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Conference on Youth in the Middle
East
and North Africa
Rabat, Morocco, 4-6 Dec. 2006 On
behalf of AUICK, Kobe,
Japan, and the Asian member countries of AUICK,
Dr. Haryono Suyono attended the International Conference on Youth in
the Middle East and North Africa, held on December 4-6, 2006 at Rabat,
Morocco. The conference was jointly organized by Arab Urban Development
Institute and other institutes such as Rabat Municipality Government,
the National School of Architecture, Morocco and the World Bank.  Dr. Haryono Suyono elaborated that The Asian Urban Information Center of Kobe (AUICK) was officially established in 1989 in a cooperative agreement between the City of Kobe and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The aim of AUICK is: to contribute to the suitable
development of cities through the collection and collation of
information, and to study and research problems commonly shared by
various cities in Asia, while extending cooperation in a relationship
of mutual trust.
One of the
enduring characteristics of
AUICK is its focus on urban administrators as what have often been
called as the front-line managers of the urban panorama. AUICK has been
concerned with listening to what the urban administrators have to say
about their problems, the strategies and tactics they develop to
address those problems, and the kinds of assistance they would need to
better discharge their jobs in addressing those problems. It has also
been concerned with developing effective training programs for urban
administrators throughout Asia to understand their problems and to
learn or to share ways how to solve those problems.The demographic transition in developed countries required a longer process, such that the governments had sufficient time to take strategic actions to prepare appropriate services for the various segments in need, such as for the under-fives, the adolescents, the adults and even for the elders. The long transition process gave them time to meticulously plan, and not be intimidated by time pressures, and hence the process of adjustment took place in smooth progression. Further end-phenomena was that demographic transition which took 100 years in many European countries, required less than one generation to occur in many Asian countries. The apparent consequence was the rapid decline in population growth, characterized by significant changes in the age structure, i.e. producing a larger segment of the younger population, and more strikingly is the significant magnitude of the surviving elders. The younger segment exploded two, three, or even four times compared to the conditions before the drastic and concurrent declines in fertility and mortality rates. The rapid declines in mortality rates also gave rise to the increased life expectancy, such that persons who would have been deceased at their younger years are still surviving at an advanced age. These old-age survivors are not facating their employment position, further resulting in compelling the younger cohorts, who are better educated, to wait longer until they can occupy positions of their dreams. The changing structure of the youth and adolescents which is happening at the moment in Asia will have far ranging and concern-raising impact into the future as it is rapid, far beyond what the developed nations have experienced, and virtually uncharted by empirical studies. Furthermore, policy decision-makers are faced with a new political environment heavily laden with new democratic values, the rise of human rights issues, sustainable development; all demanding transparency, higher participatory management, and particularly higher accountability and stringent used of the ever-decreasing public resources. All of those would demand comprehensive reforms, and in turn requiring the innovativeness of researchers to look into strategic issues, also demanding candid and open international cooperation. All will be done to formulate policies and programs with high flexibility, ever placing population at the central of empowerment in facing future challenges never before envisioned. For that reason AUICK in cooperation with other organizations and local governments in Asia develops approaches to help solve these problems through research, training and programs benefited all parties, especially people in the villages. The presentation was highly appreciated and the conference expressed its hope further and more in depth cooperation be developed such that fruitful lessons learnt could be shared, and that the Mid-Eastern and African countries could benefit more. 
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