Egypt Young

A café, serving tea, light meals, and other refreshments, offers a place for young men to socialize. For some, though, the café is the introduction to a life of permanent idleness. Unemployment is high in the outsize generation of young adults, and the opportunities that once existed for work in the Gulf states and nearby Libya have been closed off.

Girls take part in a science class taught in English, at al-Nozha Language Scool, an Islamic school on the outskirts of Cairo. Such schools are generally better equipped than the state schools, but their numbers are limited.

Two officers in the Egyptian army take the subway home after a long day of training. Even many Egyptians do not know that there are women in the army, although they are not permitted in combat positions. Against a backdrop of widespread youth unemployment, these two explain their career choice as a means of holding a secure job, with the possibility of a pension.