Global youth  – islamic, canadian and bangladesh perspective

1. Global Youth –
Islamic, Canadian
and Bangladesh
Perspective
MFGO Exec Committee
Tarek Ali
Saturday Nov 18th 2017

2. •Global
perspectives on
Youth

4. Message from United Nations

5. Global perspective of the UN
• https://www.un.org/development/desa/youth/international-
youth-day-2017.html
• as agents of change, young people are critical actors in conflict
prevention and sustaining peace
• current generation of youth are the largest in history
• needs and aspirations of youth in matters of peace and security is
a demographic imperative
• When youth are excluded from political, economic and social
spheres and processes, it can be a risk factor for violence and
violent forms of conflict

6. Message from UN envoy

7. UNESCO perspective
In 2015, there were 1.2 billion young people in the
world, and more than 600 million lived in fragile
and conflict-affected contexts. Young people carry
the heaviest burdens of conflict and violence -- they
are also essential for any lasting solution leading to
peace.
There are currently 1.8 billion young people between
the ages of 10 and 24 in the world. This is the
largest youth population ever. But 1 in 10 of the
world’s children live in conflict zones and 24 million
of them are out of school. Political instability, labour
market challenges and limited space for political and
civic participation have led to increasing isolation of
youth in societies.

8. Youth global unemployment crisis
• https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/09/theres-a-global-
youth-unemployment-crisis-heres-what-we-can-do-about-it
• The Economist estimates that there may be as many as 290
million 15-to-24-year-olds not participating in the labor
market. These 290 million bright minds — a group almost as
large as the U.S. population — could be making our communities
stronger and bringing fresh solutions to the world’s biggest
challenges.
• There’s also a real skills gap. Even in developed economies, where
enrollment in upper secondary schools is often near 100 percent,
nearly one in five students do not acquire a minimum level of
basic skills needed to be gainfully employed.

9. The Global Youth Wellbeing Index
• https://www.youthindex.org/

10. World Bank opinion
• http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-
release/2015/10/13/addressing-the-youth-employment-
crisis-needs-urgent-global-action
• One third of the world’s 1.8 billion young people are
currently neither in employment, education or training. Of
the one billion more youth that will enter the job market in
the next decade, only 40 percent are expected to be able to
get jobs that currently exist.
• young people are by inclination more entrepreneurial than
adults - and we now know that of all the interventions
governments, private sector and civil society implement to
address youth employment, providing support to early
entrepreneurs is the most effective

11. Solution from Forbes - Alice Albright is chief
executive officer of the Global Partnership for
Education
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/schoolboard/2017/08/11/how-
education-can-solve-the-global-youth-unemployment-
crisis/#6923b1f73bc6
• There’s abundant evidence that educating more girls leads to
remarkable social, economic and health gains – and it can do much to
reduce youth unemployment
• Children living in crisis and conflict are more than twice as likely to be
out of school compared with those in countries not affected by conflict
• Cognitive development and learning in the first five years of a child’s
life is crucial to ensure a strong foundation for learning
• According to the Education Commission, investment in education
needs to increase from $1.2 trillion per year today to $3 trillion by
2030

12. Youth empowerment
• http://www.un.org/youthenvoy/2015/06/youth-empowerment-
education-employment-key-future-development/
• To realize the dividend, countries must invest in the empowerment,
education and employment of their young people. There are 1.8 billion
young people in the world today, representing a staggering amount of
human potential.
• “The more young people grow into well-educated adults with fewer
dependants and new opportunities to acquire wealth, savings and
purchasing power, the more they will be able to accelerate economic
growth and development,”
• Also essential is “empowering women and girls, and ensuring their
sexual and reproductive health and human rights,” “This would enable
them to determine when and whom to marry and the number of their
children.” When women and girls are able to make these decisions, they
are better able to complete their educations and pursue jobs.

13. Success stories of empowerment

15. •Canadian
perspectives on
Youth

16. Youth Depression in Canada
• https://globalnews.ca/news/3065827/major-depression-is-
on-the-rise-in-youth-especially-teenage-girls-study/
• a growing number of youth grappling with mental health
concerns aren’t receiving treatment for their symptoms and
that the onus for awareness and outreach falls on college
campuses, pediatric practices and high schools to change the
landscape
• Up to 20 per cent — or one in five — of young Canadians
are affected by a mental illness or disorder

18. Blue Whale and similar horrors
• https://globalnews.ca/news/3413531/blue-whale-suicide-
challenge/
• That is how the game begins. It’s a disturbing one and it’s
called the “Blue Whale challenge.” It has teens completing a
number of tasks over a 50-day period, the last one being to
kill yourself. This is the newest twist to suicide pacts that are
being shared among vulnerable teens online.
• “That pressure to one up, around something that is risky
behaviour. The teen brain, just so you know, is wired to take
risks at this time” Shafer said, adding adolescents can be
naive and may think they’re invincible.

19. Youth bullying in Canada
• http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/gazette/whats-biggest-social-issue-
facing-youth-your-community
• In a world where everything evolves and is fluid, our perceptions of
bullying must change as well. Bullying is no longer something that
can be observed in the school cafeteria; it's invisible. It's on your
phone, Facebook, Twitter, computer — it's everywhere and there's
often no escape. As a youth from the millennial generation, I can tell
you that bullying isn't only common, it's a crisis.
• The most powerful role in this situation is that of the bystander. The
bystander has the potential to help alleviate the situation or to
worsen it. Sadly, many teens often choose the easier route and
submit to the peer pressure. We need to empower students from a
young age to stand up. Not simply by wearing a pink shirt on Feb.
25th, but by reporting bullies and supporting victims.

20. Youth anxiety in Canada
• https://globalnews.ca/news/530141/young-minds-stress-
anxiety-plaguing-canadian-youth/
• Young Canadians are suffering from rising levels of anxiety,
stress, depression and even suicide. Close to 20 per cent – or
one in five – have a mental health issue.
• “You don’t suddenly make up for not talking to your kids for
six months by going away for a week to Disney World. It’s
the day-to-day serve and return that makes a big
difference,”
• parents need to help their kids find that balance, provide
them with tools such as problem solving, conflict resolution
and building a thick skin to help cope with roadblocks in life

21. Teens talk about stress

22. Canada’s youth stopping bullying
• https://globalnews.ca/news/1677861/how-canadas-youth-
are-using-social-media-to-put-an-end-to-bullying/
• Launched in 2011, Toronto’s Kate Whitfield’s Fearlessly Girl
initiative uses Facebook to unite and inspire young women
across the country by providing girls with a space to come
together, share stories, discuss important topics and make
friends
• The campaign’s newest initiative is their anti-bullying
movement FearlesslyKind, which offers school assembly
programs and classroom curriculum in hopes of igniting a
movement of kindness and compassion among girls in schools
across Canada, “putting an end to the devastating effects of
girl-against-girl bullying.”

23. Lester Pearson
• Under this flag may our
youth find new inspiration
for loyalty to Canada; for a
patriotism based not on any
mean or narrow nationalism,
but on the deep and equal
pride that all Canadians will
feel for every part of this
good land.

24. •Bangladesh
perspectives on
Youth

25. Bangladesh youth success stories

26. Some challenges
• http://www.thedailystar.net/adolescents-and-young-people-of-
bangladesh-54257
• Bangladesh has an adolescent and youth population of approximately
52 million, amounting to 1/3rd of the country's total population.
• The lack of access to high quality education, absence of decent work
opportunities for youth, the unavailability of comprehensive health
including sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, the exclusion
and marginalization from civic participation and policies and laws
which act against the best interest of young people are but a few
challenges which they have to contend with on a regular basis.
• As articulated by Mr. Ban Ki-Moon at the First Global Forum on Youth
Policies in Azerbaijan, 'the leaders of tomorrow must be heard today'
and we in Bangladesh need to pay close attention what Bangladeshi
youth are telling us and invest in their 'today' so that their 'tomorrow'
is one which is more equal, just and fair for all, especially for young
girls.

27. Thoughts of the new generation – Dhaka
tribune survey
• http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2017/05/28/youth-2017-
thoughts-new-generation/
• This spirit of optimism was aptly captured in a youth survey in which
84.37% of respondents have said they feel optimistic, to varying degrees,
about achieving their personal goals in life, and 47% are very optimistic
about it.
• 55% of respondents aged 18 – 22 have said they are very optimistic.
The corresponding percentage for those aged 23 – 30 was 46% and for
those aged 30 – 40 was 35%, which, not surprisingly, shows optimism
declining with age.
• According to a recent youth survey by the Bangla Tribune, 65.5% of
respondents have said they prefer watching local TV channels to foreign
ones. When asked if they think Indian channels are harmful to our
culture, 77.3% of respondents said yes.

28. Survey continued -
• A nationwide survey by Bangla Tribune has revealed that 83% of
respondents use the internet and a whopping 76% use it on
mobile phones. Only 11% use internet on desktops, eight percent
on laptops and less than three percent on tablets.
• The survey asked its 2,400 respondents if they are aware that
many non-Muslim writers were removed from the Bengali
textbooks, despite being prominent writers in Bengali literature.
• 47% of respondents have said they do not know enough about the
issue while 32% do not know anything about it and 13% aren’t
concerned about it.

29. Survey continued -
• A Bangla Tribune survey on Bangladeshi youth asked 2,400 respondents
to choose the factor that most influences their identity from the
following options: Nationality, language and/or culture, religion, family,
profession, or other.
• The majority, 48.21%, has picked nationality.
• Religious identity was a distant second at 17%, followed by
linguistic/cultural identity at 12%.
• Among different age groups, the 18-22-year group was most likely to
choose nationality over other elements of identity (52%). Among
different professions, homemakers were the highest, 20%, albeit
marginally, to choose religious identity as the most important.
• Bangla Tribune’s recent survey of 2,400 people between 18 and 40
years of age, in which 45% of respondents have said they feel that
militancy is the biggest national concern, followed by 25% who think
employment and jobs are the biggest concerns.

30. With climate change driving child
marriage risks, Bangladesh fights back
• https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-bangladesh-
youth/with-climate-change-driving-child-marriage-risks-
bangladesh-fights-back-idUSKBN1A51UA
• Across Bangladesh, more than 4,000 youth clubs have been set up
which gather young people regularly to listen to radio broadcasts
on human rights issues, health, nutrition and other topics, and
then discuss the issues.
• Bangladesh in February passed a Child Marriage Restraint Act,
which bans marriage of girls under 18 - a significant change in a
country where 18 percent of girls are married before 15 and
more than half by 18, according to a 2016 UNICEF study.

31. Untold stories seen through the Prism of
youth: child journalists in Bangladesh
• https://www.theguardian.com/global-
development/2016/apr/29/bangladesh-prism-untold-stories-
child-journalists
• Arju Mony Dristy is among more than 100 young people
recruited as volunteers for a video news service, Prism, in a
partnership between Unicef, the UN’s children’s agency, and the
online news agency BDnews24.com.
• “We are used to seeing polished presentation but these videos,
produced by children, are raw, which brings an additional
sweetness,”
• Compiling the reports also enables critical thinking among the
young people, which will make them better professionals if they
pursue a career in journalism, says Toufique Imrose Khalidi, editor
in chief of BDnews24.com. “The boys and girls are learning how to
raise questions,” he says.

32. Shaheed Minar at Narayanganj

33. ঢাকার দুঃখ আবর্জ না

34. 75pc youths optimistic about future of
Bangladesh
• http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/young-people-optimistic-
about-future-140539 September 10, 2015
• Seventy-five percent of Bangladeshi youths see the country as a
more prosperous nation in the next 15 years and 60 percent
think it is heading in the right direction, a survey has found.
• According to the study, the major problems faced by Bangladeshi
youths are political instability (54 percent), poor transport system
(41 percent), electricity crisis (39 percent), inflation (33 percent),
increasing corruption (32 percent) and lack of job opportunities
(32 percent).
• The study also found that 98 percent youths considered an honest
and responsive government as important. Security was considered
as a key important issue by 96 percent and finding employment
by 95 percent.

35. Age considers;
youth ventures.
Rabindranath
Tagore

36. •Islamic
perspectives on
Youth

37. The Messenger of Allah (s.w.a.) has said: “Surely
Allah loves that young person who spends his
youth in the obedience of Allah, the Most High.”
The Messenger of Allah (s.w.a.) has said: “There is
nothing more beloved to Allah, the High, than a
young person who repents (for his sins); and
there is nothing more detested in the sight of
Allah, the High, than an old person who
perpetuates in disobeying Him.”

