This report, based on three years of research, provides a framework for addressing the economic challenges facing young people in the Middle East.

This brief reviews outcomes for the UAE in the World Bank's 2009 Doing Business report, and highlights areas for reform that would improve the development of SMEs in the country.

The Middle East and North Africa region has experienced some of the highest population growth rates observed in the world since 1950.

During the recent oil boom, the MENA region has seen job creation accelerate. Given favorable economic prospects going forward, the region could see unemployment decline to nearly 7 percent by 2010. But this positive forecast depends on the region’s ability to continue creating jobs at current rates. Achieving this will prove difficult, especially since MENA economies are still marked by high labor market rigidities and the public sector continues to play a dominant role in these economies. Moreover, positive labor outcomes do not apply uniformly across MENA. Many non-oil economies have seen unemployment increase in recent years. While oil producers may have the choice to manage job creation on the back of oil revenues, other countries have few choices but to press forward on reforms.