- Survey finds young people in KSA and across the region back the decision to allow Saudi women to drive and fully support anti-corruption crackdown
- Young Saudis are highly confident that KSA's Vision 2030 will be a success
- Majority of Arab youth say Daesh (ISIS) and its ideology are heading for total defeat
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| Source: ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller. From left: Professor Fletcher, HE Al Hashimy, Khorshid, John, and Aldakhil. |
Arab youth expect KSA Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to have a bigger impact on the Middle East than any other Arab leader, according to the 10th annual ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey 2018, released May 8.
“Over the past 10 years, the Arab Youth Survey has provided insights into many momentous changes in the region, and this year is no exception,” said Donna Imperato, CEO, Burson Cohn & Wolfe. “This annual review of the thoughts and concerns of Arab youth provides an important framework for understanding what is most important to the region’s next generation of business leaders and policy makers.”
The ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey is the largest survey of its kind of the Middle East’s largest demographic – its youth. For the 10th annual survey, international polling firm PSB Research conducted 3,500 face-to-face interviews with men and women aged 18-24 in 16 Arab states between January 21 and February 20, 2018. This year’s findings, marking 10 years of the Arab Youth Survey, shed light on young people’s attitudes on the past decade, which has encompassed the global financial crisis, the Arab Spring, the rise of Daesh (ISIS) and a fall in global oil prices, as well as their aspirations for the next 10 years.
The ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey is the largest survey of its kind of the Middle East’s largest demographic – its youth. For the 10th annual survey, international polling firm PSB Research conducted 3,500 face-to-face interviews with men and women aged 18-24 in 16 Arab states between January 21 and February 20, 2018. This year’s findings, marking 10 years of the Arab Youth Survey, shed light on young people’s attitudes on the past decade, which has encompassed the global financial crisis, the Arab Spring, the rise of Daesh (ISIS) and a fall in global oil prices, as well as their aspirations for the next 10 years.
Support for Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman
Young Arabs throughout the Middle East express a high level of confidence in the Crown Prince and his leadership, with 63% supporting his appointment, 64% viewing him as a strong leader, and 59% saying Prince Mohammed will lead KSA in the right direction. Young Arabs are also throwing their support behind Saudi Arabia’s young Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, and view him as the Arab leader likely to have the greatest impact on the region over the next 10 years.
Young Arabs throughout the Middle East express a high level of confidence in the Crown Prince and his leadership, with 63% supporting his appointment, 64% viewing him as a strong leader, and 59% saying Prince Mohammed will lead KSA in the right direction. Young Arabs are also throwing their support behind Saudi Arabia’s young Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, and view him as the Arab leader likely to have the greatest impact on the region over the next 10 years.
Support for the new Crown Prince among Saudi youth is overwhelming, with 91% of young Saudis supporting his appointment, 97% considering him a strong leader, and 90% saying he will move the country in the right direction.
Sunil John, founder of ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller and President, Middle East, Burson Cohn & Wolfe, said: “This is a milestone survey for us, marking a full decade of the region’s leading study into its most important demographic.
“This year’s edition is titled A Decade of Hopes & Fears and features insights into young people’s concerns over jobs, education, security and corruption. Looking forward to the next decade, it’s clear that Mohammed bin Salman represents great hope for young Arabs across the region who demand to see clear action on these pressing issues.”
Approval for KSA reforms
Young Arabs also expressed strong support for KSA's recent reforms, with 88% across the region supporting the decision to allow women to drive and 86% (94% among young Saudis) supporting the anti-corruption drive, which saw dozens of businessmen and senior royals detained over graft allegations.
Young Arabs also expressed strong support for KSA's recent reforms, with 88% across the region supporting the decision to allow women to drive and 86% (94% among young Saudis) supporting the anti-corruption drive, which saw dozens of businessmen and senior royals detained over graft allegations.
Asked about Saudi Vision 2030, the Crown Prince’s roadmap to diversify the Saudi economy, 92% of young Saudis say they are confident that the plan will succeed in securing the future of the Saudi economy.
Young Saudis are also extremely optimistic about their futures, with 91% saying their country is moving in the right direction, compared to 54% of young Arabs across the region, and 13% of youth in the Levant. More than four in five (82%) of young Saudis also say their best days are ahead of them.
Daesh (ISIS) is a step backward
Daesh (ISIS) is a step backward
The majority of young Arabs (55%) say they believe the region has moved in the wrong direction over the past decade – a period stamped by the Arab Spring and the rise of Daesh. Pessimism is particularly pronounced in the Levant, where 85% say the region has moved in the wrong direction. Defeating terrorism, providing well-paying jobs, better education and fighting corruption are all cited by youth as the main action areas to move things back on track over the next decade.
The majority (78%) of Arab youth say Daesh has become weaker over the past year while 58% say Daesh and its ideology will be completely defeated. It marks a significant shift from 2015 when 47% of young Arabs expressed any confidence in their government’s ability to deal with the terrorist
organisation.
UAE is top ally
When asked to name their country’s top allies, young Arabs are most likely to cite the UAE (37%), followed by KSA (35%) and Kuwait (22%). The US has dropped out of the top five for first time in the survey’s history, falling to 11th place.
