Empowering youth voices in the Mediterranean

Professor Emma Murphy, in our School of Government and International Affairs, is leading the way for change in the Mediterranean by working with international partners to re-frame youth policy narratives and establish pathways for youth inclusion. 

A comprehensive approach towards youth policies 

Professor Murphy has been at the forefront of policy conversations around youth policy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. 

She was directly involved with a revolutionary World Bank report on breaking the barriers to youth inclusion in Tunisia. The report recognised the importance of enabling young people to participate in the formulation of policies aimed specifically at them. 

Through her participation in the European Commission-funded POWER2YOUTH project, she proposed new holistic approaches to developing youth policy which acknowledge the full range of economic, political and social insecurities they face. 

After being presented to the European Parliament and an EU/Conseil de Europe Youth Partnership Expert Meeting, the POWER2YOUTH policy report was used by the EU Policy Lab in a training programme for policy communities addressing youth employment and unemployment in North Africa. 

She has also worked with the British Council, the El-Hiwar EU-Arab League collaborative training programme, and the Global Research on Youth Policy Network to promote policymaking which places young people’s voices, experiences and needs at the heart of youth policy-making.

This challenges conventional policy frames which view young people only as a potential labour force and a source of social threat and instability.

Find out more

• Learn more about the work of Emma Murphy, Professor of Political Economy in our School of Government and International Affairs and member of the Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies.
• Read about the research on generational narratives of systematic failures, political economy of youth policy in Tunisia, young people’s experiences of marginalisation, youth protest around the Mediterranean and the in-securitisation of youth in south and east Mediterranean.
• Interested in studying at Durham? Explore our undergraduate and postgraduate courses in our School of Government and International Affairs.