I am very proud to announce that the fourth book to which I have contributed on Morocco was published earlier this month. The Demographic Dividend and the Power of Youth is an anthology of essays from around the world about harnessing the energy and potential of younger generations.

My chapter takes case studies of successful interventions on youth and women’s employability undertaken by The Challenge Group in sub-Saharan Africa and applies them to Morocco. Although in many ways North African countries are economically more advanced than those of sub-Saharan Africa, they face similar challenges in their youthful populations. They also share dual needs to ensure young people have marketable skills while stimulating micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, as the backbone of any economy, to create jobs. 

In researching and writing my chapter, I drew on my knowledge of social issues related to unemployment of young people, as explored in my Masters dissertation, and added a more economic perspective and evidence, for which I am grateful to The Challenges Group, in particular Stephen Hunt. The book was launched at an online event on 29 January 2021.

The Demographic Dividend and the Power of Youth is edited by Eirliani Abdul Rahman, ElsaMarie D’Silva and Sonja Peteranderl on behalf of the Global Diplomacy Lab. It is published by Anthem Press. It is now available in Kindle and hardback editions, including from Amazon (affiliate link).

The other books to which I have contributed are two Fodor’s guidebooks to Morocco, and the anthology Our Morocco.