Youth Employment Challenge and ILO Conventions in GCC Countries

High youth unemployment has been projected as a major employment challenge in the Middle East and North Africa region countries. Statistics on the high-income Gulf Cooperation Council countries show that the real challenge is female youth labour market outcomes disparities. The GCC countries have experienced female youth disparities in terms of youth unemployment rates, labour force participation rates and employment-population ratios. In reforming labour market policies, the GCC countries have ratified ILO conventions on equal remuneration and discrimination. This research empirically examines the determinants of gender disparities in the GCC countries focusing on the ratified ILO equal remuneration and discrimination conventions. Panel data models and estimation methodologies accounting for panel heterogeneity, within panel correlation and cross-sectional dependence are adopted.