Dealing with the youth in the MENA region entails acknowledging that this is a diverse category. Young people across different social, cultural, class, gender and ethnic strata have expressed a number of socio-economic needs and demands and have tended to act differently. The experiences of the individual South and East Mediterranean countries also tend to differ to a great extent as far as the governments´ response and policies are concerned.

The first part of this study offers a background analysis to understand this complexity and the different claims, forms and strategies of activism around socio-economic issues. The following chapters analyse the Egyptian and the Palestinian experiences respectively, highlighting thereby specific aspects of youth activism in the SEM region. The final contribution, with a focus on Tunisia, analyses the potential contribution of EU’s policies in fostering a youth-sensitive approach.

The Joint Policy Study is the outcome of the Working Package on “Youth Activisim in the South and East Mediterranean Countries since the Arab Uprisings: Challenges and Policy Options”, led by the Istituto Affari Internazionali in the framework of the EuroMeSCo ENI Project.