Under the title “What Did They Tell Us?” a new book has been released by the Community Youth Initiative, which discusses the interests and priorities of Gulf youth. The book aims to shed light on some of the priorities and interests of youth in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, as conveyed through various opinion polls representing this age group, with a focus on their contemporary nature. Thus, the title “What Did They Tell Us?” reflects the statements made by the youth themselves, leading to results and recommendations that support policymakers and decision-makers in youth-related matters. The initiators hope that this research project will extend to convey the opinions and orientations of Arab youth on various issues in the coming years.
The book begins by addressing a key question: (What are the priorities and interests of youth in the GCC countries?), through what some opinion polls conducted by specialized survey entities reveal, with a focus on the studies and opinion polls in which the researcher has been involved in one way or another. Therefore, the researcher aimed to achieve several objectives, including:
– Identifying the interests and priorities of youth in the GCC countries, as shown by the results of opinion polls conducted by reputable survey entities, as well as those in which the researcher participated.
– Understanding examples of differences between the orientations of some Gulf youth and other segments of society.
– Attempting to understand the methods and practical approaches to surveying the priorities and interests of Gulf youth, and then providing scientific recommendations and suggestions to improve these tools and methodologies in general.
– Introducing the key entities that have focused on and measured the opinions of Gulf youth.
– Facilitating the understanding of positive aspects and outstanding experiences from activities and events in using opinion poll results to serve Gulf youth and their issues and meet their demands.
Given the diversity of topics concerning the interests and priorities of Gulf youth, the book is divided into main sections, starting with an overview of Gulf youth and their surveys and studies. Then, it addresses the interests and demands of Gulf youth at the social level, the aspects that concern and worry them, their relationships, how they spend their free time, their reading priorities, and their favorite places. The fourth section discusses the interests and priorities of youth at the economic level, including the importance of work in their lives, investment fields, their preferred work sectors, and spending areas. The fifth section covers the priorities of Gulf youth in media and social networks, including their media sources, preferred TV and radio programs, social media engagement, and the impact and trust in electronic journalism. The sixth section addresses the political priorities and interests of youth, attempting to understand the importance of politics in their lives, their level of interest, pride in their nationalities, and their views on political systems and concepts. The seventh section focuses on the religious and doctrinal priorities and interests of Gulf youth. The eighth section covers various issues related to youth interests in technology, sports, the environment, and volunteer work, among other diverse topics.
Throughout the sections, the book presents a comparative view of the orientations of Gulf youth with Arab and global youth, and concludes with general results, a SWOT analysis, and various recommendations.
The author, Dr. Samir Abu Rumman, is a researcher involved and close to Gulf youth, working as a teacher, fellow, researcher, trainer, and trainee, which allowed him to add practical aspects to some parts of the book. He has previously worked as a consultant for the Youth Research Chair at King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia, supervised opinion polls of Jordanian youth, and conducted various studies and articles on Kuwaiti youth. He has published several books on public opinion measurement.
The Community Youth Initiative, launched by Al-Turki Holding, aims to be a renewed Arab platform for building the knowledge and skills of those working with youth, to enhance the role of youth in community development. It helps decision-makers and stakeholders in youth work from institutions and individuals to understand how to deal with this valuable segment and open wide horizons for them to discover youth development solutions. It operates in three tracks: Youth Science, Youth Building, and Youth Lab. www.youth-in.org
