth Year should involve. In his speech, Al-Sisi set several objectives for the year, including a leadership programme, funding small projects, extending affordable housing, undertaking an educational overhaul and enhancing support for sports. All of this is commendable, but to implement it you need to set up an executive mechanism and follow up, which so far is non-existent. The third remark has to do with the forum for dialogue with the youth. According to the president, the forum would help formulate a “shared vision by the state and the youth” to be announced in a national conference for youth scheduled for September 2016. A brilliant idea, the forum can provide a space for dialogue that is so far absent from the scene. The idea confirms earlier utterances in which the president underlined the need to engage the youth in dialogue. Yet, once again, the forum may fall short unless backed with rigorous steps to make it work. We need, for example, to know the purpose of having a “shared vision”, and the manner in which participants in the dialogue, from the government or the public, will be selected. A working group of academic experts and executive practitioners should be formed to set the agenda of the forum, design a timetable for dialogue, and make sure that the forum will not be confined to Cairo but will draw in other governorates, especially remote ones. We must have clear criteria for selecting the youth who participate in the forum, making sure they are varied by age group and place of residence. The composition of the forum must reflect the presidential assertion that the “homeland is not for one faction but for all”. There should be dialogue workshops to involve young people, whom the government promised to promote to senior official positions, as well as the public. This may seem a procedural matter, but it is crucial for success. The subject of the “shared vision” should be to come up with a national policy for a defined period of years, with a timetable and agencies to implement it. There is also a need to help national think tanks produce and update a “map of the youth” through regular polling. We need to know what the young think, their political preferences and their concerns. This process of mapping would provide decision makers with a compass to guide national policies. The writer is a senior researcher at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.
