Most workers in developing countries are in informal employment-- that is, a job that does not come with social security benefits and leaving them with limited means to manage risks to their…

Nadir Mohammed, Roberta Gatti, Marco Ranzani, Gladys Lopez-Acevedo, Nistha Sinha, Adam Elsheikhi |

A former hotel owner in one of the region’s major cities, who wants to remain anonymous, tells a story that should have had a happy ending. Her 40-room hotel was doing well. It had built a…

Marc Schiffbauer |

What makes smart politicians?  Jeffrey Frankel has an idea.   His recent blog examines the allure, and trap, of universal subsidies.   For one thing, they know that pulling the plug on bad…

Heba Elgazzar |

New entrants to the working age population in most Middle East and North Africa countries encounter economic structures and policies that have long failed to generate an adequate number of new…

Farrukh Iqbal |

It’s no secret that the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has the highest youth unemployment rate in the entire world: nearly 30% according to the International Labour Organization. Over…

Kara Schoeffling |

Youth exclusion- is a challenge of staggering proportions in the post-2015 development agenda. Since 2011, disenchantment among the largest youth cohort in history has channeled itself into…

Gloria La Cava, Tara Sharafudeen |

“It is not what you know that matters, it is who you know” is how the old adage goes, and so I have observed from my conversations with family and friends during my recent visit back to my…

Jumana Alaref |