PERSPECTIVES
Youth Unemployment
A Global Security Challenge
MOHAMED ALI is a Somali-American peace strategist, human rights activist,
and social entrepreneur. He is the founder and Executive Director of the Iftiin Foundation, an organization which supports young entrepreneurs in postconflict countries in order to encourage peace and economic development.
L
ido beach in Mogadishu, Somalia, is a 100mile stretch of white sand lapped by the azure
blue waters of the Indian Ocean. On Fridays,
hundreds of young people swarm the beach:
energetic soccer tournaments sprout up, heated
wrestling matches ensue and there are noisy swimming
competitions abound. It is a beautiful sight in a city torn by
22 years of civil war. If you come back on Monday, you will
still find them there. They are there Tuesday, Wednesday,
and Thursday as well: the same youth at the same soccer
tournaments, wrestling matches, and swimming contests.
Yet these carefree scenes of youth at play take on melancholy
tones as you realize that, for many, the beach serves as an
escape from the stark reality that they have nothing else to
do. A 2012 UNDP Human Development report indicated
that 67 percent of youth in the country are unemployed, and
in South Central Somalia, 89 percent live in abject poverty.
This widespread unemployment among disaffected youth has
fueled extremism, piracy, political instability, and pov