This finding stands in contrast to the response from young Arabs when asked which country other than their own they would most like to live in, and which they would like their own nation to emulate, where the US ranks second, behind the UAE.
The UAE has been the top country to live in for the 7th year running. More than one in three (35%) respondents across the 16 Arab countries polled say the UAE is the country they would most like to live in, surpassing global powers like the US and Canada (both 18%) and KSA (16%). More than a third (37%) of Arab youth also say the UAE is a model country for their own, far surpassing the US and Canada (both 17%) or Japan (15%).
Other key findings from the ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey 2018 include:
• Youth in the Levant have an increasingly bleak outlook compared with peers in North Africa and the Gulf States
• Youth say the past decade – shaped by the Arab Spring and Daesh – has left the Middle East drifting off course
• To steer the region in the right direction, action is needed on jobs, education, corruption and the fight against terror
• While young Arabs increasingly turn to social media for their news, they see CNN as the most trusted and Al Jazeera as the least trusted news sources
• Inspired by the digital revolution, future Arab entrepreneurs turn to the tech sector, which offers plentiful opportunities in the region
In the UAE:
• Young Emiratis are overwhelmingly positive about the direction of their country, and believe their best days are yet to come
• Young Arabs view the UAE as the top ally while Emirati youth see KSA, Egypt, and Kuwait as their country’s strongest allies
• Nearly three in four (71%) young Emiratis say they support the 5% value added tax (VAT) introduced by the UAE government in January 2018.
Young Emiratis agree with the positive perceptions of the UAE across the region, with 99% of the UAE’s youth saying their country is heading in the right direction and more than four in five (85%) saying their best days are ahead of them.
The findings align with the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s 2018 World Happiness Report, which ranks the UAE as the happiest Arab country and 20th out of 156 countries overall. The UAE also leads the region in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business table, and, according to the World Economic Forum, is first among the GCC states for gender equality.
John said: “Throughout the survey’s history, the UAE has consistently been chosen by Arab youth as the nation that best fits their aspirations. As one of the first countries in the region to focus on diversifying the economy to create better opportunities for its young people, the UAE continues to inspire the region with its future-focused vision.”
The UAE leads by example with youth-focused policies, HE Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation, and Director General, Dubai Expo 2020 Bureau, said at the unveiling of ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey.
HE Al Hashimy noted that one of the most significant findings in this year’s survey was the level of support for HH Prince Mohammed bin Salman among Arab youth and his programme of economic and social development. She went on to highlight the ambition of Arab youth, adding: “The UAE has launched a number of initiatives that activate hope among youth, which reiterates the desire of the government to open fresh opportunities for young people by working directly with them.”
HE Al Hashimy said it is the UAE’s strategy to integrate and engage with young people, and youth engagement was a priority for Expo 2020 Dubai. “Nearly 30% of the employees at Expo 2020 are below the age of 30. We have a department dedicated to youth affairs, Youth Connect, and to promoting Expo 2020 Dubai in schools and universities. Volunteering is another major part of the expo – and a major focus of our volunteers programme are young people."
Turki bin Abdullah Aldakhil, GM, Al Arabiya News Channel, commented on the finding that young Arabs see Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a strong leader who will shape the next decade. “Arab youth believe in his role in fighting extremism. They see him as a one of them, someone who thinks like them, and as someone who has broken the stereotype of a rigid political leader,” Aldakhil said.
“It is not only His Highness’ development mindset that inspires youth but also because he wants to present the real Islam to the world, as many Arab youth were embarrassed to express their religion because of the way in which Daesh represented Islam.”
On the observation that an increasing number of Arab youth perceive the Arab Spring to have impacted the region negatively, Dalia Khorshid, former Investment Minister of Egypt, said the Arab Spring was a wave of change and “an expression of how youth wanted to dictate their future and create the environment they want”.
She said: “Egypt marked 2016 as the Year of Youth, when the government focused on listening to young people and discussing various issues. There are bound to be differences but it is healthy. The key aspect is to understand that youth aspire to make a difference, and with digital technology, things are going to change faster.”
Professor Tom Fletcher CMG, Visiting Professor of International Relations at NYUAD and Visiting Professor and Special Advisor, Emirates Diplomatic Academy, said the real challenge for governments anywhere is that young people globally are finding it harder to trust the generation in office to leave the world in a better shape than it is today – with the exception of some countries, such as the UAE and KSA. He added that “the magnetic quality of the UAE to attract people is a result of the opportunities that the nation creates”.
He also emphasised the need for “getting the education system right” to ensure that “women are not just behind the steering wheel of cars but also steering the boardrooms.” “What we learn from the digital age is that popularity is easy to gain, hard to hold on to and easier still to lose,” he said, stressing that it is important for leaders to “continue to deliver and take the people with them - thinking of the long-term”.
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Read more results and download the white paper about the Arab Youth Survey
*Interviews were conducted with exclusively Arab national men and women in the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries of the UAE, KSA, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain; Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, the Palestinian territories, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Yemen. The sample comprised 50% male and 50% female respondents. The Levant region typically refers to the countries of Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey.