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Youth Activism in the Gulf Region

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Gulf countries for a long period have dragged behind in terms of revolution and urbanization based on how some matters are being handled in the society. As a matter of fact, these countries are well known in the development of industries due to the availability of adequate human labor from the large available populations in the region[footnoteRef:1]. This fact has had several negative effects including environmental degradation as they utilize the olds systems of running their industries for example the use of coal and carbon fuel to run the industrial sector. The negative part for this sector is that the environmental degradation sector especially the nature of rivers have extended their influence on human life and the general public health status among these countries. This has evicted the emergence of various Non-Governmental organizations that are fighting to transform the gulf region into a better and productive zone but again environmentally friendly. [1: Hayman, Rachel. "The contribution of civil society to sustainable development in the Gulf and beyond." Development in Practice 29, no. 5 (2019): 645-650.]

The best part of these groups is that majority of them entails youths under the age of 35 years who are involved in the sensitization of the public on the need to have a positive interaction with the environment. This paper will focus on how these teams have managed to control the situation and also to ensure the youths have had a major part in terms of involvement in the creation revolution by acting as activists in the environmental revolution for the betterment of the society in terms of health. [footnoteRef:2]Across the Middle East in countries like Arab, youths have increasingly expressed their desire to see a transformed environment, which has seen the respective governments and the environmental concerned parties to see their agenda basing propelled to the next step in development. This is essentially because of the fact that these youths are the leaders of tomorrow and hence push for the revolved clean and better environmental state among the Gulf States. [2: Nasiritousi, Naghmeh. "NGOs and the environment." (2019). ]

Research questions

1. What is the main focus of Non-Governmental organizations that have catalyzed youth movements to transform the environment in the Gulf Region?

2. What are some of the challenges that these NGOs are facing?

The above listed research questions will provide an in depth analysis of the available information concerning the environmental status of the Gulf region which for history is known to express less concern on environment for the benefit of industrial development[footnoteRef:3]. These questions will also help on the understanding of how youths have been used to transform these countries in their efforts to have conducive environment. Since they are youths involved in the process, there must be an accompanied challenges emanating from the conflicting interests in the society but the research through the listed research questions will unleash the challenges together with the success channels in the revolution process[footnoteRef:4]. [3: Marie, S. A. T. O. "Islamic Charity and Royal NGOs in Jordan: The Role of Monarchial Institutions in its Balancing Act."] [4: Säre, Margit. "Non-Governmental Organizations and Cross-Border Environmental Cooperation: Salish Sea and Baltic Sea Regions." (2020).]

METHODOLOGY

The set of data to be used in the response to the above mentioned research questions; the research utilized various approaches in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data to justify the hypothesis at glance. Various scholarly articles were used to provide the necessary information concerning NGOs that entail youth movements among the countries in the Gulf countries[footnoteRef:5]. The academic journals that contain information from the nature of NGOs operating in the Gulf countries and more importantly involving youth movements for a revolutionary change in the environmental sector were also involved as the sources of data. These articles and academic journals provide strategies that those youths used to ensure their movements are successful in the Gulf countries[footnoteRef:6]. The American University in Dubai’s library was the main source of the literature that was used in the documentation of youth movement in the Gulf States. The Academic research papers and field analysis of the state of environment in the Gulf countries was also a procedure in the collection of the relevant data. These sources of data will effectively work out to ensure the research is well inclusive and predictive in the prediction and fulfillment of the desired agenda which is measuring the impact of youth movement to cause a revolutionary in the side of environment. [5: Fagan, Adam, and Filip Ejdus. "Lost at the waterfront? Explaining the absence of green organisations in the Don’t let Belgrade D (r) own movement." Environmental Politics (2020): 1-20.] [6: Tran, T. T., Y. M. T. Nguyen, L. T. Pham, B. K. Veettil, S. N. Hoang, and Q. X. Ngo. "Relationships between environmental variables and free-living nematode communities in seasonally flooded wetlands." Global Journal of Environmental Science and Management (2020).]

Literature Review and Analysis

Historically, the youths have remained strong in terms of being agents of revolutionists across Middle East emerging from Arab in the early 2011. This is based on the recent statistics that points out that over 50% of the protestors in the Egyptian revolution were the youths with an age bracket of 18 to 30 years. This indicates how youths are actively involved in the revolutionary process to see the gulf region changed in terms of environment. Countries like Kuwait, Qatar, United Arap Emirates, Bahrain as well as Oman have been actively involved in the development of NGOs made up of the youths from these countries under the help of the Washington government that has had an ideal agenda of turning the region to be more productive and environmental friendly again[footnoteRef:7]. Over years, these countries have come up with organizations to steer up the agenda of enhancing the cleanliness of the environment under the influence of their youths who are more vibrant and well exposed to handle the tasks. [7: Tran, T. T., Y. M. T. Nguyen, L. T. Pham, B. K. Veettil, S. N. Hoang, and Q. X. Ngo. "Relationships between environmental variables and free-living nematode communities in seasonally flooded wetlands." Global Journal of Environmental Science and Management (2020).]

The Arab Youth Climate Movement Qatar was emerged focusing on facilitating the awareness of climate change issues in the Middle East. This team has been effective since its development as we have seen an increased reduction of food wastage from the reduced carbon emissions into the environment. This team organized various educational reforms to the members of the society with an aim of sensitizing the society on the need to protect and conserve the natural environment. Presently the youth team is expected to reach to over 2000 people together with the environmental professionalisms in the society under the influence of global environmental regime. Since the group was entirely involved in the transformation of the natural environment, these youths worked out to ensure the natural environment is also not left behind since their driving agenda was to transform the environment through sensitization as well as through reporting to various stakeholders in the environment sector[footnoteRef:8]. [8: Ngo, Bic, and Stacey J. Lee. "Navigating social justice in the current historical moment." International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 33, no. 2 (2020): 135-139.]

As this group continued to inspire youths in the region as well as the society concerning the beauty of protecting and conserving the environment, the group received massive support from the Bahraini Parliament which made more youths to join the movement and work out to ensure the objective of the team has been achieved. Beginning from Qatar, this Arab Youth Climate movement team has influenced the natural environment outlook in the whole gulf region greatly based on their strategies of reaching out on not only the local government but also reaches to that rural resident and influence their interaction with the natural environment in the region. Basing on the fact that environment is the mother of every kind of food to the common citizen; these youths believe that their success to transform the environment and concern the natural fauna and flora will be a great aid to the steps put in place for land reclamation and rehabilitation and the desire to see green region around the blue ocean waters.

The related governments in the region have worked positively with the team and other youth movements on the environment to cause a different perspective concerning environmental positivism and activism in the society. The group was later on joined to the Youth Parliamentarian Program present in the region which an aim of making the group more effective in its move to have many youths have found a place in school. It took a year of negotiation for these youths to accept joining the government youths that were involved in the sensitization of the society on the need to protect and conserve environment. The Kuwait youth coalition was also available and worked tireless to ensure the stability of the natural environment[footnoteRef:9]. This group now pushes for the integration of the society by pushing for the rapid change in the manner in which environment was being managed and controlled among the countries in the Gulf. The change in environment was anticipated by these groups to influence economic stability that will in turn lead to the development and creation of job opportunities for the same youths in the society. [9: Petersen, Marie Juul. "Islam and Development: International Muslim NGOs." In Does Religion Make a Difference?, pp. 109-134. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, 2020.]

Kuwait and Bahrain later on joined up to form a strong team that still continued with their massive movement in the society with various agendas being highlighted on their tablet but environmental stability was the key and essential issue that propelled their movement in various sectors and regions in the Gulf countries. The activists resulting from the union of Kuwait and Bahrain were capable to act flexible and incorporate the agenda of each other to steam up the regional resistance movement for the youths who seek for the revolved society in the Gulf region that will work to influence the general outlook of the other neighboring countries. It is evident that whenever the environment will be destroyed, the climate change that will emanate from the region will affect other regions as well especially those regions that depend on the Gulf region as their market for their commodities.

