I know I will not be the first or the last to write about the problem of unemployment in Egypt, but here, I will address in a few lines the disaster—not problem—of unemployment, which continues to snowball on a daily bases, causing frustration among the youth and their families every hour of every day. The brutal terrorism that has hit every location in the Egyptian state in an organised and accurate manner is thankful to us for failing to resolve this issue. As a result, our frustrated, financially insolvent youth have become an easy target to provide kindling for the causes of the radical groups.

The queue of the unemployed, Mr President, is extending every hour of every day. I am aware that it is a problem that has accumulated for years and decades, but we must all search for innovative ideas and quick solutions to eliminate the disaster of unemployment. This catastrophe, I believe, is now closely linked to terrorism. We have to relentlessly seek to link universities and students to the labour market, and to invest more efforts into training graduates to ensure that their skills meet the requirements of the labour market.

How I had hoped that all the money given to the Long Live Egypt fund had been dedicated to one or two large-scale national projects to absorb the mushrooming numbers of unemployed and frustrated youth. Instead, the money from the fund has been fragmented into many projects that will not result in the required economic boom. Perhaps the best evidence that there will not be a qualitative leap in the entire system is the distribution of the funds to the lowest-income villages in the country—everyone knows that the debacle that is local councils is capable absorb every piaster made available.

This is why we should have had more ambitious planning for the future to restore our lost ambition and grant our youth a glimmer of hope that tomorrow will be a better day.

Mr President, you are the hope for the young generations during these difficult circumstances, not the Ministry of Youth and Sports, which considers the solution to the problems of youth to be meetings, seminars and theoretical training. Save our youth from the spectre of terror, the darkness of frustration and the pervasiveness of negligence. Our youth are in a bind and perplexed, but with the grace of God and your help we can rescue them immediately from this situation through urgent solutions.

I have some solutions that I can discuss to resolve the problem of youth empowerment and the problem of unemployment, but we must discuss them and apply them on the ground. Will anyone respond?

Abdallah Al-Moghazy is the former assistant to both Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and former prime minister Ibrahim Mehleb. He previously served as the spokesperson for President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s electoral campaign. He also held a position on the Youth Advisory Council for the Supreme Council of Armed Forces, and was a spokesperson for the Al-Wafd Party.