38. Special Reminder to Youth in Islam ᴴᴰ
*Powerful Reminder*

39. • Ibn Mas'ud narrated that the Messenger of
Allah (s.a.w) said:
• "The feet of the son of Adam shall not move
from before his Lord on the Day of
Judgement, until he is asked about five things:
about his life and what he did with it, about
his youth and what he wore it out in, about
his wealth and how he earned it and spent it
upon, and what he did with what he knew."

40. The Challenge of Muslim Youth – PM
Razak of Malaysia
• http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/opinion/global/the-
challenge-of-muslim-youth.html
• The Arab awakening was driven by youth, organized by
technology, and fired by a hunger for political change.
• The underrepresentation of youth in the economy created
conditions in which tensions could grow — tensions that were
fanned by a lack of political reform.
• In 2010, youth unemployment in the Middle East was 25
percent; in North Africa, 24 percent. Such levels are toxic. When
young people lack opportunity, they grow restless.
• Economic and political reform can give young people what they
aspire to: a future defined by opportunity, not dependency. It is
time to realize the hidden wealth of Muslim nations.

41. Problems of the Second Generation: To be
Young, Muslim, and American
• https://www.brookings.edu/articles/problems-of-the-second-generation-to-
be-young-muslim-and-american/
• For Muslims today, the drama involves not so much overcoming poverty and
educational deficits but adapting to a society whose values are sharply at odds
with their religious heritage. Among Muslim-American youth, especially since
9/11, this has led to heightened criticism and suspicion of U.S. government
policies at home and abroad. More generally, it has resulted in a hard-edged
identity politics that has encouraged some young Muslims to define themselves
not only in opposition to the government but to American society and culture.
• Among many Muslim-American youth, there is self-conscious rejection of
their parents’ easygoing, traditionalist understanding of Islam, inevitably
suffused with the customs of their homeland. The youthful response is frequent
invocations of the ummah, the worldwide community of Muslims that ideally
transcends all barriers of ethnicity, race, and nationality.

42. The challenge of anger among young
Muslims in America 2009
• https://www.soundvision.com/article/the-challenge-of-anger-among-young-
muslims-in-america
• Only 40 percent of Muslim youth surveyed by Gallup considered themselves to be
“thriving” as compared to 61 percent of Protestants and 53 percent of the general
U.S. population. That is the lowest level among all youth groups surveyed.
• Islamophobia clearly seems to be playing a role in shaping the attitudes of young
Muslims. According to one Zogby international poll, 75 percent of young Muslims said
they or someone they know has been discriminated against.
• These pressures and the resulting anger may explain why Muslim youth are the most
disengaged among all the youth groups surveyed by Gallup when it comes to voting.
Young Muslim Americans are the lowest percentage of any youth group registered to
vote.
• It seems as if a good number of Muslims are concerned about this issue of youth and
radicalism as well. A Pew survey question asked respondents “how concerned are you
about the rise of Islamic extremism in the U.S.” Thirty-six percent said “very
concerned” and 25 percent reported being “somewhat concerned”.

43. Muslim Sheroes of Minnesota: Meet
Danyal Masoud

44. • The Messenger of Allah (s.w.a.) has said:
“There is nothing more beloved to Allah, the
High, than a young person who repents (for
his sins); and there is nothing more detested
in the sight of Allah, the High, than an old
person who perpetuates in disobeying Him.”
• The Messenger of Allah (s.w.a.) has said: “The
best of your youth are those who resemble
your old people and the worst of your old
people are those who resemble your young
people.”

45. A Muslim's Pain | Short Film

46. My humble opinion
• All countries face similar challenges for youth, and similar
solutions can be considered.
• Youth is our hope for the future.
• Youth are our greatest investment.
• Youth and their guardians are mutually responsible for each other,
in a sacrament of trust and faith.
• We cannot overburden our youth, nor should we leave them to
their own devices.
• Islam elevates everyone including the status of youth, while
stressing the obligations and responsibility of youth.
• Allah has special love for youth of faith and Deen.

47. Jazak Allah Khair
• Questions / comments?