The Gulf Coast Preservation Society has been actively involved in the recruitment of junior members within the youth age bracket over the past 5 years. This comes after the organization realized the potential of a youth based on their enthusiastic efforts whenever they are given an opportunity to lead on to give out their best in the practical field. Historically the organization which operates as a mission NGO focused on restoration and preservation as well as protection of the marine habitat around the shores of gulf covering the larger part of Mexico[footnoteRef:10]. This is a great environmental aid based on the fact that the move has seen restoration of the tourism sector in those areas and hence provides adequate job opportunities for many residents within. This has also led to the steps forward in the protection of the rare marine species since the organization has been able to control and uplift the state of the Gulf coast in the Cost States. [10: Petersen, Marie Juul. "Islam and Development: International Muslim NGOs." In Does Religion Make a Difference?, pp. 109-134. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, 2020.]

Youth’s involvement in this program comes as a result of project targeting the enrichment of the society under the initiative of youths and equal gender representation. The vibrancy of the organization has been enhanced by the nature of the youths to publicly sensitize on the need for the residents and even the users of ocean water to observe a high level of sanity with an aim of protecting the marine fauna and flora at glance[footnoteRef:11]. The incorporation of youths in any society program usually expresses an element of representation and hence it is more likely that the public will have a strong backup for the initiative and have a rapid change and head to the desired direction. This is among the senior and oldest organization working to ensure a new face and approach has been witnessed in the society especially by the protection of fauna and flora in the water resources. [11: Harb, Mona. "New forms of youth activism in contested cities: The case of Beirut." The International Spectator 53, no. 2 (2018): 74-93.]

In regard to the restoration of the fruitful resources in the gulf region, this organization has managed to work and activate the workmanship of Florida Fish and Wildlife Research institute which is intensively utilized as the research center and the learning institution for the society. This comes after the move by the youths to push for the involvement of the members of the society into the organizational programs and the development of the reliable and diversified mode of operational management in the organization[footnoteRef:12]. The decision for the organization to break from the colonial bondage and embark on the utilization of the natural and readily available kind of resources to be used in the organization usually brings the society next to them and ready to agree with the set precautions. The desire of youths to be represented in any organization makes them desire to be part of the revolution and that is why most of the activists in the society are youths. [12: Orrnert, Anna. "Drivers and barriers to environmental engagement in the MENA region." (2020).]

This society has prioritized on research and awareness concerning the stability of marine life for the stability of the environment. This has made the organization to distribute their youths in different sectors and assign them with different duties and responsibilities for the sensitization of the society on the importance of protecting marine animals and plants. Notably, Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Future Society is among the examples of the successful products of the youth initiatives under the Gulf Coast Preservation society[footnoteRef:13]. In this case we have had numerous revolution under the help of research as well as the impact of technology to ensure there is a better mode of management as well as the attributes it has on the community, environment as well as on the general education sector for the students operating from the local schools in the region. These rehabilitated centers act as the laboratories for geographical studies; this explains how youth activism will have played a role to ensure the set objectives in the company have been achieved as well as ensuring preservation of water which is a scarce resource together with the lives of the habitants in water including plants and animals. Over years we have had the society using the water reservoirs as the dumpsite like the rivers, lakes as well as the dams where waste water is released into the water bodies[footnoteRef:14]. It is important to mention that the flexibility of the youths when involved in the organizations usually helps them to drive the agenda very fast as compared to the point where professionals are the only ones involved. In this case the practicability of the youths in the households to control the careless disposal of litter into the water resources will help in the management of the environment. [13: Behnassi, Mohamed. "Environmental change and human conflict." The Societies of the Middle East and North Africa: Structures, Vulnerabilities, and Forces (2019).] [14: Hillmann, Felicitas, Rueben Korley Okine, and Giulia Borri. "“Because migration begins from the villages”: environmental change within the narrations of the Ewe diaspora." Ethnic and Racial Studies 43, no. 16 (2020): 39-56.]

Conclusion

Countries in the gulf region have been associated with the rising rate of environmental degradation based on the nature of the landscape in those countries as well as the economic activities that are dominant in the countries. The development of Non-Governmental Organizations involving youths have worked out to open up the nature of the landscape and how these countries can make a change in the general outlook as well as in the environmental conditions in the region[footnoteRef:15]. Youth activism comes out to be the voice of the society since these people have the potential to overturn and raise the antennae to greater extends for the sake of environment. The future of the country relies on the way the current conditions are being handled for example development of the environmental friendly programs to initiate and push for the overall change in the manner in which human interacts with the environment. Most youths usually come out as voluntary persons to ensure the environment is very clean and hence organized youth groups in the society can fill up the gap to sensitize the society for the sake of protecting environment. [15: Diwan, Kristin Smith. "The future of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Gulf." The Qatar Crisis (2017): 60.]

