GW Students Participate in IMF Youth Dialogue

Discussion on youth unemployment featured IMF Deputy Managing Director Nemat Shafik and two George Washington students.

October 14, 2013

IMF Youth Dialogue

GW graduate students Mark Duffy (left) and Allison DeMaio (third from right) participated in the IMF's Youth Dialogue.

By Julyssa Lopez

Two George Washington University students participated in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) “Youth Dialogue: Innovation in Job Creation From and For the Youth” on Wednesday at Lisner Auditorium. The panel examined strategies for alleviating youth unemployment in different areas of the world.

The discussion was part of the IMF’s annual meeting, which was held on GW’s campus from Oct. 8 to 12. GW students got to take part in the event through participation in this panel and several volunteer opportunities throughout the week. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde also provided a preview of the meeting in an address open to the university community on Oct. 3.

Journalist Augusto Townsend Klinge moderated the Youth Dialogue, which featured IMF Deputy Managing Director Nemat Shafik and GW graduate students Mark Duffy and Allison DeMaio. Chilean student Damián Vergara Domínguez and Chairman of Resonate! Yemen Rafat Al-Akhali also joined the conversation.

Mr. Duffy, a student in the Graduate School of Political Management and a native of Ireland, said being chosen to speak at the event was a “tremendous honor and privilege.” He was most interested in discussing innovative solutions to job creation and exploring how the IMF can work with governments to encourage youth entrepreneurship.

“As an emigrant, youth unemployment is the issue closest to my heart. In Ireland, youth unemployment stands at 28.6 percent. We need to look at government policy, financing for back-to-work programs and new education programs to get young people to work,” Mr. Duffy said.

Dr. Shafik started the conversation with reasons the global economy faces difficulties in youth employment rates five years after the economic crisis. Factors like economic uncertainty, skill mismatch and inflexibility in labor markets all contribute to why approximately 75 million young people are jobless worldwide.

The panel examined strategies for spurring job growth in different parts of the world, including Europe, South America and Africa. An interactive portion encouraged audience participation by polling attendees on what they believe has fundamentally changed in labor markets, what skills will be most valued by employers in 10 years and what sectors will lose the most jobs in the future.

Ms. DeMaio, a master’s candidate in the Elliott School of International Affairs who worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mozambique, talked about links between the private sector and development, and the ability of small businesses to foster job creation and self-sufficiency. Her work abroad exposed her to independent businesses that create both jobs and social services for their communities, like bed net vendors or businesses selling malaria medication.

“Positive small businesses and social enterprises with a strong business appeal can very much create development if it’s gone about in the right way rather than an extractive way,” she explained.

The panel also highlighted how important it is for the private sector to work with educational systems to better match what the job market offers and what young people study. Encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation, the panelists discussed, will be critical to inspiring more economic growth. Dr. Shafik also brought up the key role of governments in establishing policies that make it easier for young people to enter the job market.

To conclude, Mr. Klinge asked what made the panelists hopeful about the future of young people in the global economy.

“One thing that makes me most optimistic is the passion we have as youth. We think we’re invincible and that we can do anything—and if we apply that passion, we really can,” Ms. DeMaio said.