Youth and Globalization

By Dr. Mahmoud Al Sarhan

Amman – Jordan 2005

Royal Quotations

"Youth are our Weapon for the Future,

therefore it is imperative to launch their potential and direct it towards public national service, and organize it in group frame works to include concerns of

our country .” “The change which we aspire can only be achieved through mobilizing youth

And listening to their views as they are the pillars of tomorrow and the substance of change.

But most of all: “We wish to see a national youth strategy that ensure addressing youth

issues as our national priority ”

- HM. King Abdullah II-

General Ideas

National Youth strategy is a national document which national institutions are committed to implement .

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National Youth strategy is a response to the directives of His Majesty King Abdullal II, which called for the needs and Contributions of Jordanian Youth to become a national priority .

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National youth strategy formulation process Utilized scientific participatory and cooperative approach, involving government, private sector, voluntary organizations and international agencies.

National Youth strategy formulation involved a process that listened to thevoices of youth .

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National youth strategy is built on the expressed needs and aspiration of Youth A total of nearly 90.000 Jordanian young people contributed their

ideas and opinions.

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National Youth strategy identifies and explores nine central themes thatimpinge strongly on the lives of Jordanian youth.

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National youth strategy is unique in the Arab world- Jordan is the Firstcountry to produce national youth strategy that outlines a comprehensive

and long term vision and plan for the development of its youth.

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Youth Definition

National youth strategy is directed towards young Jordanian males andfemales who are aged 12 to 30 years old . these are the years that most people move from childhood to adulthood , from dependence toindependence, and this group represent about 40% of the population ofJordan approximately 2.2 million in numbers .

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Key Youth Demographics

Jordanian society is very youthful in nature . those under 30 years oldrepresent 74% of the entire population .

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Youth from ( 15-24 years old ) represent 23% .*

Key Hopes and Aspirations

Jordanian youth are generally optimistic. four out of five Jordanian youth hopfirmly that their future will be better than the present . However , youngfemales have, less positive expectations than young males.

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According to the National youth studies., youth priorities in life are dominatedby educational aspirations. 55% of young people indicated that their mainconcern was to complete their education at all levels.

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Rationale of the National Youth Strategy .

Youth both male and female represent the largest segment of Jordaniansociety , and face the greatest challenges in terms of issues like employment.Health and globalization ….. etc.

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National youth strategy is important as it provides youth and all agencies andgroups committed to their development and Fulfillment with :-

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• A common vision.• A set of priorities achieved through consensus. • A national frame works for action .• A statement of values and guiding principles.• An instrument to raise the profile of youth .• A declaration of the relationship between youth and national goals.• A catalyst for communication, cooperation, and coordination and .• A tool to benchmark and evaluate youth program relevance and achievement .

Guiding principles of the National Youth strategy .

In formulating the National youth strategy for Jordan, the following guidingprinciples were recognized as fundamental :-

• Jordan first – reinforcing sense of loyalty, Unity and belonging to the Home land , its Constitution and leadership.

• Participation – actively involving youth within all aspects of community and national life, and as such have a role and responsibility in making the decisions which affect their lives .

• Gender Equality – ensuring justice , balance and equal opportunity for all youth both male and female .

• Representative – building upon a deep understanding of the realities, potential, strengths, issues and aspiration of Jordanian youth .

• Access – enabling access to appropriate programs and services by all Jordanian youth regardless of age, gender, physical abilities, geographic location , social, Cultural or economic circumstances.

• Collaborative ownership – seeks the mobilization and participation of all stakeholders – government agencies, civil society, national and international institutions, private sector, and youth in designing and implementing the strategy , and maximizing collaboration and coordination efforts.

The vision statement

Raising and developing Jordanian youth who are aware of themselves andtheir abilities, loyal to their country and proactively take part in its progressand development , able to deal with the variables and development of thisage in confident, aware and steadfast manner , within a secure and supportingenvironment “.

National youth strategy goals.

