‘Open the Door to Youth’ a seminar on curtailing youth emigration

Chaired by MP Simon Abi Ramya, the Youth and Sports Committee organized a seminar under the slogan ‘open the door to the youth’ aimed at motivating the young generation to stay and steadfast in their homeland. The event which was held at the Parliament’s public library tackled problems faced by youth and ways to improve their conditions and reduce the level of emigration among them. The seminar was attended by MPs Fadi Karam, Khaled Zahraman, Ali Ammar, Hikmat Deeb, Dori Cham3un and representatives of political parties and NGOs, namely Masar association which is operating in the field of social youth development. Voicing his concern over the growing trend of migration of young generation, Abi Ramya stated: “unfortunately the only door open for youth is immigration,” noting that an estimated 66% of this age group are currently residing outside the country. Representative of the Ministry for Youth and Sports, Joseph Saadallah, announced several proposals by his Ministry to translate the youth charter approved in 2012 into action, so as to develop the participation of the youth in the economic and political life of the country. For his part, Massar President, Kamal Chaya pointed out that the youth makes up about 28% of the total population of Lebanon, 41% of its workforce, and 44% of the total number of male immigrants. Following that film entitled ‘Open the Door to Youth’ was screened to participants. (An Nahar, 10 April 2015)