The place was small: Simple in its structure and basic in its furnishings, yet oozing with energy from the constant chatter and conversations taking place. People from all walks of life visited it, the young and the old, but mostly young adults. It was a hybrid between a library and a café. Visitors came there to read, to share thoughts and to engage in dialogue while others came to hangout and enjoy the positive energy coming from those surrounding them.
Ever since it opened its doors to the general public in Jeddah in 2010, and until recently before its official shut-down by the government, “Bridges” was the only intellectual hangout available for young adults to feel relevant and validated by way of activities such as book-signings, book-reviews, and occasional seminars taking place.
And for a brief time in its short-lived and prematurely aborted history, “Bridges” became the nurturing venue that catered to the needs of young hungry minds as they collectively explored and toyed with their thoughts without the fear of scrutiny or judgment, something that is severely lacking in our midst.
But dear reader, if you think this article is about the closure of “Bridges” it is not; it is about something much larger. It is about the crisis facing the Arab world and its implications on us as we continue to ignore the basic civic needs of our youth, a bomb ticking for some time now.
According to a 2009 study carried out by the Brookings Institution, titled: “Generation in Waiting: The unfulfilled Promise of Young People in the Middle East”, our Arab region is witnessing an unprecedented “youth bulge” with over 30 percent of our population being between the ages of 15 and 29, and totaling to over 100 million youth — the highest proportion of youth to adults in the region’s history. In its essence, the study is about the plight of young Arabs and the complex challenges they face in many areas of their lives such as access to decent education, opportunities for quality employment, availability of housing and credit, and transitioning to marriage and family formation.
As I read the report, I tried to visualize 100 million youth to put that number into perspective, so I came up with this scenario: 100 million people equals around 3 times the number of the population of Saudi Arabia or nearly twice that of Egypt which in turn amounts to the near-total sum of 2 or 3 nations, no? Well you decide! But for me that scenario is definitely food for thought… and the agonizing question I repeatedly ask myself is why do we systemically treat our largest demographic population as a perpetual minority — and what will it take to wake us up?
As for the skeptics out there who deny this reality I beg you to think again. And I really don’t like to sound like the broken record I have been repeating recently in other articles, but reality has it that the “Arab Spring” is testimony enough to prove that our chronic inaction has severely backfired for it has empowered our “Generation in Waiting” to wait no more.
The study took three years of research and it focused on ways in which to enable the economic and social inclusion of Middle Eastern youth in their communities. And what is of interest to us here is that even though the study focused on Arab Youth in general, its implications and key findings apply to us all the same, hence I advise you to read it, who knows maybe we can still save the day.

President TLC Consultancy
fatinbund@yahoo.com
.