Youth in decision making

HRH Crown Prince Hussein, the Regent, weighed in on the deliberations of the government on Tuesday on the status of the national economy, the much-awaited improvement of public services and upgrading public transportation.

Crown Prince Hussein chaired part of the Cabinet meeting, which coincided with the 10th anniversary of him becoming the Crown Prince of Jordan.

The Crown Prince is not only young, but he also has youthful, bold and refreshing new thoughts, especially on the implementation of the Royal Directives on a number of major projects regarding the improvement of the national economy and uplifting it from its current slow pace, increasing job opportunities, especially for the young and, last but not least, improving public services and the public transportation system.

Crown Prince Hussein had the role of the youth in mind as a catalyst for the projected progress on all fronts throughout his interventions, by calling on the government to support the youth, harness their energy and involve them in the decision-making process.

In other words, the government is called upon to give the youth a chance to contribute to not only improving the economy of the country, but also addressing and correcting national policies across the board.

Giving the youth a place in new projects and programmes that can give expression to the Royal Directives is, however, easier said than done. The government alone cannot do this. It needs the private sector to aid in the effort by recruiting young and progressive executives in its ranks.

The young generation of women and men is also required to play its pivotal role in penetrating and engaging public and private services. Many well-educated and promising young men and women are simply driven away from public services because of low wages and lack of incentives.

The private sector is in a much better position to integrate the young among its ranks, and it does. Most private companies go out of their way to recruit new young blood, and they are usually offered good and lucrative opportunities to advance their positions.

Whatever the remedy to national issues is, the country needs, as the Crown Prince rightly said, non-traditional ways of dealing with them. In other words, the government must introduce new thoughts and paradigms for this purpose.