Provide and organized frame work for the efforts of those concerned with thecare and development of Jordanian youth .

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Enhancing youth development in away that reflects the uniqueness of Jordan .*

Seeking to unify the efforts undertaken in this area, and setting the workpriorities in order to reach a common vision for national youth development .

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National youth strategy themes

In order to achieve the strategy goals . Nine themes have been identified included ICT and globalization.

Critical issues included in national Youth Strategy in Jordan in general And Particular in the ICT and Globalization theme.

- Access to ICT especially in remote areas.

- ICT use in communities development .

- ICT use in educational systems.

- ICT role in cultural exchange and enhancing positive dialogue.

- ICT and its influence on social life.

- ICT and its impact on value system.

- ICT impact youth health.

- Efficient and effective use of ICT tools in leisure time.

- ICT and daily practices and consumption patterns.

- ICT and youth culture.

- Encouraging, supporting, and efficient utilization of youth initiatives in ICT.

- ICT and chances it could create for youth with special needs.

- ICT and internet effective handling (internet market, .. Etc).

Information Technology and Globalization *

This theme focuses on issues and strategies that will enable Jordanian youth to effectively benefit from national investment information technology and global opportunities available through ICT .

Strategic objective.*Harness ICT as a tool to empower Jordanian youth to lead more prosperous and meaningful lives.

Operational objectives :

1- promote awareness through education, electronic games and the media of the importance, uses and benefits of ICT.

2- Develop and promote trading and employment opportunities available through ICT.

3- Continually upgrade national and community capacity regarding ICT infrastructure and opportunities.

4- Broaden the understanding of Jordanian youth about the concepts, challenges and opportunities relating to Globalization.

5- Enabling youth to benefit from the national investment in ICT, enabling them to deal with globalization, so as it benefits and develops our nation.

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The concept of Globalization and its development:

-The concept of globalization emerged in the period between the latter half of the 19th century and the initial years of the 20th century (1850-1914) at that time, the concept of globalization mainly concentrated on the aspect of Money, which in its turn could be seen in two dimensions, first, the multiplication of international trade and second the rising tide of migrant populations.

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-The crucial element in the globalization process, namely the modernization of trade through increasing its speed and capacity.

Globalization : what is it .. ?*

People around the globe are more connected to each other than ever before Information, money flow more quickly than ever. Goods sand services produced in one part of the world International travel is more frequent. International communication is common place this phenomenon

has been titled “globalization .”

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The Era of globalization is fast becoming the preferred term for describing the currents times.

Just as the Depression, the cold war Era, the space age, and the Roaring 20’s are used to describe particular periods of history, globalization

describes the political, economic, and cultural atmosphere of today .

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Globalization is most often used to describe the growing integration of economics worldwide through increases in trade, investment flows, and

technology transfer .

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Globalization is new era replaces cold war and space age .-

Some body called it “ a big merging of everything, a single culture, a big openness, the Internet .. Instant communication .

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Globalization is a process that has been going on for the past 5000 years, but it has significantly accelerated since the demise of the Soviet Union

1991 .

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Elements of globalization include trans border capital, labor, management, news, images and data flows .

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The main engines of globalization are the transnational corporations (TNC’s), transnational media organizations (TMC’s), intergovernmental organization (IGOs), non – governmental organization (NGOs), and

alternative government organization (AGOs) .

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Globalization is being defined differently and has been one of the most used and abused terminologies of the 1999s. It speaks of transition towards a global community with common norms and an institutional

framework that facilitates international cooperation .

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Globalization is a free flow of capital, technology information and people. But free flow of the people is neither as fast nor easy as goods and capital do. Barriers are being erected to the free movements of labour of a time when the world labour market is expanding and creating more demands

for labour .

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Globalization: Good or Bad?*

Globalization is not a phenomenon. It is not just some passing trend. Today, it is an overarching international system shaping the domestic politics and foreign relations of virtually every country, and we need to

understand it as such .

