The island nation of Bahrain has secured the 2nd position in the Arab World (3rd in MENA) on the Global Youth Development Index (YDI) 2023. With the YDI cementing itself as an established resource for researchers, policymakers, and civil society to effectively track progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) associated with youth development, Bahrain’s significant achievements underscores its vested commitment to nurturing and empowering its youth and talent.
The Commonwealth Secretariat and the Institute for Economics and Peace recently published the 2023 Global YDI Report, which identified encouraging progress and outlined critical priorities for enhancing the well-being and empowerment of youth worldwide. The Index, which assesses youth development across 183 countries across several pillars, including health, education, employment opportunities, and Equality & Inclusion, classified Bahrain as a ‘Very High Youth Development’ country. Marking the highest out of 4 classifications, this achievement reflects the ongoing investments in its future leaders.
The 2023 YDI additionally analysed the performance of countries across key domains, Bahrain ranked 1st in MENA in Equality & Inclusion and 1st within the Gulf in terms of Employment & Opportunities. For both pillars, Bahrain ranked 11th globally signalling the island nation’s robust framework for gender parity and youth development that has been cultivated over the years.
Nada AlSaeed, Chief of Strategy at Bahrain Economic Development Board, stated, “We are proud of Bahrain’s demonstrated success in fostering an environment where our youth can thrive. Securing top rankings on both a GCC and MENA level reflects Bahrain’s inclusive workforce policies and progressive government outlook.”
There is a strong relationship between the YDI and most SDGs, wherein countries that perform well on youth development also tend to have made greater progress towards the SDGs. Bahrain continues to invest in its talent, recognising that youth development is integral to the Kingdom’s sustained progress, economic growth and prosperity. Businesses operating in Bahrain benefit from a young, tech-savvy population and insight from a future-ready workforce combining highly skilled, bi-lingual, driven Bahraini nationals and a diverse talent pool offering a global perspective.
The Chief of Strategy added: “Our talent is the bedrock of our nation, and Bahrain’s performance on key metrics on the YDI 2023 clearly indicates that the Kingdom’s investments in youth development are yielding positive results. This milestone reinforces the influence of Bahrain’s long term vision for the sustainable development of its youth, which has prioritised government-backed investments in the reskilling of its talent pool to create a future ready workforce and fostering a culture that promotes gender parity, thereby contributing to the nation’s socioeconomic prosperity.”
From Bahrain, international investors are delivering success stories with global impact owing to Bahrani talent. The Golden License project, Citi Global Technology Hub first launched in 2021, chose Bahrain for its talent, where it pledged to hire 1,000 Bahraini coders to deliver solutions that serve Citi’s global client base.