Most of the countries in the Gulf region are overcrowded and hence exerting pressure on the natural resources and may even lack the clear formula for the protection of environment[footnoteRef:16]. In this case the NGOs play a role of sending a signal to the members of the society to remind them of what is expected of them though some measures like sensitization, provision of environmental studies like the conservation procedure[footnoteRef:17]. The decision for the organization to break from the colonial bondage and embark on the utilization of the natural and readily available kind of resources to be used in the organization usually brings the society next to them and ready to agree with the set precautions[footnoteRef:18]. As indicated in the library materials, the flexibility of the youths whenever they are involved in the process of revolution makes them essential vessels that can push the agenda into the desired destination and for our case here these movements have helped to transform the general environment of the Gulf region. [16: Schwantes, Story. "The Role of Young Environmental Activists in Iceland and Furthering Youth Engagement with Environmental Issues." (2017).] [17: Dorsey, James M. "Sport in the Gulf as an arena of protest and change." Participation Culture in the Gulf: Networks, Politics and Identity (2018).] [18: Dorsey, James M. "Unusual suspects: sport in the Gulf as an arena of protest and change." In Participation Culture in the Gulf, pp. 72-90. Routledge, 2018.]

Bibliography

https://www.oneyoungworld.com/ambassador-projects/arab-youth-climate-movement-qatar

Hayman, Rachel. "The contribution of civil society to sustainable development in the Gulf and beyond." Development in Practice 29, no. 5 (2019): 645-650.

Nasiritousi, Naghmeh. "NGOs and the environment." (2019).

Marie, S. A. T. O. "Islamic Charity and Royal NGOs in Jordan: The Role of Monarchial Institutions in its Balancing Act."

Säre, Margit. "Non-Governmental Organizations and Cross-Border Environmental Cooperation: Salish Sea and Baltic Sea Regions." (2020).

Fagan, Adam, and Filip Ejdus. "Lost at the waterfront? Explaining the absence of green organisations in the Don’t let Belgrade D (r) own movement." Environmental Politics (2020): 1-20.

Tran, T. T., Y. M. T. Nguyen, L. T. Pham, B. K. Veettil, S. N. Hoang, and Q. X. Ngo. "Relationships between environmental variables and free-living nematode communities in seasonally flooded wetlands." Global Journal of Environmental Science and Management (2020).

Tran, T. T., Y. M. T. Nguyen, L. T. Pham, B. K. Veettil, S. N. Hoang, and Q. X. Ngo. "Relationships between environmental variables and free-living nematode communities in seasonally flooded wetlands." Global Journal of Environmental Science and Management (2020).

Ngo, Bic, and Stacey J. Lee. "Navigating social justice in the current historical moment." International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 33, no. 2 (2020): 135-139.

Petersen, Marie Juul. "Islam and Development: International Muslim NGOs." In Does Religion Make a Difference?, pp. 109-134. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, 2020.

Orrnert, Anna. "Drivers and barriers to environmental engagement in the MENA region." (2020).

Behnassi, Mohamed. "Environmental change and human conflict." The Societies of the Middle East and North Africa: Structures, Vulnerabilities, and Forces (2019).

Hillmann, Felicitas, Rueben Korley Okine, and Giulia Borri. "“Because migration begins from the villages”: environmental change within the narrations of the Ewe diaspora." Ethnic and Racial Studies 43, no. 16 (2020): 39-56.

Diwan, Kristin Smith. "The future of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Gulf." The Qatar Crisis (2017): 60.

Schwantes, Story. "The Role of Young Environmental Activists in Iceland and Furthering Youth Engagement with Environmental Issues." (2017).

Dorsey, James M. "Sport in the Gulf as an arena of protest and change." Participation Culture in the Gulf: Networks, Politics and Identity (2018).

Dorsey, James M. "Unusual suspects: sport in the Gulf as an arena of protest and change." In Participation Culture in the Gulf, pp. 72-90. Routledge, 2018.