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Globalization is much like fire. Fire itself is neither good nor bad. Used properly, it can cook food, sterilize equipment, form iron, and heat our homes. Used carelessly, fire can destroy lives, towns and forests in an

instant .

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Globalization can be incredibly empowering and incredibly coercive. It can democratize opportunity and democratize panic .

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Globalization has dangers and an ugly dark side. But it can also bring tremendous opportunities and benefits .

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Globalization dimensions *

There are at least five different dimensions of globalization that need to be distinguished :

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Economic globalization (money markets, multi-national corporations) .•-

Political globalization (international organization, world government) .•-

Common ecological constraints( the recent awareness that global warming and pollution) .

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Cultural values and institutions( ethics, spirituality and religion) .•-Globalization of communication (the mass media, the internet) .•-

Modelski said: globalization is a process along for dimensions: economic globalization, formation of world opinion, democratization and political

globalization .

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Impact of Globalization:*

The impact of globalization on the Arab world culture is not a matter of simple statistics and reports. It is, in essence, a diagnostic line of analysis

to consider its pluses and minuses on the Arab general public .

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Globalization consists of social, economic and political adjustments that people may embrace to epitomize their culture and incorporate it with the world. It is a concept that has its economic, social and political roots and

consequences .

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Globalization is a vital process toward transferring knowledge and education to the world. It still has its negative effects on most cultures and civilizations. Its impacts of cultures, in this case the Arabic culture, is

relatively controversial .

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From a humanist perspective, globalization entails both positive and negative consequences: it is both narrowing and widening the income gaps among and with nations, intensifying and diminishing political

domination and homogenizing and pluralizing cultural identities .

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Many nationalists and cultural trustees of the Arab world, for instance, condemn the influences of globalization on their culture .

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Actually, the magnification of global media net works and satellite communication technologies enable some dominant power to have a truly

global reach .

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The phenomenon of globalization saying: it brings up many opportunities to learn from each other, and to benefit from a wider range of choices, but

it can also seem very threatening .

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Globalization has a mixture of positive and negative impacts, with the positive ones moderately out weighing the negative ones. A slight majority or plurality sees globalization in general as more positive than negative, though a strong majority is optimistic that globalization will be

positive in the future .

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Globalization can generate cultural homogenization. Our community and our identity, our culture and our traditions are challenged in this digital age. Some even feel that globalization will turn people into spiritless

robots .

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In PIPA’s October 1991 Poll, respondents were asked to rate globalization using a scale with zero being completely negative, ten being completely positive and five being equally positive and negative. The average

response was 6.04 .

When asked to rate globalization overall, a slight majority or plurality tends to give it positive rating. In PIPA’s Poll, a modest majority of 53 % rated it above 5, while only 15% rated it below 5. 30% rated it 5, equally

positive and negative .

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According to questionnaire 10by international trade in general :

-Do you think globalization is good or bad for:

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The Us economy? The Us economy? Apr 2000 Apr 2000 Dec 1999 Dec 1999

Good Good 64%64%61%61%

BadBad28%28%29%29%

American companies? American companies?

Good Good 63%63%65%65%

Bad Bad 29%29%25%25%

Consumers like you? Consumers like you?

Good Good 68%68%65%65%

Bad Bad 23%23% 25%25%

Providing jobs and Providing jobs and strengthening the economy in strengthening the economy in

poor countries?poor countries?

Good Good 75%75% 70%70%

Bad Bad 16%16% 19%19%

Creating jobs in the Creating jobs in the US? US?

Good Good 50%50%46%46%

Bad Bad 42%42%45%45%

The environment? The environment?

Good Good 45%45% 38%38%

Bad Bad 38%38% 44%44%

What Globalization means to Americans? *

70% of sample were asked to say what it meant to them. In various ways, virtually all responses described globalization as growing

interconnectedness of the world .

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As one respondent said: it means we’ve become a more global society, economically and politically, so decisions being made here affect other

areas and other governments decisions affect us .

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Said another: “whatever happens in one country affects all countries .”

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Thank You