VZCZCXRO2330
RR RUEHHM RUEHJO RUEHPOD RUEHROV
DE RUEHDO #0146/01 0511046
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 201046Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY DOHA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7597
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHXI/LABOR COLLECTIVE
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 0145
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1342

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000146 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, DRL/ILCSR, DRL/NEACA 
LABOR FOR ILAB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM ELAB UN QA
SUBJECT: QATAR ANNOUNCES ESTABLISHMENT OF "SILATECH" GLOBAL 
YOUTH EMPLOYMENT INITIATIVE 
 
 
¶1. (U) Sheikha Mozah bin Nasser Al-Misnad, the wife of the 
Qatari Amir, announced January 15 the establishment of the 
"Silatech" ("your connection" in Arabic) Global Youth 
Employment Initiative.  The announcement was made at the 
First Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations held in Madrid. 
In making the announcement, Sheikha Mozah, who heads the 
Qatar Foundation and oversees civil society, education, and 
development initiatives in Qatar, noted that she and the Amir 
would contribute USD 100 million in private funds as seed 
money for the initiative.  The program is envisioned to begin 
pilot projects in five countries in the Middle East and North 
Africa (MENA), a region with some of the highest rates of 
youth unemployment and underemployment in the world.  In 
making the announcement, Sheikha Mozah stressed the urgent 
need for action in order to address the root causes of 
hopelessness, frustration and intolerance among the world's 
youth. 
 
¶2. (U) The mission of the organization is to connect young 
people to enterprise and employment opportunities.  Its goal 
is to significantly increase the number of young people in 
meaningful employment, starting in MENA.  Key activities 
include: 
 
- Advocating for government policies that encourage greater 
youth entrepreneurship and employment; 
 
- Promoting market-related training, job linkages and 
placements; 
 
- Enabling state-of-the-art contact and counseling centers; 
 
- Experimenting with ground-breaking technologies to connect 
young people with each other and potential employers; 
 
- Providing access to business development services and 
capital for aspiring young entrepreneurs; 
 
- Creating opportunities for job attachments such as 
internships and apprenticeships; and 
 
- Breaking job cultural barriers to risk taking and 
entrepreneurship. 
 
¶3. (U) Silatech will comprise three major components:  a 
Coordination and Research Center based in Qatar that will 
serve as a major focal point on youth employment issues for 
the MENA region; Virtual Centers that will connect young 
people with potential employers and each other; and a Youth 
Employment Fund that will invest in a variety of efforts and 
activities to promote youth employment and entrepreneurship 
across the region.  The program has received the support of 
the International Labor Organization and the World Bank, and 
Cisco has been named a Global Strategic Technology Provider. 
The Arab League joined the initiative as a partner January 26. 
 
¶4. (U) A two-day "summit" will be held June 1-2 in Doha to 
cement commitments and actions of international and regional 
leaders and donors toward investing in job creation and 
economic development for young people in the MENA region.  A 
Board of Trustees chaired by Sheikha Mozah, and reportedly 
including prominent international figures, and the five pilot 
countries will be announced at the summit. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Richard Little, Chair of the Organizing Team of 
Silatech, told CDA February 19 that the program is targeted 
at 18 - 30 year olds and will be a joint public-private-civil 
society venture bringing together companies, foundations, 
individuals, commercial banks, governments and other public 
sector partners.  In addition to the USD 100 million 
commitment by the Amir and his wife, Little told us other 
unnamed donors have also contributed funding.  Little 
stressed that current programs targeting youth unemployment 
in MENA (including USAID programs) are only "boutique" 
projects that have little lasting effect.  Little envisions 
Silatech to be much more effective in reaching unemployed 
youth in MENA and elsewhere. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment:  Compared to other initiatives of the Qatar 
Foundation, Silatech is the most ambitious to date.  Despite 
the claims of Silatech staff that they are an independent NGO 
that "happens to be based in Doha," we are skeptical that 
 
DOHA 00000146  002 OF 002 
 
 
Arab governments will view Silatech as independent of the 
Government of Qatar and worthy of support across the wider 
region.  That said, the organizers strike us as able and 
sincere.  Post believes our missions across the region and 
the Middle East Partnership Initiative will want to monitor 
developments as Silatech seeks to establish its presence. 
RATNEY